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Offender Databases Jennifer Norton-Bennett

Jennifer Jean Norton-Bennett

Alias

Offences

Murder of 23 year old Robert James Gawith in the Coromandel district in August 1986
Also while on parole, wilful damage in 2000, driving drunk in 2005

Victims

Robert James Gawith

Offender Affiliations

.

Gang affiliations

none known

Age

Born 1951

Current Location

Christchurch at large

Parole/Release Dates

Sentenced to "life" imprisonment in June 1988
Paroled 1998, but reoffended twice

Background
NZ Herald story here
More from the Nelson Mail 18/01/2007
A convicted murderer living in Nelson who was acquitted on a drug charge could be kept in jail despite the verdict, his lawyer says. A Nelson jury found Patrick Michael George Norton-Bennett, 58, not guilty of cultivating cannabis near his home - a charge that saw the Parole Board recall him to prison last July. He returned to prison after being acquitted of the charge on Tuesday and is due to come before the board again in July. Norton-Bennett was found guilty of a drug-related murder in 1988 and was also a player in the Mr Asia drug cartel. Norton-Bennett's lawyer Tony Bamford said he was yet to receive instructions from his client but he expected Norton-Bennett would seek early release from prison based on his acquittal.

Mr Bamford didn't know what the chances were of Norton-Bennett getting early parole because the verdict did not dictate the board's decision. "It tends to approach the issue of evidence and proof of offending in a slightly different way to criminal courts." But the drug charge was the only "relatively serious offence" Norton-Bennett had been accused of during the last five years on parole, he said. Last February police found 109 cannabis plants growing near the Pigeon Valley Rd property that Norton-Bennett leased. In June 1988 Norton-Bennett and his then wife Jennifer Norton-Bennett were sentenced to life imprisonment after being found guilty of a 1986 drug-related murder in Coromandel. He was released from prison on June 25, 2001 on standard conditions for life.

In its July decision recalling Norton-Bennett to prison, the Parole Board said there was sufficient evidence for it to find Norton-Bennett had committed the cannabis offence. It also concluded Norton-Bennett posed an undue risk to the safety of the community. The board stated Norton-Bennett had a considerable history of offending, with about 50 convictions in New Zealand alone. About 17 of those were for violence, and about nine were drug related, including a conviction for cultivating cannabis in 1986. "Of course, these convictions go back some distance because of the lengthy period the respondent spent in prison for murder, but they are there and they indicate a pattern and indicate a serious concern about somebody with that sort of record."

It said the drug-related murder Norton-Bennett was convicted of involved an issue or dispute about cannabis or the cultivation of it. Mr Bamford had submitted Norton-Bennett was not an undue risk to the community and that the board could not make an order for recall on the basis that an offence had been committed when the charge had yet to be dealt with by the court. However, the board said it could deal with the question of whether an offence had been committed by applying the balance of probabilities standard rather than the standard of beyond reasonable doubt. The report said a probation officer had no cause for concern about Norton-Bennett's performance on parole or behaviour in the community, and the board had also read a letter about the turn Norton-Bennett said his life had taken over the past few years.

Divorced Patrick Norton-Bennett in 2001

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Corrections and Additional Information
We endeavour to make this database as accurate as possible, but we are at the mercy of whatever information we can find in various online and offline archives. We rely on the public - that is, people like you - to fill in the gaps that we cannot. If you wish to submit additional information or a correction to this file CLICK HERE . Privacy: Trust policy is that all sources are treated as strictly confidential unless we are explicitly told otherwise. If you wish to see a file removed from this database certain conditions must be met by the offender set out HERE Note that this does NOT apply for those that are the primary offender in a murder, rape, or any sexual offending involving minors. We do not enter into correspondence regarding the guilt/innocence of offenders. Such correspondence is not responded to, especially if the offender concerned has a number of prior convictions

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