Wanganui is a safer place tonight...

The women of Wanganui can sleep more peacefully tonight; the Herald reports:

Convicted sex offender Stewart Murray Wilson boasted to a vulnerable women he was banned from contacting that he could cut off his monitoring bracelet and flee to Australia with her.
The man dubbed the 'Beast of Blenheim' was recalled to prison in February after breaching his parole conditions by phoning a woman he was barred from speaking to under his strict release conditions.
The four-minute call in which Murray made the claims was uncovered by community probation officers and ultimately led to the sex predator's recall to prison.
Today, a High Court judge rejected an appeal by Wilson against his recall to prison.
Wilson was jailed in 1996 for 21 years for serious sexual and violent offending against women and children involving cruelty to children, stupefying adults and bestiality.

Wanganui did not want Wilson, and it sounds as though the sentiment was mutual. His being recalled to prison to serve the remainder of his sentence will make Wanganui and beyond a safer place.

And in the High Court today, Justice MacKenzie has made a very wise decision; read on:

His parole officer immediately applied for a recall order, which was granted by the Parole Board on April 10.
Wilson applied for a review of the decision, which was dismissed.
He then took his fight to the High Court, claiming the decision was wrong.
His lawyers argued that his claims of being able to cut off his monitoring bracelet and go to Australia were merely "acts of bravado'' and "fanciful''.
Justice MacKenzie said the conditions of parole, and of the extended supervision order which will come into force when parole ends, had been designed to address a long-term risk arising from Wilson's pattern of offending, which includes ``grooming vulnerable women''.
"For these reasons, I hold that Mr Wilson has not demonstrated that the board has erred in its assessment of his risk,'' he concluded.
"Having considered the matter afresh on its merits, I record that I would have reached the same conclusion as the board.
"In reaching that conclusion, I have borne in mind the requirement ... to consider the need to protect the community and the class of persons who may be vulnerable to potential grooming.
"For the foregoing reasons, the appeal is dismissed. The final recall order is confirmed.''

The most fortunate thing in this whole messy business is that Wilson was stopped from offending again by the vigilance of Corrections staff. We have no doubt that there would have been another Wilson victim had Corrections not applied to have him recalled to prison earlier in the year.

Unfortunately, Wilson's sentence will eventually expire. Here's hoping that when he is finally released from prison he moves somewhere other than out back yard!