Parole denied for ex-pastor
A former Invercargill church pastor who committed a home invasion has been denied parole.
Simon Gordon Wallace, 51, appeared via audio-visual link before the New Zealand Parole Board on December 4.
The former Invercargill Grace Presbyterian Church elder was sentenced to three years and six months in prison for injuring with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, burglary, and careless operation of a motor vehicle causing injury.
Wallace entered a woman’s home armed with cable ties, a towel, leather training mitts and white latex gloves.
The woman had been asleep, but awoke to a strong smell, similar to nail polish.
She put her bedroom light on and the balaclava-wearing Wallace began punching her around the head.
She feared she was going to die before she managed to flee her attacker and raise the alarm.
Wallace offered his unsuspecting victim a place to stay after the assault.
DNA evidence later identified him as her assailant.
‘‘I don’t know whether he was planning to rape me, kill me, or both. He is a dangerous person,’’ she told the court at his sentencing in August 2015.
At his last appearance before the Parole Board, he said his offending arose out of medication prescribed for insomnia.
A forensic psychiatric report did not support his view.
‘‘I know what I know and I believe what I believe,’’ he said.
Wallace broke into the woman’s home with the intention of committing a much more serious crime that what he was convicted for, the board noted in its latest decision.
‘‘While there may be a low likelihood of future violence, if it did occur it could be serious or lifethreatening.’’
He was requested to undergo the ‘‘necessary psychological treatment to enable him to develop insight into his offending and to update his safety plan accordingly’’.
Wallace has a statutory release date of November 25, 2018. He would be seen by the board again in July.