Prisoner 'escaped to prove he wasn't dangerous'

Robber Kevin Polwart says he is worried he will not be granted parole. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Serial prison escapee Kevin Polwart says he broke out of Auckland Prison so he could show the police he wasn't a danger to the community.

Police found a typed letter to the New Zealand Herald, outlining the 49-year-old's explanation for escaping, among his belongings when they arrested him in a city cemetery on Thursday after 50 days on the run.

Polwart pleaded guilty to one charge of escaping from custody within hours of his recapture.

His lawyer Mike Levett yesterday handed the note to Judge Barbara Morris before he was sentenced to an extra nine months on top of his 16-year term in the North Shore District court.

Polwart had been jailed for 10 years in 2000 for robbing a security van, stealing $600,000.

A year later he escaped for 41 days during which time he held up another security van. He was sentenced to a further six years when recaptured.

While on the run during his first escape, Polwart taunted police and updated the media on his movements. Police had expected to hear from him again after the latest jailbreak but he remained quiet.

In the letter, Polwart talks about how he was afraid he wouldn't be granted parole when he was eligible next year because of a change in the Parole Act 2002.

Under section 107, the chief executive of the Department of Corrections may apply to the Parole Board for an order to keep a prisoner beyond their final release date.

He claims he was told "unofficially" that the escape in 2001 would have an effect on him getting parole.

"I find this to be unjustifiably unfair in the extreme ... I have been pushed into a corner with no way out and have been forced to come to the conclusion that my only option is being out where no one knows where I am. That way it will be harder to be harassed and brought back for easy parole violations."

Polwart said the letter was not written "to justify my actions but only to give my side in this mater and the lead up to it all".

Mr Levett said Polwart had learned Corrections were looking at extending his sentence.

"Mr Polwart became very distressed, in fact he became depressed.

"He saw the escape as a way to demonstrate to authorities that he was not a danger to the community. In a strange way he's shown just that."

Mr Levett said that his client's latest escape would delay his parole eligibility by about six months.

A Parole Board spokeswoman said it had not received an application from Corrections to extend Polwart's sentence and the department would probably not file one until closer to the hearing in September next year.

Polwart also described the prison as overcrowded and understaffed.

He complained that details of his criminal past had been put on the Sensible Sentencing Trust website.

"All this has done is put a bloody big sign on my head saying 'Look at me, I'm a criminal, please employ me'.

"All these things have not helped in any way to be able to move on with my life. I have now been offered absolutely no form of rehabilitation and in fact, have waited all these years on the pretext that I would do my time and try to blend into society the best that I could.

"Then having all the rules changed has not helped my situation but in fact dealt me a swift kick in the gonads."