KEY POINTS:
Corrections boss Barry Matthews has downplayed the danger of axe murderer John Frederick Ericson's prison escape last week, saying most killers were "unremarkable people" and he did not believe Ericson intended to harm any members of the public.
Speaking to the law and order select committee, Mr Matthews said he did not know what motivated Ericson to escape, but "whatever the motive was for that, I don't think it was to go out and kill any member of the public".
"I know it is hard when someone has been in for murder to think this person is not a danger, but the reality is most people who commit murder do not commit any other offence."
Ericson walked away from an unsupervised work party outside Wellington Prison on Friday, prompting a 26-hour police hunt until he handed himself over after he was recognised while trying to buy a ferry ticket.
National law and order spokesman Simon Power criticised Corrections' handling of the escape, saying the department did not seem to take the danger to public safety seriously.
Mr Matthews said Corrections had expressed serious concern, but the media had not reported it. He said while it was clear murder was a serious matter, Corrections had a "different view of things" from police, because they dealt with murderers on a daily basis.
He said if staff went to work constantly thinking they were in danger, they psychologically could not do the job.
"The thing you find when you talk to these people is that they are actually very unremarkable people and on a day to day thing they are actually not dangerous. This guy was definitely dangerous to his wife because he killed her. But after that, for whatever reason he did that, there was probably no other danger, other than to immediate family."
