Northland Age
  • Northland Age home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Rural
  • Opinion
  • Kaitaia weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Far North
  • Kaitaia
  • Kaikohe
  • Bay of Islands
  • Whangārei

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whangārei
  • Dargaville

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Northland Age

All he wanted was a smoke

By Peter Jackson
Northland Age·
11 Dec, 2019 07:40 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Senior Constable Alan Duncan and Yawk searching the Tarawhateroa Stream Bank for the escapee. Picture / Peter Jackson

Senior Constable Alan Duncan and Yawk searching the Tarawhateroa Stream Bank for the escapee. Picture / Peter Jackson

A 33-year-old man who bolted as he was being walked by a jailer from the Kaitaia District Court to the police station next door on Tuesday afternoon was a free man for about an hour and a half before he was apprehended. And he reportedly told the arresting officer that he had "gapped it" because he had wanted a smoke.

"If he had asked we would have given him one in the sally port," another officer said yesterday.

The man, who had been remanded in custody on family harm charges, reportedly jumped a fence into a private property, then ran along the Tarawhateroa Stream bank before hiding in the stream itself. Senior Constable Alan Duncan and his dog Yawk tracked him along the stream bank to a point near Taaffe St, below Pompallier Catholic School, where the trail went cold.

He was subsequently seen in Puckey Ave, the old Pak'nSave carpark and Commerce St, before being apprehended in the old Warehouse carpark in Matthews' Ave.

He appeared before Judge John McDonald in the Kaitaia District Court again yesterday, and was again remanded in custody, police having opposed bail.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Senior Sergeant Richards thanked the members of the public who had assisted in the manhunt by pointing the pursuing officers in the right direction.

He had stood out from the crowd, he added, "given that he was sopping wet," although at some stage he had shed the blue police boiler suit he had been wearing.

Meanwhile court registrar Tania Parker said the escape was only the fourth she could recall in her 34 years at the court. One of those had involved a man who effected his departure from the dock, carefully picking up an elderly woman, who was there offering support from the Salvation Army, and moving her out of the way so he could get to the door.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Northland Age

Northland Age

Kāinga Ora scraps 450 new Northland houses, deepening shortage

11 Jul 05:00 PM
Northland Age

School lunch programme saves $130m, student satisfaction rises, Govt says

10 Jul 02:00 AM
Northland Age

Changing times: Kiwibank's new model prompts mixed reactions

10 Jul 02:00 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Northland Age

Kāinga Ora scraps 450 new Northland houses, deepening shortage

Kāinga Ora scraps 450 new Northland houses, deepening shortage

11 Jul 05:00 PM

Kāinga Ora halts 40 housing projects in Northland amid $12.3b debt

School lunch programme saves $130m, student satisfaction rises, Govt says

School lunch programme saves $130m, student satisfaction rises, Govt says

10 Jul 02:00 AM
Changing times: Kiwibank's new model prompts mixed reactions

Changing times: Kiwibank's new model prompts mixed reactions

10 Jul 02:00 AM
Far North approves 10.95% rates rise, slightly lower than forecast

Far North approves 10.95% rates rise, slightly lower than forecast

09 Jul 06:00 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • The Northland Age e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to The Northland Age
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The Northland Age
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP