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David Tamihere in December 2009 - Source: ONE News -
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This is a big old whinge by a damp and not-so-fun journalist
about a damp and a not-so-fun start to the week.
On Monday morning convicted murderer David Tamihere was released
from Spring Hill prison in north Waikato, and I was part of the
crew sent down to stand outside and see if he had anything to say.
For us, it meant a 3am start to stand in a paddock in the rain. We
were bleary-eyed and groggy. It wasn't a whole heap of fun.
But before we could actually reach the Spring Hill facility we
were stopped by a bright orange road block. Six prison wardens had
been sent to stand on the road a few kilometres from the prison
grounds to control the traffic going in to prison. Keep in mind
that at 5am on a Monday morning there isn't a lot of traffic in
rural Waikato. The odd rubbish truck, a few wardens changing
shifts, that's pretty much it.
The six wardens were really on the road block to keep the media
from getting any closer to the prison. We were all complicit, and
they didn't have much to do. A couple of staff probably waved down
a car once or twice every five minutes and spent the rest of their
time standing around chatting. It wasn't high-stress stuff.
I tried to make conversation with the boss officer, a woman in a
hi-vis jacket. I thought it might be nice to say hello. She didn't
think it was so nice. I thought it might be nice to joke about the
weather. She didn't think it was so nice. As I strolled up to the
orange line, she charged across the road and started yelling at me.
She pointed her finger over my shoulder and ordered me to retreat
the few metres to stand behind the cones. She wasn't a whole heap
of fun.
For two and a half hours, we media just stood there. Eight or 10 of
us all up. We simply loitered around on the side of the road,
kicking our heels and whingeing about rain. Woe was us.
Now as you may be aware, prison is a place where there are lots of
rules. When you arrive, there's a fair bit of paperwork, and when
you leave, it's not much different.
The standard release procedure rules that outmates (I know it's not
a word...) are to be released from prison any time between 7am and
8pm. The only time this doesn't happen is when corrections
authorities and the prison boss grant an 'Exceptional Circumstances
Release'. That's what happened with David Tamihere. After more than
20 years incarcerated, prison officials decided to let him out
around 3am on the day of his release.
They knew there would be media interest in his release, and they
didn't want him to be a part of it. By the time we turned up at
5am, David Tamihere had met up with his family and headed
home.
You know what... that's fine. Decisions on release are made by
people who know much more about prison and rehabilitation than we
do. The rules are specific and corrections officials undoubtedly
have the authority to grant exceptional circumstances releases.
But why the road block? David Tamihere was gone.
And why commit six prison staff to keep 10 media parked in a
paddock? David Tamihere was gone.
And why not tell the media that David Tamihere was gone? What was
achieved by committing six prison wardens to ordering media behind
some orange cones, when nobody, including the wardens, really
needed to be there? In many ways, it felt like a purposeful
deceit.
On Monday morning at Spring Hill prison the warden-to-journalist
ratio was higher than the warden-to-prisoner ratio. To me, that
seems just a little bit silly.
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