Two men who sparked a manhunt when they broke out of Mt Eden Prison last month are said to have been helped by friends who left a car, clothes and food outside the jail to aid their getaway.
Allegations that the men had outside help emerged in the Auckland District Court yesterday when one of them, Tommy Nikau, pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery and escaping from a penal institution on April 28.
The other man facing escape charges, Travis Burns, entered no plea.
Sergeant Tony Marsh said the men scaled an inner wall at 1.52 pm while guards were distracted by a fight between other inmates.
They climbed an outer wall using a rope made of sheets and cord and were seen tumbling down the other side. A train driver forced to brake suddenly was the last person to see the escapers.
A hunt headed by 12 detectives ended five days later when the armed offenders squad surrounded a home in Papatoetoe, and forced the men to surrender after "over an hour of patient police negotiation."
Sergeant Marsh said Nikau was later grilled about the events surrounding the escape and outlined what happened after the train driver saw him and Burns.
Nikau said they ran to a getaway car that an associate had left which held food and a change of clothes for the men.
They then drove to Titirangi, where more food had been left, and hid in bush.
Sergeant Marsh said that Nikau claimed he and Burns had been at the Papatoetoe home for just one day before police surrounded it.
Nikau admitted in court that he was involved in the armed holdup of a family business in Otara in which two men pointed a loaded sawnoff shotgun at a woman and raided her till of $100.
Sergeant Marsh said the woman had since been too scared to work alone in the shop.
Nikau will be sentenced on Thursday for the aggravated robbery and escape.
Burns wore a body-brace in the dock yesterday and was allowed to sit down after his lawyer, Barry Hart, said he had a sore back. Burns will appear again on June 9.
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