16 Apr 2012

Lawyer doubts rapist fits supervision provisions

1:29 pm on 16 April 2012

The lawyer for rapist Stewart Wilson says an extended supervision order the authorities are trying to impose on him is not suitable because it is designed only for offenders against children.

Wilson, 65, known as the Beast of Blenheim, was jailed for 21 years in 1996 for rape, bestiality, stupefying and ill-treatment of children over a period of 25 years. He denies the crimes.

He became legally eligible for release in 2008 but the Parole Board invoked a special clause in the Parole Act allowing a dangerous prisoner to be further detained.

The right to apply that expires in September, when Wilson will be released subject to conditions that will apply until 2015.

The Probation Service has now applied to the High Court to have him placed under an extended supervision order for up to a decade beyond that.

For the first year of an extended order, Wilson could be monitored by a guard around the clock.

His lawyer, Andrew McKenzie, told Nine to Noon that Wilson doesn't fit neatly within the bounds of the court order.

"The extended supervision order is designed exclusively for offenders against children under 16.

"Wilson has three convictions in relation to under 16-year-olds out of, I think, upwards of 20 or 30, so it's clearly not a big part of his offending."

Otago University law professor Andrew Geddis says only one of the three convictions relating to children meets the criteria for an extended supervision order.

"The question then is, is he really an ongoing danger to under 16-year-olds, or is he just an ongoing danger across the board."

The case will be argued at the High Court in Christchurch in July.