Disgraced former knight gets parole
Wallace jailed after being convicted of indecent assault, perjury attempts
Disgraced arts patron James Wallace was granted parole yesterday afternoon and will be released from prison next month.
Wallace’s lawyer, David Jones KC, told the Weekend Herald his release date would be December 11.
Yesterday’s appearance was the second for the 85-year-old, who first sought and was refused parole in September, where he continued to deny his offending and show no remorse.
One of Wallace’s victims, author and lawyer Dom Shaheen, told the Herald he had assumed the patron would be granted parole yesterday because of his age.
“I’m not surprised at the result. For me, this truly feels like the beginning of the end of this whole ordeal,” he said.
Shaheen, who along with Wallace’s other victims have waived their statutory right to name suppression, said the system for informing victims of updates in cases “needs some improvement”.
“I’m disappointed that, once again, it’s the media who notified me about the Parole Board’s decision.”
As for Wallace, Shaheen said the former rich-lister will attempt to use philanthropy to rehabilitate his image.
“Any charity who chooses to work with him needs to understand that a relationship will him will have the opposite effect on their reputation.”
Another victim, Dudley Benson, took to social media after the parole decision, saying “this is part of the reason I left Aotearoa”.
Wallace was sentenced to a prison term of two years and four months in May 2021 after being convicted of indecently assaulting three men at his Auckland mansion and twice attempting to pervert the course of justice by trying to dissuade a victim from giving evidence against him.
At September’s first hearing, the philanthropist said it would be “a lie if I said I was now guilty just to get home”.
An agitated Wallace had also suggested that by the time yesterday’s hearing occurred, “I won’t be alive”.
After a lengthy legal battle to maintain name suppression, which was opposed by the Herald and Stuff, Wallace was finally named in June with the delivery of a Supreme Court judgment refusing anonymity.
Many of New Zealand’s leading institutions have now distanced themselves from Wallace, who was first charged in 2017.
Wallace was knighted in 2011. However, outgoing Prime Minister Chris Hipkins confirmed King Charles III had cancelled Wallace’s knighthood in August.
The Government began the process of stripping Wallace of his knighthood when his name suppression lapsed.
The Herald also earlier revealed some of New Zealand’s biggest names in film, art and classical music wrote 89 letters of support for Wallace during his sentencing, many of which lauded his financial support for the sector.
David Jones KC, Wallace’s lawyer, had earlier told the Parole Board the patron still “has people who trust him” and he wants to continue his philanthropy.
At Wallace’s first Parole Board hearing, the panel said it wanted to see more safety and support planning, which may include talking to a psychologist, before he could be released.
Wallace has said he is no longer at risk of further sexual offending.
If released, Wallace said he had a “great project” ahead of him with the multimilliondollar restoration of Christchurch’s McLean’s Mansion, which was damaged in the 2011 earthquakes.
Wallace, who had an estimated net worth of about $170 million, was found guilty of indecently assaulting three male victims at his home in the early 2000s, 2008 and 2016.
The 2016 victim was working for Wallace and living at his Epsom mansion, named Rannoch, at the time.
Despite being sentenced to prison, Wallace was released on bail a short time later to Rannoch pending his appeals, which were dismissed earlier this year.
Wallace was then ordered to report to the Department of Corrections at Mount Eden Prison on February 21.
Rannoch’s house manager Mustafa Erinc Yikar was convicted alongside Wallace for attempting to bribe the victim in what became known as the “Gold Coast plot”.
The efforts, which employed the services of PR consultant Jevan Goulter, occurred at the five-star Palazzo Versace hotel in Australia in late May 2017.
Entertainer Mika X, also known as Mika Haka, also pleaded guilty to two charges of attempting to pervert the course of justice over the scheme and another ploy and was sentenced to 11 months’ home detention.