Corrupt travel agent Xana Kamitsis can leave ‘$1m cell’ while serving rest of her sentence

CORRUPT travel agent Xana Kamitsis can come and go from her $1 million home detention ‘cell’ to perform community work between long hours of lounging around her luxury Bayview townhouse

The luxurious home of Xana Kamitsis, who has been released to home detention.

CORRUPT former travel agent Xana Kamitsis will be able to leave her $1 million townhouse most days so she can perform community work while she serves out her jail sentence in luxury.

Kamitsis was released on Friday to serve out the rest of her jail term at her Bayview home, which independent valuations put as being worth as much as $1 million.

Kamitsis, who was sentenced to three years and 11 months jail with an 18-month non-parole period, applied for home detention under changes to the Correctional Services Act which were introduced two months before she was arrested.

She was released to home detention seven months before her non-parole period expired.

The prospect of Kamitsis serving jail time at home was first raised at her trial, but was rejected by Supreme Court Justice Dean Mildren.

“I have considered that possibility (of a home detention order), but in my opinion, the offending was far too serious to warrant such a disposition,” he said at the time.

In setting Kamitsis’s sentence, Justice Mildren said punishment and sending a message to other would-be white collar criminals were the most important considerations, given Kamitsis would likely never be in a position of trust where she could reoffend.

Despite Justice Mildren’s refusal to grant home detention, a corrections spokesman said other factors, such as prior convictions and behaviour in jail were considered.

“Ms Kamitsis met all criterion under NT Legislation and was assessed as suitable to be released to Administrative Home Detention,” the spokesman said.

The courts consider home detention to be a lesser form of imprisonment than serving actual jail time.

The decision to grant Kamitsis home detention was approved by Alice Springs Correctional Centre general manager Superintendent Bill Yan, as a delegate of Commissioner Mark Payne, who stood aside because of a potential conflict of interest.

Figures provided by Corrections show Kamitsis is one of just eight prisoners to be released from jail this year under a home detention permit.

Speaking in parliament in 2014, then Corrections Minister John Elferink said he envisaged home detention prisoners would work a day job, be in training or doing community service as part of a “structured day”.