Son of Black Widow set to be freed from prison
The son of Black Widow murderer Helen Milner is set to be released from prison after killing his friend in a high-speed crash while he was high on methamphetamine.
Adam Kearns, then 25, was sentenced last year to four years and six months in prison for causing the crash that killed Nicholas Brent Morrison in suburban Christchurch in December 2015.
Kearns was driving at more than 111kmh when he lost control on Wairakei Rd. The car fish tailed and slid sideways, crashing into a parked car and shunting it 21 metres forward. Kearns’ car continued sliding and came to rest in the front yard of a house.
Morrison, 25, died at the scene and a female passenger suffered a fractured pelvis, fractured vertebrae and broken wrist. She spent five weeks in hospital and had to use a wheelchair for another four weeks.
Kearns appeared before the Parole Board from Christchurch Men’s Prison on November 28. A report on the hearing, released yesterday, said Kearns had a long history of offending, mostly driven by drug use.
An earlier Parole Board hearing noted Kearns had completed all of the rehabilitation programmes available to him in prison, but needed to do three more things before he was released, including providing a safety plan to his supporters.
Kearns was still deemed to be at high risk of reoffending, but the work he had done in prison and the proposals for his release was enough to convince the board he was no longer an ‘‘undue risk’’ and could be released later this month.
Kearns will be placed under residential restrictions with a curfew at least until a monitoring hearing by the end of May.
He will also face several special conditions, including not to possess, use or consume alcohol, drugs or psychoactive substances until the end of his sentence in September 2020.
Kearns is also banned from having contact with the victims of his offending, including previous offending.