‘I will never forgive him’
Sex attack victim to face brutal killer as he makes bid for freedom.
Aformer sex worker who was kidnapped and raped by a callous killer cannot forgive or forget what he did more than 20 years ago.
Amanda Watt, is petrified Hayden Taylor — who attacked her and who she describes as a “monster” — will be granted parole tomorrow at his 12th hearing in front of the Parole Board.
Taylor, 41, is on preventive detention at Paremoremo prison for the murder of pregnant teenager Nicola Rankin in September 1996, a horrific crime he committed while on bail for raping Watt six months earlier.
“I will never forgive him. It made it worse when he killed Nicola and her baby. I am lucky he spared me but I hated him having that power,” Watt said tearfully.
When Taylor sought release from prison in 2009 it came to light at the Parole Board hearing that he had allegedly abducted and raped a 14-year-old girl before going on to kill Rankin.
The girl did not press charges. Watt — who has previously waived her right to anonymity as a victim of sexual assault — has made a plea for the woman to come forward and press charges.
“Any time is a good time. We will support you. We don’t want him to re-offend.”
Tomorrow Watt, along with Rankin’s Australia-based mother, Carol, will attend the Parole Board hearing.
Watt said Carol Rankin found every Parole Board meeting stressful and feared Taylor would eventually be released from prison.
She still felt “demonised” Taylor and his offending.
Her message to the Parole Board would be: “How long can you keep him in? You are the ones with the power, it’s up to you but I will never feel safe if Hayden’s out.”
At least year’s Parole Board hearing Taylor continued to deny responsibility for elements of his crimes. The board noted Taylor’s continual denial his crimes were sexually motivated. by
The killer met Rankin when they were St John ambulance workers. He forced the teenager to walk into the remote Riverhead Forest, 35km northwest of Auckland and bludgeoned her with a spade.
Rankin’s body was found in a shallow grave with her hands bound behind her back and her underwear was removed.
Taylor had just been released on bail for a strikingly similar attack on Watt in April 1996, in which he threatened her with a knife, tied her hands behind her back and raped her in his car.
“We [sex workers] have 30 seconds who we choose to get into the car with — he was [my] biggest mistake,” said Watt, 41, who worked on Karangahape Rd for nine years.
“At first glance he looked innocent, friendly and cute even. I thought there is no risk here.
“He held a knife to my throat and raped me. I kept saying, ‘Please don’t kill me, please don’t kill me’.”
Taylor drove her to Muriwai beach, where he tried to force her into the sand dunes. Terrified he would kill her, Watt managed to persuade him to return to the city.
He has completed the adult sex offender treatment programme and other rehabilitation courses, but the Parole Board has previously ruled he did not meet the threshold for release.
Watt said she understood Taylor had previously been granted weekend leave from prison.
But she said: “I don’t think he can be rehabilitated.”
A Corrections spokesperson said Taylor had not been involved in any release programmes — including release to work or home visits — since 2014.
“How long can you keep him in?” Amanda Watt