28 Oct 2014

Macdonald to make fresh freedom bid

7:43 pm on 28 October 2014

Convicted arsonist Ewen Macdonald will learn whether he will be freed from prison at a Parole Board hearing next month.

Ewen Macdonald had to be helped from the dock after the verdict.

Ewen Macdonald had to be helped from the dock after the verdict. Photo: RNZ

Macdonald was found not guilty of the murder of his brother-in-law, Scott Guy, at Mr Guy's Manawatu farm in 2010. However, he was later jailed for five years for other offences, including arson, vandalism and killing calves.

He was refused parole last November, with the Parole Board saying he posed a clinically significant risk of reoffending.

A forensic psychiatric assessment of Macdonald, which was commissioned by the Parole Board, found he suffered from a significant personality disturbance and had failed to address behavioural issues relating to revenge and envy.

Macdonald last year told the board that poaching and vandalism helped him relieve stress and said it was a challenge to get away with doing something wrong.

His next hearing will be at Christchurch's Rolleston Prison on 17 November.

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