Basil Mist was released on parole from Whanganui prison in December last year – a place he called home for nearly two decades. Photo / NZME
A man who spent two decades behind bars for killing his partner and sexually abusing children remains under strict supervision but now wants more freedom.
Basil Steven Marshall Mist was released from jail on parole last year and an extended supervision order (ESO) was imposed.
Today, he turned to the Court of Appeal, seeking the order be quashed or re-evaluated.
Mist was jailed for 20 years for a string of sexual offences against young girls between 1998 and 2002, and for killing his 17-year-old partner, Barbara Miller, in 2002.
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He was acquitted of murder but found guilty of manslaughter in relation to the Palmerston North death.
Mist was released from jail four months before his sentence was due to expire. He had not completed the treatment programmes offered to him inside and so as a protective measure, the Department of Corrections successfully asked the High Court to impose a 10-year ESO.
An ESO is used when a high-risk sex offender or a very high-risk violent offender is released into the community.
The Department of Corrections told the Court of Appeal that Mist remained a high risk of reoffending and that the decision to impose the order should be upheld.
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But lawyer Andrew Bailey, on behalf of Mist, argued there wasn’t enough material for the order to be made and the relevant criteria that had to be met under the Parole Act about risk weren’t clearly made out in the High Court’s decision.
Mist, who was in his late teens when he was sent to prison, has matured since his offending, Bailey said.
Lawyer Stuart Baker, on behalf of the chief executive for the Department of Corrections, said Mist himself admitted an ESO would be appropriate.
Mist, according to Baker, acknowledged he needed assistance because he had not done the prison programmes.
Baker said a psychological report was sufficient in proving the relevant criteria under the Parole Act.
The Court of Appeal reserved its decision.
Hazel Osborne is an Open Justice reporter for NZME and is based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Wellington. She joined the Open Justice team at the beginning of 2022, previously working in Whakatāne as a court and crime reporter in the Eastern Bay of Plenty.
