KEY POINTS:
After surviving on roots and ferns for two weeks, a Taranaki man who escaped police custody while handcuffed has given himself up.
Michael Hurford, also known as Michael Vanderspek, 31, walked out of remote bush near Tahora, in north Taranaki, late yesterday afternoon and asked a farmer to call police, the Taranaki Daily Post reported.
Senior Sergeant Shaun Keenan said Hurford was "sick of being on the run" after fleeing on December 2 when a lone policeman discovered a large cannabis plantation near his makeshift hut in bush east of Whangamomona.
Hurford had managed to remove the handcuffs with tools and hacksaw blades he had taken with him as he fled.
"`He has been living off the land, but he spent the last few nights wet. He was cold and had lost a lot of weight, so he decided to turn himself in," Mr Keenan said.
Hurford will appear in Hawera court today on charges of burglary, possession of a firearm, drugs and escaping police custody.
- NZPA
