Simon Power MP
National Party Justice & Corrections Spokesman

8 November 2007

Second prison escape in five days

The second prison escape in five days should have Corrections looking closely at its criteria for allowing prisoners to join work parties, says National’s Justice & Corrections spokesman, Simon Power.

He is commenting after a prisoner yesterday drove off from a Mangaroa Prison cleaning party in a Corrections silver Holden ute – just five days after an axe murderer walked off from a gardening party at Mt Crawford, prompting an armed response by police.

“Labour crows about how the number of escapes has dropped, but two escapes in five days is a worry.

“And both of them were prisoners that Corrections apparently trusted.

“It seems that under Labour it doesn’t matter if you’re an axe murderer or someone convicted of dishonesty offences – you can get work outside the prison walls and then simply pick your mode of transport to abscond.

“Corrections said the axe murderer had ‘breached the trust we placed in him’, and that the latest escaper was a low-security prisoner who had also been trusted.

“Corrections need to reassure the public that they are using more than just trust to keep them safe.”

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