Parole Hearing

Under section 21(2) of the Parole Act 2002

Kenneth Harvey MILLER

Hearing:                                            30 April 2021

at Rolleston Prison via AVL to Spring Hill Corrections Facility

Members of the Board:                   Sir Ron Young (Chairperson)

Dr J Skipworth

Ms M Kleist

Mr J Thomson

Counsel:                                           Dr T Ellis

Support Persons:                             [withheld]

DECISION OF THE BOARD

1. Mr Miller, who is 62 years of age, was sentenced to preventive detention for violent sexual offending in 2006. He had previous sexual offending as well as violence to females in his record prior to that conviction. [withheld].
2. When we saw him last in May 2020, we set out in some detail the way forward for Mr Miller. Mr Miller has been caught being unable, apparently, to successfully participate in rehabilitative programmes in prison and difficulty in identifying an appropriate release arrangement, particularly accommodation, that would provide sufficient oversight which would thereby reduce his risk.
3. We invited [withheld] to undertake a further assessment of Mr Miller’s needs. Secondly, we asked that Corrections and [withheld] and [withheld], a private psychologist who had worked with Mr Miller and had identified a way forward for him, to work together to try and identify whether any programmes within the prison might be available to Mr Miller even if a bespoke programme. We also asked that [withheld] and Corrections work together to try and identify what, if any, accommodation might be reasonably available.
4. Unfortunately, it does not seem as though any real progress has been able to be made. We have a brief memorandum from [withheld] indicating that they do not have any accommodation that would be suitable for Mr Miller given that he remains at best above a low risk of re-offending. There is no indication that there has been any discussion between them and Corrections as to what kind of accommodation might be possible. We accept that would likely be bespoke accommodation. Unfortunately, we do not have a psychological report. We understand that Mr Miller’s case has been referred to the Southern Review Panel of Corrections and that they will, we assume, ultimately respond to the issue that we raised in our previous decision of May 2020.
5. We think the way forward now, therefore, is to obtain a psychological report which addresses the issues we raised in our decision of 1 May 2020. Accordingly, we will see Mr Miller again by the end of September 2021. In the meantime, he remains an undue risk.
6. We record some further issues raised by counsel, Dr Ellis. Firstly, he mentioned the possibility of day releases for Mr Miller. Mr Miller’s Case Manager indicated that she could make an application to the Prison Director for day release. The decision on day release is the Prison Director’s and there may be difficulties in Mr Miller’s approval for day release given he remains untreated. We therefore invited her and Mr Miller to consider whether such an application is appropriate and could be made.
7. Secondly, Dr Ellis indicated that Mr Miller seeks parole. For the reasons we have given in our decision of 1 May 2020 which really remain unaffected by the last 12 months, we are still satisfied that Mr Miller remains an undue risk.
8. Thirdly, during the course of our hearing today we heard from a counsellor who has been working with Mr Miller on [withheld]. She indicated that Mr Miller had good retention of the safety plan that she was developing with him. Mr Miller has been subject to extensive previous psychological assessment and while it may be possible that Mr Miller is able to retain some information from other programmes, there are a range of other concerns relating to his risk of re-offending that have been identified in those reports.
9. Further, organised through his Case Manager, Mr Miller has been undertaking some drug counselling sessions with a drug counsellor and in addition has had some work training. He is currently continuing to work in the rebuilding yard in various capacities.
10. We will see him again by the end of September with the benefit of a report from his psychologist to see where that takes us.
11. We do want to recognise Mr Miller’s frustration at his current situation and the concern he has about not being able to see a way forward. Hopefully, at the next hearing we will be able to identify what the next steps are for Mr Miller.