An Auckland-based prisoner accused of escaping Corrections custody for more than two months has pleaded not guilty to two separate charges of illegally possessing a firearm and explosives.
Te Ariki Poulgrain, 23, allegedly fled from a medical facility in Grafton on June 30 while he was an inmate at Auckland Prison, also know as Paremoremo.
CCTV footage captured him on nearby Park Rd still handcuffed the same day he escaped.
Police then launched area inquiries, reviewing CCTV footage and using the Police Eagle Helicopter.
After almost two and a half months he was arrested at a property in Ōtara on September 11.