27 May 2016

Apology after violent offender placed near school

4:33 pm on 27 May 2016

A high-risk violent offender is being relocated from a house opposite a south Auckland school, which wasn't told he was moving to the area, Corrections Department says.

The offender was released from prison last week after a failed High Court bid by Corrections for him to be subject to a Public Protection Order.

Instead, he was placed temporarily across the road from Te Kura Māori o Ngā Tapuwae in Māngere, under an Extended Supervision Order, with two staff and a security guard monitoring him 24 hours a day.

Assistant Regional Commissioner Alastair Riach said the offender should not have been placed there and has apologised to the school's principal.

He said the offender, whom he believed to have a high risk of imminent violent offending, is being moved to another address - and those living nearby have been told.