A confidential file lost by the Department of Corrections includes information on some of the country's most infamous criminals, including David Wayne Tamihere and Bailey Junior Kurariki.
The highly sensitive file was apparently found on an Auckland street by a member of the public, revealed by TV3 last night as a former Corrections employee.
Martyn "Bomber" Bradbury, who runs the Tumeke blog site, has undertaken to facilitate the return of the document to police.
The dossier, entitled "High Risk/High Profile Offenders -- Pending New Zealand Parole Board Hearing" includes personal details, addresses offenders are to be or have been paroled to and issues tagged as potential problems.
Bradbury described the file as "a release schedule and details for some very nasty, heinous and notorious ticking timebombs..."
Corrections officials and police went to see Mr Bradbury yesterday and he gave an assurance to organise its return, and promised the contents would be kept confidential.
The New Zealand Herald said the file included Kurariki's address. A probation note says he had "nil incidents to date (very early days)" since his release last month after serving nearly seven years for the manslaughter of pizza delivery man Michael Choy.
The file said Tamihere was progressing well but the Probation Service wants him to undergo "intensive counselling" before his release -- which could happen in November -- after serving 19 years in prison for the murders of Swedish tourists Urban Hoglin and Heidi Paakkonen in 1989.
It also includes notes about Paul Joseph Dally, who raped, tortured and murdered Karla Cardno in 1989.
An entry about a dangerous sex offender due for "pre-release" to the community describes how he has denied his charge and has no wish to address offending.
Corrections Minister Phil Goff was alarmed by the dossier incident, saying the information could be misused.
Corrections chief executive Barry Matthews told NZPA the individual who lost the file did not realise it was missing until after the publicity. He would not give any details about the individual.
"Its purpose is to inform people within our department, like probation, prison services, psychologists and police and sometimes even forensic services people... to work on some of the issues that need to be resolved for people who have been released into the community or likely to be released on parole," Mr Matthews said.
National Party corrections spokesman Simon Power said the case would knock public confidence in the department's ability to manage high-risk offenders.
The incident comes in the same week as Wellington Coroner Garry Evans' critical report into parolee Graeme Burton's murder of Wainuiomata father Karl Kuchenbecker.
Mr Power also raised the case of a paroled serial sex offender who was recalled to jail for an alleged sex assault. He had been living near a school.
"I fear that no amount of explaining will dispel the perception that this is a department with a culture that not only tolerates frequent mistakes but seeks to deny responsibility even in the face of overwhelming evidence -- as happened over the death of Mr Kuchenbecker."
Bradbury said he was contacted by an "anonymous source" yesterday afternoon who said a friend had found the file.
"I said, well, I doubt very much that something like that would just be left around. I had a look at it and was convinced, fairly quickly, that it was legitimate."
Bradbury said the police had made it clear to him that the publication of any details from the document would be illegal.
"I wouldn't want to provoke them any more than I have."
