Dean Wickliffe, the 77-year-old Te Arawa kaumātua who accused the Corrections staff of assaulting him earlier this month, has ended his hunger strike and has been released from Spring Hill Correction Facility this afternoon.

In a Facebook live on his lawyer Annette Sykes’s account shortly before 5 p.m., Wickliffe offered his heartfelt thanks to supporters.

“I just want to say thank you all…from my heart,” a visibly frail Wickliffe told supporters.

In June 2020, he was released on bail to an address in Maketū.

However, following a change in his living arrangements, he was taken back into custody on March 5 this year.

His hearing before the Parole Board, brought forward from early April to this afternoon, relied on his legal team’s ability to provide a satisfactory parole address for the board.

Wickliffe thanked Tame Iti and Greens MP Steve Abel, both of whom appeared at the hearing by Zoom and who had both been calling for Wickliffe’s release on compassionate grounds.

“Cyclone Sykes smashed her submission out the gate,” Te Ringahuia Hata said of lawyer Annette Sykes’s “cool and calm” submission to the Parole Board.

“Dean is free, whānau!”

‘Adequately addressed’

Corrections confirmed with Te Ao Māori News that Wickliffe appeared before the Parole Board and ultimately exercised discretion to grant his release.

“The Board considered Mr Wickliffe’s accommodation and support proposal adequately addressed the risk.”

In reviewing his supervision conditions, the Board also removed the requirement for electronic monitoring.

The full written decision from today’s hearing will be available for release in about 10 working days.