The mother of Christie Marceau says she's disgusted the man who killed her daughter is allowed out in the community.
Akshay Chand was found not guilty by reason of insanity five years ago and as a full-time patient in a psychiatric facility, he's now allowed escorted leave.
But Christie's family wants to know why they weren't told.
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"I am absolutely disgusted this is a - well, I don't call him a man - this creature, that they can't even decide what his diagnosis is because it is so complex. How can you let someone like that out when you can't even diagnose them properly?" mother Tracey Marceau tells Newshub.
Ms Marceau and her husband, Brian, are speaking out after learning the man who took the life of their daughter is out in the community under supervision.
"They are not going to be able to stop him. I was there that day; I couldn't stop him," Ms Marceau says.
On November 7 2011, Chand stabbed Christie to death in her own backyard. She died in her mother's arms. He was on bail at the time, but was found not guilty by reason of insanity and put in the care of Auckland's Mason Clinic.
Victims' advocate Ruth Money says someone at the clinic has confirmed to her he's on escorted leave and has been out and about in Point Chevalier. She says Chand has visited the library, the local McDonald's and Countdown supermarket.
The visit to Countdown is chilling for the Marceaus, because it's the same chain where Chand and Christie worked together. The parents fear it could trigger him.
"I don't believe they have rehabilitated him in the slightest. They have just dulled him for that whole time and now they have deluded themselves he is of good thought," Mr Marceau says.
Short, escorted leave outside hospital grounds has to be approved by the Director of Mental Health, Dr John Crawshaw.
He tells Newshub: "Forensic mental health rehabilitation involves a progression of carefully managed leave in the community.
"Prior notice... must be given to registered victims. The first notice of this kind occurs when the special patient is granted unescorted community leave."
Chand was escorted, so that means the Marceaus were not told. Their lawyer, Nicky Pender, wants a law change.
"It's not about giving them any rights of veto because they don't have any rights now, but it's ensuring that they are kept up to date with process just to protect them and to be compassionate at the end of the day," he tells Newshub.
The recent Coroner's inquest heard Chand admitted to fooling everyone about his state of mind, and Ms Marceau hasn't changed her opinion since the day of the murder.
"I was there. I saw him and with a grin on his face and say the words to me, 'I am glad,'" she says.
"Someone who says that is not insane. Someone who says that intentionally kills. He is a murderer and will always be a murderer."
The Coroner has yet to report her findings.
Meanwhile, Christie's ashes remain in a temporary box, watched over by a favourite stuffed toy and still waiting to be laid to rest.
Newshub.
