Phillip John Smith's stepfather: Accused woman duped over escape

Phillip Smith. Photo / Nick Reed

The stepfather of murderer and paedophile Phillip John Smith believes a woman accused of helping him flee authorities was conned.

Basil Smith, who raised his stepson from the age of 3, spoke to the Herald after police yesterday said a 33-year-old Palmerston North woman had been charged with assisting Phillip Smith escape lawful custody in November.

The woman, due to have her first court appearance at the Auckland District Court next Tuesday, faces up to seven years' imprisonment under the charge.

Phillip Smith allegedly fled to South America while on temporary release from Spring Hill Corrections Facility in South Auckland on November 6. He was serving a life term at the time for the 1995 stabbing murder of the father of a boy he had sexually abused.

At the time, Smith - who had tracked the family down to a Wellington house where they had moved to escape him - was on bail for the sexual offending and charges of blackmail against a man who later killed himself.

He was caught in Rio de Janeiro on November 13 - a week after he left New Zealand last year.

Basil Smith said his family had been devastated by Phillip Smith. "We're quite pissed off with what he's done. I think he's conned her into it," he said of the woman who had been charged in relation to his stepson's alleged escape.

Phillip Smith had sent him a letter last week, Basil Smith said. "He said he was doing all right."