Police provided pictures of the campsite where Tom Phillips was living at with his children. Photo / NZ Police
Police provided pictures of the campsite where Tom Phillips was living at with his children. Photo / NZ Police
Associates who helped fugitive father Tom Phillips evade capture after he committed serious offences could be charged with being accessories and face potential jail time.
That’s the view of retired Auckland law professor Bill Hodge, who told the Herald that deliberately aiding a felon who had committed armed robberywas “no trivial matter”.
“I don’t think it’s simply obstructing police in their investigation. I think it’s more serious. If you’ve got some knowledge, then you can be what’s called an accessory after the fact.
“They had knowledge that he had committed serious crimes, and they deliberately gave him materials which enabled him to continue to evade capture and responsibility for the felonies that he had committed.
Hodge said that had Phillips lived, he could potentially have faced charges of aggravated burglary, aggravated robbery and abduction of children.
They were serious crimes that carried maximum prison terms of 14 years for the first two offences and seven years for the abduction charge.
Hodge said you did not need to be present at the time a crime was committed to be an accessory after the fact. It was enough to have deliberately aided someone’s escape.
This could include helping to “shelter” or “conceal” them, and providing them with supplies so they could evade authorities while living off-grid deep in the bush.
“That would include such stuff as food, cooking gas, tenting or other material for shelter, lanterns, cell phones or chargers etc. Obviously, if someone let him and the kids sleep in their house or sleep in their hut, that would be assistance.
“Three kids and a man eat a lot of food over four years, and that would be an interesting line to follow.”
Tom Phillips evaded capture for nearly four years despite multiple sightings.
Someone convicted of being an accessory after the fact could be jailed for up to five years if the offence they helped someone evade carried a maximum term of more than 10 years, Hodge said.
“So, assuming Tom has committed aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary, which are punishable by 14 years, those who aided him to escape arrest are looking at a maximum of five years in jail.”
Earlier today, police said they had found campsites stocked with equipment, including sleeping bags, a tent, gas cooking equipment, food and a quad bike.
Images released by police show soft drink bottles, mugs, tarpaulins, spare tyres and Jack Daniel’s whiskey.
New photographs reveal the campsite where Tom Phillips’ children were. Photo / NZ Police
“It’s a very grim, dimly-lit area, surrounded by dense bush. The tent was well covered and dry,” Detective Senior Sergeant Andrew Saunders said.
Now that the children had been returned safely, the investigation had moved to identifying those who had assisted Phillips.
“We’ve always suspected Tom Phillips has been receiving help,” Saunders said.
Police were investigating where the items found in Phillips’ bush hideout had come from, in a bid to track his associates.
“Have people purchased them? Can we link them back to stores to see [if he has] ... stolen them, or have people purchased them for him?” Saunders said.
Hodge said morally, keeping the children in the bush for four years away from their family, education and wider society was arguably Phillips’ worst crime.
However, under the law, robbing a bank and breaking into shops armed with a firearm were his most serious offending.
Assisting Phillips to evade arrest for these crimes was “not a trivial matter”.
“I understand why police keep referring to it, and I don’t think they’ll let it rest.”
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