The man jailed for almost 13 years for killing RNZ journalist Phillip Cottrell has been released, despite still being high risk and disengaging with rehabilitation.
Nicho Waipuka was sentenced to 12 years and 10 months for manslaughter in 2013 and was freed from prison this week.
In July he was declined parole, and his statutory release date was 11 October, with Corrections confirming he was released on Wednesday.
Cottrell was on his way home at about 5:30am after finishing an overnight shift at the broadcaster when he was attacked on Boulcott St in December 2011.
The 43-year-old had brittle bones as a result of a genetic condition and died in hospital the next day.
Cottrell’s sister, Sue Hollows, remembers his passion for journalism going way back to their childhood.
“We used to have our own little newspaper that we made up in the old days where everything was hand-written, and then [we] had a … photocopier. We’d copy all these editions of our newspaper.
“That’s kind of where it started,” Hollows said.
Cottrell was also passionate about travelling and had visited 73 countries with the goal of making it to 100.
Hollows kept his memory alive through his passion of travel.
“He had a big list of where he’s been, the next countries he needed to go to. We had a memento keyrings [and] whoever went travelling would take that with them and take a picture to show that they were there and then we just kept ticking off the countries.
“And it’s just been a really nice way to remember him,” Hollows said.
Good friend and RNZ presenter Lloyd Scott worked with Cottrell before his assault and was with him in his final hours in hospital.
He fondly recalled all the nights they spent together on their breaks over a meal.
“We’d … talk about things, in those wee small hours with the darkness outside in the cafe at Radio New Zealand … they were lovely [moments]. We didn’t always agree about stuff, but he was a clever man, he was intellectual, and he had his own ideas about things,” Scott said.
RNZ chief executive Paul Thompson said in a statement that Cottrell’s death was still felt strongly by his colleagues at RNZ.
“Phillip was a very fine journalist and writer, and held in high regard for his professional standards.
“He was also, by all accounts of those that worked with him and called him a friend, an unassuming and kind man. He was an incredibly valued part of RNZ’s whanau, and our thoughts are with Phillip’s family and friends,” Thompson said.
Scott is one of those people who is still grieving Cottrell’s loss to this day.
“I didn’t think it would affect me like this but it does, even after all this time. I’ve got a book that the funeral parlour put out with photographs and a page with all the signatures of people who came and things like that. And I’ve got three photos of him in different parts of the house that are all just sitting there really and have been there ever since. Every now again I see them and talk to him,” Scott said.
The Parole Board found his Waipuka was unmotivated to attend a short violence prevention programme, had disengaged with rehabilitation and remained at high risk.
Since a previous appearance before the board last year in December, he incurred two misconduct charges including getting in a fight with another prisoner.
A routine check also found an unauthorised modified smoking pipe in his cell.
Hollows said that Waipuka was being released while still at high risk was worrying.
She said she did not want anyone else to go through the same loss her family and his friends are going through.
rnz.co.nz
