Daniel WALLIS 10/10/2024

Parole Hearing

Under section 21(2) of the Parole Act 2002

Daniel WALLIS

Hearing: 10 October 2024

at [withheld] Prison

Members of the Board:

Ms M More – Panel Convenor

Ms K Coutts

Mr A Hackney

Counsel: Ms Kathy Basire

In Attendance: [withheld] – Case Manager

Support Persons: [withheld]

DECISION OF THE BOARD

  1. Daniel Wallis is 26, he makes his second appearance before the Board on a sentence of three years three months for manslaughter of his baby daughter.  The baby had been born prematurely, she was released home after several weeks of hospital and required extensive ongoing care and observation.  The baby became unsettled, Mr Wallis struck her on the head on two or three occasions and the child ultimately died.  Mr Wallis pleaded guilty.
  2. The Judge’s sentencing notes say he was left at home with the baby, and he was exhausted and financially stressed.  [withheld].  Initially he said he had dropped the baby and rang a friend who came to the home.  They took the baby to the hospital where she was resuscitated but later died in Starship Hospital.  The postmortem showed that she had died from complications resulting from her head injuries, that was inconsistent with the description of events he had given.
  3. Mr Wallis’ RoC*Rol is .13268, his statutory release date is 15 August 2026, he has one year and 10 months remaining on his sentence.  Mr Wallis’ classification is minimum, he is on the Victim Notification Register, the parole assessment report has little information about his behaviour since his last Board, but his PCO said he is good in the unit.
  4. We last saw him on 11 June 2024 where the Board noted that there were no recommendations in respect to treatment or programmes for him, and he had a good release plan [withheld].  The Board recommended a psychological assessment.
  5. [withheld].
  6. [withheld].
  7. The psychologist recommended Mr Wallis needed to increase his insight into the offending and update his safety plan and recommended that he do four to six sessions one‑on‑one work.
  8. Mr Wallis is represented by Ms Basire, who said that Mr Wallis has had two sessions with a psychologist and the third is tomorrow.  Mr Wallis found the assessment beneficial and the work he is doing with the psychologist, and he is understanding why the issues he felt with his baby daughter were actually issues. [withheld].
  9. Counsel said Mr Wallis is to meet his psychologist tomorrow to go through his safety plan.
  10. Mr Wallis spoke well to the Board and talked about his offence mapping and what was going on for him at the time of the offending. [withheld].
  11. Mr Wallis needs to complete the work recommended by the psychologist, without that his risk is undue, and parole is declined.
  12. Mr Wallis needs to firm up his safety plan and become familiar with it.  He needs to have a further whānau hui where he can share that with his family and demonstrate that he can recall the contents, and we would like him to get outside the wire if possible.  Guided releases would be an asset for this man.
  13. We will see Mr Wallis again in five months, that is March 2025.

Ms M More

Panel Convenor