Wed 9 Nov 2016 In: New Zealand Daily News View at Wayback View at NDHA
Vicky Latele The chief executive of the Department of Corrections has this afternoon asked the Parole Board to consider releasing dying lesbian woman Vicky Letele from prison. The family of Letele, an ex-Silver Fern who has been serving a sentence for fraud and is dying from stomach cancer, have been pleading for her early release so she can spend her remaining weeks with her family which includes her female partner and two children. In a letter sent today to the Letele family Ray Smith of Corrections has advised them he considers her circumstances "meet the grounds for a compassionate release as she is seriously ill and unlikely to recover." He says he sympathises with her situation and has asked the Parole Board chairperson to consider her case urgently. Letele's fraud conviction related to using false documents to get $3.9-million worth of mortgages for low-income families.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Wednesday, 9th November 2016 - 7:00pm