Prisoner who stole prison vehicle went unnoticed

File Photo / NZ Herald

A Corrections instructor didn't notice a prisoner was missing from a work gang until 90 minutes after the prisoner had hot-wired a prison vehicle and disappeared, a report has found.

Corrections released the report today into how Jamie Paamu Hughes, 29, escaped from Tongariro Rangipo Prison in the central North Island.

He stole a Corrections Toyota Landcruiser on February 21 while working with a Corrections Inmate Employment (CIE) forestry work gang with two other prisoners on prison grounds.

The report found "visibility of all members of the work gang was compromised" as the prisoners, who were working with chainsaws, were 20-30m apart for safety reasons.

The CIE instructor was responsible for carrying out checks on the prisoners but failed to ensure a "face-to-name muster" during one of the checks.

It took 90 minutes for the instructor to discover Hughes was missing and activate emergency procedures.

Hughes was found two days later, hiding in the roof of a Taupo home.

Following the incident, Hughes was re-classified as a high security prisoner and nine months was added to his sentence.

He was serving a prison sentence after being convicted of assaulting his partner in late 2010.

Disciplinary action was taken against the CIE instructor and changes have been made to the organisation of work gangs and corrections vehicles.