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Alfred Vincent, about 12 years old, in a standard photo of 2 Kaiapoi school classes, 1949. (File photo)
An attempt has been made to free Alf Vincent, New Zealand’s oldest prisoner.
His attorney, Tony Ellis, says Vincent’s continued detention is illegal and ridiculous.
Sunday will mark 52 years since Vincent was sentenced to preventive detention, an indefinite term that was imposed on charges of indecent assault.
While his crimes qualified him for indefinite detention, it could not reasonably be suggested that when Vincent was sentenced in 1968 in Christchurch, Judge Macarthur would have been considering a sentence of 50 years, admitted Crown Attorney Austin Powell.
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* New Zealand’s oldest prisoner, Alfred Vincent, appeals to the Privy Council
* ‘Inhumane’ to free the oldest prisoner who will spend half a century in jail
Vincent is expected to turn 83 in October, has dementia and is in the high dependency unit of the prison system at Rimutaka prison, north of Wellington.
In Wellington Superior Court on Thursday, Powell said that Department of Corrections officers, even doing their best, could not provide the level of care that Vincent needed.
Vincent was still able to walk and was still able to approach other prisoners inappropriately, Powell said.
The facilities that cared for people with their needs were all privately run and could not be forced to accept it.
Cameron Burnell / Things
Attorney Tony Ellis says Alf Vincent should receive more appropriate care outside of prison. (File photo)
In 2019 an alternative was thought to be available and it seemed on the verge of being fixed when publicity about Vincent’s case caused the institution’s directors to pull out of the plan, Powell said.
But Ellis said the Parole Board’s decision that Vincent was still an undue risk to release was not only irrational, it was ridiculous.
Vincent slept during Ellis’s most recent visit.
Ellis said the Superior Court should order Vincent’s release. The request was sent on short notice to a Wellington Superior Court judge on Thursday. Judge Jill Mallon dropped the case for a hearing in November, on a broader legal basis than originally intended.
Ellis had originally asked for a “writ of habeas corpus,” an old legal recourse that requires proof of lawful detention.
Monique Ford / Stuff
Judge Jill Mallon adjourned Alf Vincent’s case for a full hearing in November. (File photo)
If Vincent won, the Crown could not appeal. In other cases in the past, it had created a danger to others that authorities could do nothing about, Powell said.
The delay until November would also allow time to obtain evidence from the people in Corrections who were responsible for trying to find alternatives to Vincent’s home, Powell said.
An updated medical report on Vincent would be sought.
Ellis said that in the meantime he would also ask the governor general to remit Vincent’s sentence, should the legal action fail.
An attorney has been appointed to instruct Ellis for the purposes of court proceedings because Vincent is unable to do so. In addition to her dementia, she had been assessed to have an IQ of 65, with particularly low verbal comprehension.
Phil Reid / THINGS
Crown attorney Austin Powell says more information is needed to properly consider Alf Vincent’s case. (File photo)
Ellis said he was concerned that a note in Vincent’s prison medical record indicated that Vincent would only receive hospice care, and that he would “no longer receive active care,” suggesting that if he became ill he would not be treated.
Vincent’s life could be in danger and he requested that Powell and Corrections consider it urgently.
Powell said Vincent was receiving adequate care.
Over the years, Vincent has had about 50 Board of Parole hearings, but so far the board has deemed him an undue risk to the safety of the public. A year ago he said that he still exhibited some sexualized behavior that was a significant danger and invaded other people’s space.
The board declined to consider a compassionate release request.
In 2016, a failed attempt was made to have the Privy Council hear an appeal against Vincent’s sentence.
It was previously reported that the only time Vincent spent out of jail during the last five decades was in the early 1980s, when he was given daily passes to work and also had weekend permits for a few months, when he stayed with his father.
However, his entire license was revoked in October 1984. He was charged with preparing to commit a crime in a public place after he was seen talking to young children in a park and one put his arm around Vincent, it was reported.
