`Catch me if u can' fugitive manages to stay off police radar

Kevin Polwart's message. Photo / Supplied

There have been no sightings of the escaped prisoner who taunted authorities with a "catch me if u can" note next to a cartoon animal on a concrete slab.

It is five days since Kevin Polwart, a 49-year-old father and grandfather, cut his way out of a low-security wing in Auckland Prison with an angle grinder.

On Friday, police released a picture of the note and picture that he etched on a slab near his escape point.

North Shore CIB Detective Senior Sergeant Kim Libby said every now and then inmates got out and liked to have "a bit of a profile".

"Last time he kept in touch with media," he said.

Polwart was serving a 16-year-term for armed robbery and a security company he has previously robbed has raised its alert levels since he escaped.

In 1999, he stole $600,000 from a security van and was jailed for 10 years. But he escaped in 2001 and was on the run for 41 days.

Mr Libby said police stations had been issued with his mugshot.

"We're basically waiting for him to surface ... I'd say he's gone from our patch," he said.

"The odds are he'd go to Wellington [where he hails from] or up north, but he could just as likely be anywhere in New Zealand."

Mr Libby said Customs had been notified and "all departure areas [were] covered".

Because Polwart had been in jail for 10 years he might struggle to find people willing to stick their necks out for him, Mr Libby said.

Last week's escape was similar to 2001 when Polwart used wire cutters to break out of Rimutaka Prison, near Upper Hutt.

He was serving a 10-year sentence and had another six years added after he was recaptured.

A report found that departmental failures such as a poor check of his cell that morning, limited electronic security systems and lax supervision had helped his escape.