11 Sep 2012

Council approves list of where Wilson banned

6:02 am on 11 September 2012

The Whanganui Council has approved a list of 19 parks, reserves and recreational areas from where serial sexual offender Stewart Murray Wilson will be banned.

Wilson, 65, has been living in a self-care unit on the grounds of Whanganui Prison under strict conditions since being released from the jail on 29 August.

He has served 16 years for multiple rapes of women, assault, drugging, the ill-treatment of children and bestiality, which he still denies.

The list is part of a campaign shunning him from the community - an action that the Council of Civil Liberties has labelled barbaric, but which the council says is necessary to protect the community.

The list passed by the council on Monday afternoon includes Queens Park, city libraries, pools and museums but not the central business district.

Mayor Annette Main says the places on the list were carefully chosen to help people feel more at ease and be able to enjoy themselves, knowing they would not come in contact with Wilson.

The council agreed to review how trespass notices are working in 12 months' time.

It has also decided not to appeal against a judicial review decision that threw out the council's challenge to Wilson's release in the North Island city.