Final prison van escaper recaptured

The last of three prison van escapers has been recaptured in Nelson after he allegedly threatened an off-duty police officer.

Mark Cunningham was arrested by the officer, who recognised him as he was cycling home from work through a railway reserve.

A police spokesman said Cunningham was arrested but while being restrained, he pulled a knife and there was a brief struggle. The knife was thrown away in bushes but was later recovered by police.

Nelson police had thought Cunningham, 34, would not return to the region after he escaped from the police van north of Kaikoura on January 12.

Cunningham, Shannon Flewellen, 25, and David Parker, 26, kicked open an emergency exit in the roof of the van and jumped from the vehicle as it slowed for road works. The van was enroute to Paparua Prison in Christchurch.

Flewellen was recaptured the next morning, and Parker was found at the nearby Hapuku River on January 14.

Cunningham was due to appear in Nelson District Court today charged with aggravated assault, possessing an offensive weapon, assault with a knife and escaping custody.

He has previously been charged with aggravated robbery, using a hammer as a weapon and unlawfully entering a building, in relation to an incident in November last year.

- NZPA