A drug addict convicted of killing an 8-month-old baby he believed was his daughter, an act committed while he was coming down from using methamphetamine, has been denied parole but his release from prison remains imminent.

Nicho Caleb Frater was aged 23 when he threw baby Bella Richardson to the ground in a fit of frustration at the Hackett St, Whanganui, home he shared with Bella’s mother Kirsty Richardson on November 7, 2016.

He had moved into the house with Richardson and her three other children a month before Bella’s death after being told he was her father.

Bella stopped breathing and went limp and attempts by Frater, who had taken methamphetamine and was using cannabis almost daily at the time of the death, and his mother to revive her were unsuccessful.

She had suffered a brain and spinal cord haemorrhage which caused immediate or near-immediate death but Frater, who tried to conceal his offending, which in turn put suspicion on Bella’s mother, wasn’t charged until almost two years after her death.

In December 2019 in the High Court at Whanganui, Frater, who had 10 previous convictions for family violence including assault with a weapon and threatening to kill, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment.

The 29-year-old, who has a statutory release date of September 20, 2023, appeared before the Parole Board on May 29, 2023.

At a previous hearing in March 2023, it was noted Frater had completed one-to-one treatment with a psychologist, in lieu of the Special Treatment Unit: Violent Offending (STU:VO) and the Drug Treatment Programme (DTP) which had been removed from his sentence plan.

In its recently released decision, panel convenor Kathryn Snook said Frater accepted he was a methamphetamine user and had committed further crimes before his arrest for Bella’s death, fuelled by the drug which posed a risk.

“He said that things will be different now he has completed the one-to-one treatment and he does not feel the need to use drugs now,” Snook said.

Frater spoke to the board about his current relationship and had put the woman’s address forward as potential accommodation once he was released.

Snook said the woman’s address had not been previously raised and there was no material before the board which referred to her supporting Frater.

“He said that he would not stay there for longer than a few months before finding his own place.”

There had been no reintegration meeting held yet, Snook noted, and Frater had not participated in any reintegration activities, partly because guided releases had only just opened up at his current prison.

Snook said Frater’s release was deemed an undue risk and his parole was declined.

“The board is not comfortable with the current release proposal. We think that Mr Frater needs to develop an alternative release proposal.”

A reintegration meeting needed to be held before Frater’s next appearance before the board and it should be attended by anyone who would be supporting him on his release, the decision stated.

“Preferably this should happen after he has an approved release proposal,” Snook said.

“It should also be clear to the next board what support Mr Frater will be receiving in the community for his past issues, including in relation to his use of methamphetamine.”

Due to Frater’s offending, the board believed he should be subject to a special condition of not being permitted to have unsupervised contact with under-16-year-olds.

Frater’s next parole appearance is due to be held by the end of August 2023, just 20 days before he has to be released.

-Leighton Keith, Open Justice

Leighton Keith joined NZME as an Open Justice reporter based in Whanganui in 2022. He’s been a journalist for 20 years covering a variety of topics and rounds.