{"id":5202,"date":"2023-06-02T13:57:01","date_gmt":"2023-06-02T01:57:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/?p=5202"},"modified":"2023-06-02T14:42:09","modified_gmt":"2023-06-02T02:42:09","slug":"former-rugby-league-star-manu-vatuvei-released-on-parole","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/?p=5202","title":{"rendered":"Former rugby league star Manu Vatuvei released on parole"},"content":{"rendered":"<header class=\"article__header c-story-header\">\n<h1 class=\"c-story-header__headline\">Former rugby league star Manu Vatuvei released on parole<\/h1>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article__body\">\n<div class=\"photo-captioned photo-captioned-full photo-cntr eight_col \">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/rnz-ressh.cloudinary.com\/image\/upload\/s--yVBH43AO--\/ar_16:10,c_fill,f_auto,g_auto,q_auto,w_1050\/v1644506225\/4M34A9H_copyright_image_276733\" alt=\"Manu Vatuvei pictured in March 2021.\" width=\"1050\" height=\"700\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"photo-captioned__information\"><span class=\"caption\">In 2021, Manu Vatuvei pleaded guilty to importing methamphetamine.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Former rugby league star Manu Vatuvei has been released on parole after serving a third of his prison sentence.<\/p>\n<p>He was\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rnz.co.nz\/programmes\/the-detail\/story\/2018833389\/manu-vatuvei-s-fall-from-grace\">jailed<\/a>\u00a0for three years and seven months in March 2022 for importing about 500g of methamphetamine and amphetamine from India.<\/p>\n<p>The Parole Board met to hear his case last month and its written decision was released on Friday.<\/p>\n<p>The 37-year-old was released on 31 May.<\/p>\n<p>At his\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rnz.co.nz\/news\/national\/462580\/former-rugby-league-star-manu-vatuvei-sentenced-on-meth-import-charge\">sentencing<\/a>\u00a0on 2 March, 2022, the court heard Vatuvei became involved in a drug ring after a sequence of unfortunate life events, including a marriage breakup and forced retirement from professional sport.<\/p>\n<p>The court heard he was also influenced by the activities of an older relative who had a leading role in a relatively sophisticated drug importation business.<\/p>\n<p>The Parole Board said it was satisfied Vatuvei&#8217;s low risk of reoffending, safety plan, and comprehensive support in the community meant he could no longer be regarded as an undue risk.<\/p>\n<p>The board imposed a number of special conditions on his release, including the non-association with the Comancheros and Killer Beez gangs. While there was no evidence Vatuvei had ever been associated with the gangs, the provision was imposed as a precaution.<\/p>\n<p>He must also attend a drug and alcohol assessment and may be required to undergo a drug or alcohol test and submit to drug and alcohol monitoring.<\/p>\n<p>Vatuvei\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rnz.co.nz\/news\/sport\/490135\/vatuvei-to-be-released-from-prison-and-will-help-young-people\">will take up a role with the Warriors Rugby League Club<\/a>\u00a0as a mentor.<\/p>\n<p>The position is part-time and a voluntary role to help deliver programmes to young players around careers and best choices.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>SOURCE RNZ<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former rugby league star Manu Vatuvei released on parole In 2021, Manu Vatuvei pleaded guilty to importing methamphetamine.\u00a0 Former rugby league star Manu Vatuvei has been released on parole after serving a third of his prison sentence. He was\u00a0jailed\u00a0for three years and seven months in March 2022 for importing about 500g of methamphetamine and amphetamine [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[222,174],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-news","category-nz-news"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5202"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5202\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5204,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5202\/revisions\/5204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}