Accused’s letters go to top

The man accused of the Christchurch mosque attacks may be allowed to resume sending letters from his prison cell.

The man, who is accused of killing 51 people on March 15, was denied the right to post letters this week after it emerged one had been posted in an online messaging board popular with white supremacists.

But Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis conceded yesterday the man may be allowed to send letters again. But Davis said he had told the Department of Corrections to immediately implement a new process around the man’s correspondence.

Davis said the letter blunder had happened because there was not enough scrutiny.

However, he stopped short of confirming anyone would lose their job over the matter, saying that was an operational matter for Corrections.

At a meeting with Davis yesterday, senior managers from the Department of Corrections apologised ‘‘unreservedly’’ to the minister over the matter.

On Wednesday, the Department of Corrections said the Christchurch mosque attacks accused would no longer be able to send or receive mail, after he managed to send a ‘‘hateful’’ letter to a supporter from his prison cell. Corrections halted his access to the mail system until there was an assurance his correspondence with the outside world ‘‘upholds the safety of the public’’.

A new system would be put in place immediately that would see more layers of scrutiny and more people looking at the accused’s letters, Davis said.

Under the Corrections Act, prisoners are allowed to send and receive mail and it can only be withheld under certain circumstances and with good reason.

For this reason, the 28-year-old Australian man could likely be allowed to send and receive letters again.

A Corrections intelligence team was responsible for reviewing the letter and passing it to the prison director, who then decided whether it should be sent.

‘‘That was two layers and it wasn’t enough,’’ Davis said.

Now a Corrections intelligence team, psychologists, prison

senior staff, the chief custodial officer and partner agencies would all have a look at the letters. Corrections chief executive Christine Stevenson would then have the ultimate sign-off decision on the letters.

‘‘That is how seriously we are taking it,’’ Davis said.