Distress as killer set to be released

The family of a man who was wrongly accused of being a paedophile before he was doused with petrol and set alight are ‘‘deeply distressed’’ one of his killers will soon be released from prison.

Terry Smith, 55, died from severe burns to his body after Shay Barry Webster and Jason Alistair Barr poured petrol on him and then flicked a lighter, which caused the fumes to ignite.

After a hearing on January 26, the Parole Board agreed Webster could be released on parole on July 25.

The trio were drinking at a house in Christchurch’s Sullivan Ave on Anzac Day 2013, when Webster and Barr confronted Smith in a bedroom and wrongly accused him of being a paedophile. Smith denied the allegations and subsequent police inquiries established they were unfounded.

Barr doused Smith with a tin of petrol before Webster set him alight.

Smith received burns to 30 per cent of his body and was intubated at Christchurch Hospital. He never regained consciousness and died in hospital a fortnight later.

In 2014, Webster was jailed for manslaughter for five years and three months with a minimum non-parole period of two years, six months. He had more than 60 convictions and told the Parol Board he had been a member of the Bloods gang since he was young. Barr was jailed for five years and seven months with a minimum non-parole period of two years, nine months.

Smith’s family, the Sensible Sentencing Trust and members of the public expressed outrage at the jail terms.

Smith’s ex-wife, Michelle Smith, said it was distressing Webster would be released to Christchurch, despite the family’s concerns. The board said the family’s views ‘‘produced something of a dilemma’’ as Webster’s ‘‘solid wraparound support’’ network could accommodate him only if he was placed in Christchurch.

The board’s report highlighted ‘‘very tight conditions, which are designed to minimise the risk of inadvertent contact’’ around Webster’s release, including a 5-kilometre exclusion zone around any victims’ addresses. Webster would be subject to GPS monitoring to ensure the boundaries were strictly adhered to.

Smith said the thought of bumping into Webster caused ‘‘huge distress’’ to the family.

‘‘That isn’t something we want our family to have to go through.’’

Only time would tell if Webster was truly sorry for his crime, she said.

‘‘It’s up to what he does rather than what he says now – saying sorry is one thing, but what sorry looks like is turning his life around, stop making excuses, getting a job and not going back to jail. It’s up to him now.’’

Smith earlier said Webster’s and Barr’s sentences were ‘‘pathetic for what they did, but we want them to serve each and every day of it’’. The family dedicated countless hours to campaigning to keep the killers in prison.

She said meeting Webster in a restorative justice session before his latest Parole Board hearing was ‘‘incredibly tough’’ and ‘‘very confronting’’, and it was difficult to find closure when the process seemed never-ending.

The board’s report said Webster had an ‘‘extensive criminal history’’ and he had been removed from the prison’s Special Treatment Unit Rehabilitation Programme for fighting. A prison report said his work was ‘‘excellent’’ though and his behaviour ‘‘very good’’. He completed two intensive rehabilitation programmes and a six-month Drug Treatment Unit course.