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Offender Database Ziggy Buckeridge

Ziggy Stardust Buckeridge

Alias

.

Offences

Murder of a 14 year old Rangiora girl and having unlawful sexual intercourse with her in April 1992
Also raped two female tourists at knife point in the late 1980's

Victims

Julie Sands

Offender Affiliations

.

Gang affiliations

none known

Age

Born 1962

Current Location

Prison

Parole/Release Dates

Sentenced to life with parole after 10 years in October 1992
He is also under preventive detention
Paroled December 2004
Breached his conditions August 2005, was back inside
Reparoled January 2011
Subsequently violated his conditions, now in custody again
Parole refused February 2012
Has next hearing February 2013

Background
Christchurch Press story here
Parole Board decision detailed here
From Listener article here
February 1992: Ziggy Stardust Buckeridge, 29, was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1992 for the murder of Julie Sands, a 14-year-old he had befriended. Buckeridge and Sands had walked to the Ashley River, near Rangiora. Initially, when she was reported missing, Buckeridge helped in the search for her before leading police to where he had buried her. He claimed he had accidentally stabbed her while defending her from being attacked.

A post-mortem showed Sands’ throat had been cut and she had been raped. Buckeridge, who changed his name to Ziggy Stardust from his original first name of Bevan, had earlier been imprisoned for the knife-point rape of two tourists. His father later faced an unrelated murder charge but was acquitted.

From a Christchurch Press story May 2005
Two convicted murderers have been sentenced to community work for breaching their life parole while living in central Christchurch. Ziggy Stardust Buckeridge, 43, and Stacy Dean Hollyman, 28, had both been released from jail to live at the Salisbury Foundation in St Albans when they failed a drugs test.

Buckeridge was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1992 for the murder of 14-year-old Julie Sands after they had walked together to the Ashley River, near Rangiora. Buckeridge cut the child's throat and then buried her near the river.

Hollyman was a 15-year-old Hastings schoolboy when he was sentenced to life imprisonment for stabbing to death his remedial reading teacher, Margaret Russell, in the bedroom of her Havelock North home. The killing in November 1991 was described at his trial as a "blind, unthinking frenzy" but the High Court jury in Napier rejected Hollyman's claim of manslaughter and found him guilty of murder.

Sergeant Jeff Kay, prosecuting, said their conditions of parole included that they remain drug-free but a urine test showed each had used cannabis. Phillip Allan, for Buckeridge, said "old matters in the past" had re-emerged for his client, who sought a meeting with a psychologist but resorted to self-medicating with cannabis in the meantime.

"He now has an appointment with a psychologist this time next week. He also has a drug and alcohol assessment and is doing Narcotics Anonymous," he said. Stephen Hembrow, for Hollyman, said his client considered himself fortunate to be paroled to the Salisbury Street foundation after a long time in jail.

Hollyman sought a fine instead of community work because he "did not wish to get back into old associations", the court heard. Judge Colin Doherty sentenced each to 40 hours community work. He described Hollyman's breach as "a slip rather than any long term behaviour... but it's an important slip for all that".

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Corrections and Additional Information
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