Scott Watson in High Court. Photo: Pool / John Kirk-Anderson
Double murderer Scott Watson will remain in prison after the Parole Board abandoned a hearing because it ran out of time.
Watson was convicted of murdering Ben Smart and Olivia Hope in the Marlborough Sounds in 1998 and sentenced to life in prison with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years. He has spent more than 26 years in prison.
Watson appeared before the board this week to make his fifth attempt at parole since becoming eligible in 2015.
The board estimated one day would be sufficient, and although Wednesday's hearing lasted more than six hours, members did not have enough time to talk to Watson or his family.
Board chair Sir Ron Young suggested at its conclusion that counsel file written submissions in the following days in order to prevent the hearing being abandoned.
However Watson's lawyer Kerry Cook said the hearing had been unfairly truncated and he did not have adequate opportunity to further question the independent psychologist called by Watson.
Corrections argued the board should continue the hearing, see Watson and his family, then release its decision.
Ultimately, the board decided to abandon the hearing because Sir Ron was retiring at the end of the month and it was not possible to arrange a further hearing before then.
"We are conscious in such an important matter as this, that we ensure every fairness to Mr Watson," the decision read.
"In those circumstances therefore, we accept the best way forward now is to abandon the previous hearing. We do that rather than simply adjourn the hearing for the rest of the evidence and hearing to be completed."
Watson has always maintained his innocence and his denial of the murders was a factor in him previously being denied parole.
The four psychologists who appeared at Wednesday's hearing said he remained at risk of re-offending - one said he was at high risk and the others said he was at medium-risk.
The Corrections psychologist who assessed Watson in October 2021 said his continued denial of the murders was consistent with some of the traits listed in a psycopathy checklist that included a particular self-focus and a lack of regard or empathy for other people.
Another Corrections psychologist who assessed Watson in September 2023 said he recognised problem behaviours around violence, had used pro-social strategies to communicate and problem solve without aggression in the decade prior and was willing to engage in treatment. She did not consider his denial of the murders to be a risk factor for future violent offending.
A third Corrections psychologist, who completed a report on Watson in November 2024, after a serious misconduct incident at the prison, had assessed him as being at medium risk of re-offending.
She believed Watson had the "propensity to be able to use violence in a certain set of circumstances" and he needed to explore that in order to better understand it.
The final independent psychologist provided a report to the parole board in March 2024. She did not meet with Watson in person, and assessed him based on the available evidence as being at a "moderate risk or average, below average risk" of violent reoffending.
She said with an appropriate release plan and conditions, wrap-around support and early engagement with probation, Watson could be managed safely in the community.
A date was yet to be set for the two-day hearing.
