Notorious bank robber turned author Stephen Reid has been granted conditional day parole in British Columbia.

The six-month term started on Jan. 9 and comes after he had served more than eight years.

"The Board has noted your apparent sincerity and resolve to make positive changes in your life," the two board members wrote.

"Based on the reports in your correctional file and the information received at your hearing, the Board has concluded that your risk while on day parole would not be undue."

In December 1999, a judge sentenced Reid to 18 years in prison for a Victoria, B.C. bank robbery that degenerated into a wild car case and manhunt. Reid wore a clown mask and carried a shotgun during the $97,000 robbery.

While on the run, he used a .44 Magnum-calibre handgun to shoot at a police officer on a motorcycle. He briefly took an elderly couple hostage before police captured him.

The board noted that Reid admitted the "enormous trauma that you inflicted on your victims."

Federal inmates can apply for day parole after serving one-sixth of their sentences. For Reid, that would have been three years into his term.

Reid applied for day parole in 2005, but was turned down because the board didn't feel he was ready, the National Parole Board's Patrick Storey told Victoria's A Channel on Monday.

To remain on day parole, Reid must abide by several conditions, he said:

  • Not use drugs, alcohol or other intoxicants;
  • Stay away from people he knows or suspects are involved in crime;
  • Stay away from his victims;
  • Participate in substance abuse counselling; and
  • Participate in native elder counselling.

"If Mr. Reid violates any of those conditions, the parole officer can suspend him and take him back to jail," Storey said.

Stopwatch Gang

Reid had been part of the Stopwatch Gang in the 1970s, named because of the watch Reid wore around his neck for split-second timing.

The three-man, all-Canadian gang's carried out an estimated 100 armed robberies across the United States and Canada in the 1970s and early 1980s. The gang split an estimated $15 million.

Besides their precise timing, the gang was known for the absence of violence in its robberies. No one was ever physically hurt.

Reid was eventually caught in the U.S. and sentenced in 1981 to a prison term of 20 years, reduced to 10 years on appeal. He returned to Canada in 1983 on a prisoner transfer agreement.

While serving his sentence, he worked on an autobiographical novel, Jackrabbit Parole. Poet and novelist Susan Musgrave edited the manuscript.

The two fell in love and married in 1986 while he was still in prison.

After being paroled in 1987, Musgrave and Reid lived together on Vancouver Island and had a daughter. He became involved in the local literary scene and appeared to have put his criminal past behind him.

Reid, who had used drugs most of his life, had been clean for a time but slid back into using cocaine and heroin. He used drugs the day of the 1999 bank robbery.

"Your behaviour on drugs was described as unpredictable and violent," the board noted.

Storey said Reid's recent behaviour in prison was quite positive.

The inmate was granted three unescorted temporary absences, which is like short-term day parole, before being granted day parole. There were no problems, he said.   

The board told Reid, "Your risk for criminal behaviour will remain low so long as you remain drug and alcohol-free."

But a return to substance abuse would increase the risk of violence substantially, it said.