Killer wins fight to wear toupee in jail
Convicted murderer Phillip John Smith has won a court case where he alleged his rights were breached in prison because he could not wear a wig.
Corrections prevented him from wearing the hairpiece after he used it to disguise himself when he fled to Brazil while on temporary release.
At a hearing in the High Court at Auckland earlier this month, Smith argued his case in person – that his freedom of expression was ignored and that his rights had been breached.
He told the court he was left humiliated when his baldness was revealed through national media as a result of publicity surrounding his escape.
He also argued that his hairpiece was an ‘‘artwork’’ that was protected by the right to freedom of expression.
Smith was serving a life sentence for a murder in Wellington in 1996. He sexually abused a child when he was 17, and returned at the age of 21 to kill the child’s father.
Smith was on temporary release when he disappeared to South America – and is now serving a further 33 months in prison for that escape.
Yesterday, Justice Edwin Wylie released a decision in which he said he was reluctant to interfere with prison management, but agreed with Smith.
‘‘Court should not become involved in micro-managing the prison system. Rather, prison managers should be left to maintain prison order and discipline,’’ the decision said.
‘‘In the present case, I have concluded that Mr Smith’s fundamental right to freedom of expression was ignored, and circumstances, which required to be taken into account. An important right has been breached, and the breach may be material.’’
The judge quashed the December 1, 2014 decision made by Corrections, and remitted it back to the department for further consideration. He declined to award Smith $5000 in damages.
According to the judgment, Smith received approval to first wear a custom-made hairpiece in 2012, when he was a low security prisoner at Auckland Prison at Paremoremo.
Smith said he had ongoing issues with self-esteem and confidence, and as a result he used a hat in public settings to conceal his baldness. He said he removed the hat only when required to do so to comply with prison rules.
His toupee was created at Precision Hair Plus Studio, custommade, and was issued to him in April 2013.
Prison staff revoked permission for him to wear the hairpiece after his escape to Brazil.
Auckland Prison director Thomas Sherlock told Justice Wylie: ‘‘For him to continue to retain the hairpiece would be inconsistent with the reasons I approved the application in the first place.’’