A Burnie man who held a couple hostage in their Irishtown home in 2014 has been paroled.
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Madison Stuart Ansell was released in May, less than three years after he was jailed for aggravated burglary, aggravated armed robbery and breaching a suspended sentence.
Alongside another Burnie man, Simon Cole Wigg, Ansell taped the couple to chairs and robbed them at knifepoint.
Sentencing Ansell in October, 2014, Justice Helen Wood described the burglary as a “terrifying ordeal” during which Ansell and Wigg told the couple not to call the police or they would come back and “finish them off”.
Publishing its decision this week, the board said Ansell had been denied parole in November last year due to his behaviour while in prison.
But the board said “whilst serving his custodial sentence the applicant has been able to improve his behaviour of late”.
“Contributory to the applicant’s past offending behaviour has been his use of drugs, engagement with antisocial acquaintances, use of alcohol, boredom and mental health issues,” the decision read.
“He has transitioned from a maximum to medium classification, his last internal offending was at the lower end of the spectrum and occurred in October 2016 and his case notes identify a “significant recent improvement in behaviour and compliance”.”
The board said Ansell’s 10-year-old daughter was his motivation for making a positive lifestyle change upon his release.
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