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by Joanna Norris Convicted Ellis, who is serving a 10-year
sentence for 16 child abuse charges, said through his lawyer last night that
he was concerned about the progress of the pending investigation into his
case. Ellis appeared before the Parole
Board last week and it was announced yesterday that parole had been denied. He is due to be freed from prison
in February next year when he will have served the mandatory two-thirds of
his sentence. His lawyer, Judith "What he does feel is
anxiety. Anxiety as to whether Thomas Thorp's inquiry gets dealt with in time
and whether all the issues in his petitions are investigated fully." Ellis's case is being examined by
former High Court judge Sir Thomas Thorp, who is advising Governor-General
Sir Michael Hardie Boys on a petition calling for Ellis's pardon. Mrs Ablett Kerr said the Parole
Board could only deal with Ellis as if he had committed an offence and at the
time of the hearing their positions were "irreconcilable". Ellis had maintained his innocence
from the beginning and would continue to do so, she said. At the hearing, Ellis presented a
short statement that said he could not accept any parole because the board
could only free him as a guilty man. In the board decision Justice
Heron said the board had made it clear that the attitude of the inmate and
steps taken to avoid future offending were considered by the board when
decisions were made. He said Ellis had maintained his
innocence, "as he is entitled to do so", but as a result had not
undertaken any courses or programmes. Justice Heron said the jury's
verdict and judge's sentence compelled the board to consider the case as very
serious offending against children and it could not go behind the verdict and
sentence. He said it would be impossible to
grant parole without conditions restricting access to young children. When Ellis was next before the
board, in December, it would be likely such conditions would be imposed on
Ellis when he was freed from prison next February. |
