Teen avoids jail over prison escape

A teenager who helped her boyfriend escape from prison has avoided ending up there herself.

Moemoana Fraser, 17, helped her boyfriend Robert John Wikaere, 19, escape from Te Awamutu's Waikeria Prison in March.

During a weekend visit, the pair came up with an escape plan.

On March 17, Wikaere escaped and Fraser helped him by picking him up and giving him a cellphone and money to leave town.

He was caught a few days later.

Fraser appeared in Rotorua District Court yesterday for sentencing, the Rotorua Daily Post reported.

Her lawyer, Olivia Brittain, said Fraser felt under pressure to help her boyfriend escape.

Judge Phillip Cooper said normally he would send a person to jail for this type of charge, but he took into account the influence Wikaere had over Fraser and her early guilty plea.

She was sentenced to 180 hours of community work.

- NZPA