15 Feb 2014

Flight hijacker refused parole

9:34 am on 15 February 2014

A woman who was sentenced to prison for hijacking a plane has been refused parole because of her mental health.

Asha Abdille stabbed both pilots on an Air New Zealand flight from Blenheim to Christchurch in February 2008 and was sentenced to nine years in prison.

The Parole Board said she has had a high number of incidents in prison involving violence and self harm. In one incident she was seriously hurt.

The board said her mental health has improved recently, but ruled she would pose an undue risk to the public and refused to grant her parole.