12.30 pm
The police today recaptured two prison escapers after separate operations in Auckland and Porirua, north of Wellington.
Around 2 am, security van robber Kevin Polwart was recaptured at a house in the Porirua suburb of Cannons Creek, after spending almost six weeks on the run.
Police said he had two pistols when he was arrested.
Polwart appeared in the Porirua District Court facing escaping and firearms charges. He was remanded in custody to reappear in two days.
A couple at the house where Polwart was apprehended also appeared on charges of harbouring the fugitive and were remanded on bail for two weeks.
Polwart escaped from Rimutaka Prison in Upper Hutt on June 7 while serving a 10-year sentence for the 1999 armed robbery of a security van in Paraparaumu.
Police had suspected that Polwart could have been trying to recover $238,000 he hid after he and his brother Leslie robbed the security van.
Within days of his escape, he telephoned the media and prison, and a week later he phoned Upper Hutt police.
Police said a combination of police pressure and help from the public helped locate Polwart at the Porirua house.
In Auckland, police also recaptured a man they had been hunting for some time.
Garry Bainbridge appeared this morning in the Auckland District Court on charges relating to his escape from custody on June 5.
Bainbridge, a 43-year-old remand prisoner, disappeared out the back door of the Auckland District as he faced theft and drugs charges.
He had only just been recaptured after seven months on the run.
After his escape, police spoke to Bainbridge's family and friends, but had waited for him to resurface.
He has been remanded without plea and will reappear on August 1. Police said more charges against Bainbridge were pending.
Two escapers back in custody
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.