The man who helped convicted murderer and paedophile Phillip John Smith get a fake passport has been jailed for 18 months.
Christopher Ryan Clifton, 25, was sentenced in Whanganui District Court today for an offence under the Passport Act, as well as possessing an offensive weapon and threatening to kill.
Clifton was a reference for Smith's passport. He was asked by the Passport Office to confirm Smith lived at an address in Palmerston North, when in fact he was in jail.
Smith, who was serving life imprisonment for the 1995 killing of the father of a boy he had been sexually abusing, used a passport to make a dramatic escape to South America.
He was caught in Rio de Janeiro on November 13 a week after fleeing New Zealand - at first to Chile and then Brazil - while on temporary release from Spring Hill Prison in South Auckland.
Clifton met Smith at Mangaroa Prison seven years ago.
Clifton told the Chronicle in December that he made a false statement for Smith's passport application so Smith had identification under another name and would be able to find work without employers knowing about his convictions.
The other two charges arose after Clifton called police on December 20 as he wandered the streets, saying he was "unable to cope" with media pressure after his link to Smith was revealed.
He told police he "just wanted someone to listen," police prosecutor Sergeant Stephen Butler said.
After being spoken to he was taken home by police, but his partner called police later saying Clifton had left the house dressed in camo gear and a balaclava, carrying a hunting knife.
He told his partner he was "going to die tonight".
He was found in possession of the knife and arrested, and told a police officer when he got out of jail he would "put a bullet" in him.
"You won't even know what hit you ... you don't know who you're dealing with," he told the officer.
Clifton also spoke to the police about blowing up buildings.