KEY POINTS:
Corrections Minister Phil Goff will face questions today about the escape of two violent criminals from a Hamilton residential programme.
Convicted murderer Shaun Christopher Staples, who is serving a life sentence for murder, fled from the Montgomery House rehabilitation centre on Thursday, with John Mangaroa Pouaka, 33, who was serving an eight-year sentence for aggravated robbery.
The men were recaptured in New Plymouth on Sunday.
The extensive hunt for the pair - who police rated as dangerous and not to be approached - has left people living near Angelsea Street, where the programme is based, uneasy.
"I have been approached by nearby residents who are concerned about their ongoing safety," National Justice spokesman Simon Power said yesterday.
"I have undertaken to put those concerns to [Corrections Minister] Phil Goff, which I will do.
"Rehabilitation for some of these characters in important, but it cannot be done at the expense of public safety.
"The issues surrounding ongoing supervision need to be looked at pretty closely."
Montgomery House is a half-way house for criminals coming to the end of their prison term. The house is not a prison, and is was not fenced or guarded.
Course participants cannot leave the house without permission, and are expected to attend a variety of rehabilitative classes.
In the past few days serial burglar Kristopher Owen Glen Willoughby has absconded while on home detention, while on Saturday night convicted burglar Nicholas Anthony Costello escaped from a minimum security unit at Waikeria Prison, near Te Awamutu.
Mr Power said the rash of escapes might be the "luck of the draw", but briefing papers drawn up for Mr Goff showed the intense pressure the corrections system was under.
"Pressure on the prison system, if it is being used as an excuse [for escapes] is no excuse at all," Mr Power said. "You can't just pass laws that make it easier to get bail in the hope it will relieve pressure on the prison system because that compromises the number one principal of any criminal justice system, which is public safety."
Corrections Assistant General Manager Operations, Bryan McMurray, said escapes had dropped by 84 per cent over the past decade, and were running at about the same rate this financial year as last.
Most escapes this year had been "walkaways" - breaches of trust rather than breaking out of jail or slipping through security systems, Mr McMurray said.
"We investigate every escape. We will look at all the circumstances that have lead up to these two [Staples and Pouaka] absconding from Montgomery House and we will try and work out whether or not good decisions were made as part of that review."
The security classification of all escapers was immediately reviewed after they were recaptured, and on almost every occasion it was increased, Mr McMurray said.
"They are never given that opportunity again until we decide that risk has abated," he said.
"We have a very low number of escapes. Generally speaking, 99.9 per cent of the time we make sure we have each prisoner in the right location, and that is because we treat our role as a security organisation very seriously.
"The safety of the public and our staff and other prisoners is paramount in our consideration."
