'I'm just glad I didn't have to sit next to him' - Passengers reveal Phillip Smith looked upset on flight back to NZ

Assistant Commissioner Mike Clement and Northern Regional Commissioner for Corrections Jeanette Burns said Phillip Smith would be secure. Photo / Jason Dorday

Convicted killer and child abuser Phillip Smith has been returned to New Zealand.

Smith's flight to Auckland Airport from Santiago, Chile, landed at 4am.

He was escorted from the plane and cleared through customs with police and was then transferred to a police prison van which took him to Auckland Prison in Paremoremo.

Smith has been put into segregation in the maximum security prison. He will be kept in a cell for 23 hours of day and allowed out for just one hour each day.

Northern Regional Director for Corrections Jeanette Burns said Smith would have all ingoing and outgoing mail closely scrutinise and would only be allowed non-contact visits.

Smith would be in segregation for "a period of time", she said, adding that he would be one of a number of prisoners under the most restrictive regime.

Deputy Commissioner Mike Clement said he was grateful to have Smith back in custody. "I'd just like to take a moment and reassure the victims that he is back in custody and they're safe."

Watch: Escaped killer Phillip Smith deported to NZ

He said Smith cooperated with the escorts and had gone through "a range of emotions". "If Mr Smith is disappointed about being brought back to New Zealand then that's tough luck."

Ms Burns said Smith would be kept safe in prison. "It would be fair to say there are some prisoners that are not happy that the actions of Mr Smith interrupted their rehabilitation process," she said.

Mr Clement said new charges would likely be laid in the next few days. "There's no rush with that process, he's got a sentence to resume and has resumed," she said.

A police van takes Phillip Smith to Auckland Prison this morning. Photo / Jason Dorday

"In the fullness of time we will know whether there are any charges further to the escaping charge that he will face and we will bring him back before the court when the time is right."

Mr Clement said police were still investigating whether any charges would be laid in relation to other people assisting Smith's escape.

"It's too soon for me to say whether there are people that are complicit to the extent that they'll face criminal charges."

Ms Burns said Smith's mental state would assessed and monitored.

She said Corrections had fully accepted that Smith's release should not have happened and no staff were currently facing disciplinary actions.

Passengers surprised

Most passengers on the LAN flight from Santiago this morning had no idea they were sharing a cabin with a murderer who fled New Zealand.

Kiwi couple Simon and Jie Crosby had followed the news of Smith's escape before they left for their holiday in Brazil.

Mrs Crosby saw Smith being escorted off the flight by four or five police officers. "He had his wrists together and a jacket covering them and two police officers either side of him," she said.

Mr Crosby said Smith had looked "upset".

The couple said they had no idea Smith had been on their flight. "We thought he'd have been deported before we arrived [in Rio]," Mr Crosby said.

Another New Zealander returning from a holiday in South America said she wasn't bothered by the fact Smith had been on her flight. "They've got to bring him back somehow. I'm just glad I didn't have to sit next to him."

Another returning passenger said it was a shock to hear that a murderer had been on the plane.

Smith was escorted from Brazil to Auckland by three New Zealand Police officers.

Footage captured shortly before he boarded a plane at Rio de Janeiro Airport shows Smith grinning at a camera while pulling a peace sign, followed quickly by his middle finger.

Smith was caught in Rio de Janeiro on November 13 a week after fleeing New Zealand while on temporary release from Spring Hill Corrections Facility in South Auckland. He was serving a life sentence for murder and other violent crimes.

Smith's lawyer said yesterday he believed it was not in the public interest to charge his client for escaping custody.

Tony Ellis, who has acted for Smith in the past and received a call from him when he fled the country while on temporary release, said he expected Smith to call him after he arrived back in the country early today.

He said he thought Smith would be feeling "rather low" about his return.

"I would imagine that having successfully escaped and then being captured and then, worse still, being brought back to New Zealand, he could be in quite a poor state."

He said if police were to charge him with escaping custody he could be taken to court this morning. But laying a new charge wouldn't have any effect on Smith's punishment. He is serving a life sentence for murder and child sex offences.

"The only real effect of charging him would be there's a public trial and then he gets five years' imprisonment, which effectively just means he can't apply for parole for the next five years, but there's not a parole board in the country that would let him out anyway. It's a waste of time," Dr Ellis said.

He believed Smith could realistically be spending life behind bars, and a trial for escaping custody wouldn't change that.

"On a straightforward, rational basis, I don't think it is in the public interest."