New Zealand Parole Board -

Parole Hearing

Under section 21(2) of the Parole Act 2002

Cyenna Diane Allimain GRACE-NGARO

Hearing: 14 June 2024

at Christchurch Womens’ Prison

Members of the Board:

Ms S Bailey – Panel Convenor

Ms F Pimm

Mr A Hackney

In Attendance: [withheld] - Case Manager

DECISION OF THE BOARD

1. Cyenna Grace-Ngaro appears for a further consideration of parole. Ms Grace-Ngaro is serving a sentence of two years and three months imprisonment after convictions were entered to reckless driving, causing injury and other matters. The offending involved the running into a moped rider and, unfortunately for him, the consequences were relatively serious. Ms Grace-Ngaro has previous convictions including aggravated robbery, assault and burglary. Ms Grace-Ngaro has a RoC*RoI of 0.526 and a statutory release date of 12 January 2025 which is approximately seven months away.
2. Ms Grace-Ngaro last appeared before the Board during February 2024 [withheld].  Also, she had not been able to undertake any rehabilitation programmes and it was considered appropriate that her needs be determined and, from there, any assistance that could be given should be done prior to her release.
3. [withheld].
4. [withheld].
5. Today Ms Grace-Ngaro is in the same position with respect to programmes, or lack of them, she has had no individual counselling which was hoped would be occurring prior to her release. She has received a mixed PAR, with reference to some misconducts which are still open but she also received some positive file notes.
6. Her accommodation release proposal has not been taken any further at this stage. She had a referral to [withheld] however, the initial assessment meeting did not go well. There is a further assessment occurring within the next week or two and it may be that, at this time, [withheld], there will be a more productive outcome. Her case manager said there are other options that can be looked into but at this stage there have been no referrals. Ms Grace-Ngaro herself would like to be referred to and assessed by [withheld] as she understands there is an intake in July which is next month. The Board have considerable doubts as to whether the timing of this intake can be accommodated to consider Ms Grace-Ngaro.
7. Ms Grace-Ngaro spoke with the Board today. [withheld].
8. [withheld]. She notes herself that she is still a young person and appears now to be motivated to stop the re-offending cycle and to hopefully get on with a more settled way of life when she is re-admitted to the community.
9. Her case manager said that the psychological team stated they cannot commit to one on one sessions because of the current waitlist and will wait for the outcome for this Parole Board hearing. The Board do not understand this delay and pointed out that a psychological report prepared during January of 2024 indicated that individual sessions will be the appropriate way forward for Ms Grace-Ngaro. It is difficult to understand why there is ongoing hesitation now when she is so close to her release date. Effectively Ms Grace-Ngaro has received no treatment and the Kowhiritanga has now been removed from her potential sentence plan because there is no longer time to complete that programme.  [withheld]. The Board encourage that to start as soon as possible or at least considered on her release.  The PAR writer also noted that she is in the Māori focus unit and has engaged in cultural activities.
10. Her PCO told the Board that Ms Grace-Ngaro’s behaviour at times can still be inconsistent  [withheld].
11. [withheld].
12. Parole today is declined. Ms Grace-Ngaro remains an undue risk as she remains untreated and has no confirmed release plan to present to the Board.  Ms Grace-Ngaro’s release date is during January 2025 so she will be seen again during November of 2024 and prior to the end of that month.
13. If a solid release proposal can be presented to the Board prior to that time her case manager can assist Ms Grace-Ngaro in making an application to have an earlier hearing.