Dean Wickliffe

Dean Hugh Tekahu William Wickliffe (born 1948) is a notorious New Zealand criminal and prison escapee. He is the only person to have escaped Paremoremo maximum security prison twice, in 1976 and 1991.[1][2] He was New Zealand's longest-serving prisoner.[3]

Background

His father was an alcoholic and his mother abandoned him at the age of seven after his parents separated. Wickliffe said he had: "a fractious and traumatic childhood that led him down the dark path of crime and the destruction of himself and others." When he was 15, Wickliffe tracked his mother down in Auckland where she was living with her two daughters. She allowed him to move in provided he didn't drink. On his 16th birthday he came home under the influence and she kicked him out. Wickliffe said: "I went to stay at a caravan park and that's when I started to get into real trouble".[4] He has Irish, Scottish and Maori ancestry and jokes that "my Celtic blood leads my Maori blood astray".[5]

Criminal history

Wickliffe was convicted of murdering jeweller Paul Miet during an armed robbery in 1972. At a retrial 12 years later, the charge was reduced to manslaughter based on Wickliffe's claim that he had not meant to hurt anyone.[1][6] This decision was criticized by Supreme Court Judge Sir Trevor Henry (then retired) because Wickliffe had been armed with a fully loaded semi-automatic pistol.[6]

Wickliffe was released in 1995, but was later found guilty of murdering Bay of Plenty man, Richard Bluett. The conviction was quashed in 1998[1] and he was acquitted at a retrial.[7]

In April 2010 Wickliffe was sentenced to two years and nine months imprisonment for drug and firearms offences committed in March 2008.[8][9] In December 2011, six months after his release from that prison term, he was arrested for manufacture and possession of methamphetamine for supply and was sentenced to seven years imprisonment in March 2012.[10]

In 2016, Wickliffe was denied parole, the Parole Board finding that he posed "an undue risk to the community." The board granted parole on 17 May 2017 and he was released, subject to nine conditions for 5 years.[11]

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References
  1. "Dean Wickliffe to be freed from jail". 2011. Retrieved 2 October 2011. Wickliffe, notorious as the only New Zealander to twice escape the maximum security prison at Paremoremo, will be released from jail next month.
  2. "Dean Wickliffe: I want redemption". stuff.co.nz. 2011. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
  3. "My wasted years of crime". nzherald.co.nz. 2011. Retrieved 2 October 2011. Dean Wickliffe, recently released after being New Zealand's longest-serving prisoner, is a 'pretty straight guy'.
  4. NZ Herald, Exclusive: Dean Wickliffe, the life and times of New Zealand's most 'notorious' crim
  5. Dean Wickliffe: I want redemption
  6. "Obituary: Sir Trevor Henry". nzherald.co.nz. 2011. Retrieved 2 October 2011. His involvement with various tasks after his retirement showed his mind remained sharp and attuned to issues of the law. In 1987, he criticised a Court of Appeal decision allowing Dean Wickliffe's appeal against his murder conviction. Wickliffe based his appeal on a claim that he did not mean to hurt anyone, although armed with a fully loaded semi-automatic pistol.
  7. "Prebble criticises Wickliffe release". nzherald.co.nz. 2011. Retrieved 2 October 2011. Wickliffe was sentenced in 1972 for the killing of a Wellington jeweller. He was jailed again in 1997 after being found guilty of murdering Bay of Plenty man Richard Bluett. The Court of Appeal later quashed that conviction and Wickliffe was acquitted at a retrial.
  8. "Parolee jailed". The New Zealand Herald. 26 April 2010. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
  9. "Wickliffe awaits two verdicts". The New Zealand Herald. 26 November 2008. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
  10. Morton, Jamie (30 March 2012). "Recidivist criminal back in prison for making P". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
  11. "Dean Wickliffe, one of NZ's most high-profile criminals, granted parole". The New Zealand Herald – nzherald.co.nz. 18 May 2017. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
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