A gangland murderer who conspired to deal methamphetamine while in prison will remain behind bars.
In a decision issued following an August hearing, the Parole Board declined parole for Dean Waka Nathan, saying he remained an undue risk.
Nathan, then a senior Highway 61 gang member, along with three other men, were sentenced to life imprisonment in 2001 for the killing of rival Black Power member Max Shannon in August, 2000 in Christchurch.
The 25-year-old had just finished rugby league practice and was sitting in his car in Silvester St, Woolston, when he was gunned down. The car was riddled with bullets.
The killing was carefully planned and executed, the Parole Board decision said.
While serving his sentence, Nathan used an unauthorised cellphone to set up a methamphetamine dealing operation from prison. He was convicted in 2010.
Nathan organised large purchases of the drug in Auckland and arranged for them to be moved to Christchurch for distribution, the board decision said. Up to 2 kilograms of the drug were supplied.
In August 2018, Nathan completed the Special Treatment Unit Rehabilitation Programme. The report from the programme “could not be described as glowing”, the board decision said.
“The psychological report assessed him as still being at high risk of reoffending both in general re-offending and violence.”
Nathan sought release to an undisclosed location at the August hearing. He had completed a whānau hui and had some support in the area.
However, taking into consideration his “long history of criminal offending” and “given the fact that he offended very seriously in prison”, the board decided Nathan needed “further reintegration before he could be safely released”.
The board invited Corrections to reconsider Nathan’s suitability for a drug treatment programme.
If the prison he was currently in did not have suitable opportunities for “external self-care, further work outside the wire and release to work, then a transfer of prisons” could be the “best way forward” for Nathan.
He is next due to appear before the board by May 2020.
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Source: Stuff