Fugitive William Stewart no Robin Hood: Police

Canterbury fugitive William Stewart 's evasion of police is sparking imaginations but police want to remind the public he is a criminal, not a modern day Robin Hood.

Stewart, on the run since February 10 when he allegedly threatened a police officer with an iron bar in central Canterbury, has inspired a T-shirt and a song.

Police say the 47-year-old, thought to have committed a string of burglaries and car thefts, is possibly an armed P-addict and should not be approached.

Detective Senior Sergeant John Rae, of the Southern Criminal Investigation Unit, said he had not seen the T-shirt or heard the song.

The entrepreneurial spirit was alive and well in New Zealand but at the end of the day, Stewart was simply breaking the law, he told NZPA.

"This guy is just a criminal and we are in the business of catching them and trying to prevent crime."

Mr Rae said taxpayers' money was being spent searching for Stewart and anybody who paid tax would want to see him caught.

Ashburton property developer Barry Toneycliffe developed the T-shirt line, which he is selling on the auction website Trade Me.

The shirts feature the words "Where's Billy", as well as crossed out names of locations Stewart had been seen in.

Timaru man Robbie Robertson wrote Billy the Hunted One, a song he said was a light-hearted take on the situation, which had been a talking point in pubs.

"He's a bit of a legend in this place at the moment ... and he's obviously got a lot of followers out there," he told the Timaru Herald.

The lyrics talk about Stewart's penchant for evading police, his knowledge of Canterbury and how he carved his thanks into someone's table after grabbing some food.

Mr Robertson hoped the song would get some airtime during New Zealand Music Month which starts on Friday.

The freezing worker wrote the three-minute song in three days.

- NZPA