A man who took part in the vigilante murder of a convicted paedophile has lost his bid for freedom.
In 2007, Aubrey Thomas Harrison, his uncle Bruce Raymond Tamatea, and a woman who cannot be named due to legal reasons, murdered paedophile Glen Stinson in the small town of Foxton, New Zealand.
The trio killed Stinson after he was discovered sexually abusing a 10-year-old girl at a party in Palmerston North. Stinson had reportedly been awaiting trial over the rape of the child, when the woman threatened she was going to kill him.
As reported by Stuff, the three individuals shoved Stinson into a car and drove him to Foxton. At her trial, the woman claimed this was part of a plan to scare him.
However, once in Foxton, Stinson was beaten with a hammer and stomped on before being choked to death and left outside a poultry farm. Tamatea claimed they had only intended to give him a beating before leaving him there.
According to Stuff, Tamatea pleaded guilty to the murder of Stinson. And, speaking at the trial of Harrison and the unnamed woman, he claimed to have been the only person who inflicted violence on the convicted paedophile.
Tamatea reportedly made the following comments at the trial, according to Stuff:
I had the hammer, I used the hammer. It was only supposed to be a bash.
Both Tamatea and Harrison were found guilty of murder, while the anonymous woman was found guilty of manslaughter.
After serving a minimum sentence of 12 years, Harrison was up for parole in August 2019. However, this week a judge denied Harrison early parole after a report found he was at a high risk of re-offending.
Stuff reported Harrison’s early behaviour had been ‘poor’, including being involved with drugs. However, he was noted to have made progress, having changed his behaviour since 2016.
Harrison reportedly has an extensive criminal record, which includes violence, drugs and disobeying court orders. He also has six previous prison sentences.
Upon his release, according to Stuff, Harrison hopes to live away from the location where the murder was committed.
Tamatea had reportedly already been declined parole on two prior occasions, and still remains behind bar for the murder of Stinson.
Stinson first sexually offended at the age of 17, before racking up another 10 sex convictions and breaching his bail after being found watching pupils outside Palmerston North Boys’ High School.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues, and want to speak to someone in confidence regarding the welfare of a child contact the NSPCC on 0808 800 5000. If you are a child seeking advice and support call Childline for free on 0800 1111.
Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.