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The daughter of a man who needed 400 stitches after a run-in with violent criminal Arai Hema is appalled the Corrections Department was housing him in "low-security conditions" when he escaped from jail this week.
Miriam Butler was too frightened to speak directly to the Herald last night.
But Sensible Sentencing Trust chief Garth McVicar said she was worried that Hema was carrying out prison maintenance with a shovel - a tool he had used in the past as a weapon on a prison guard.
In December 1998 Ms Butler's father, Bruce Butler, suffered wounds to his head, face, neck and shins helping his 16-year-old neighbour in Napier, whom Hema was trying to rape. The girl suffered nine stab wounds in the attack. Hema was sentenced to 17 years' jail.
About 2.30pm on Wednesday, the 30-year-old fled a party of 14 inmates doing ground-maintenance work outside the main fence of Auckland Prison at Paremoremo.
Police believe a car picked him up.
Hema's record includes a vicious attack on three people in Hawkes Bay Regional Prison in November 2004.
In a single attack, he poured boiling water over one guard, attacked another with a shovel and punched a third because he did not want to work in the joinery. He received a six-year sentence for those attacks, concurrent with the sentence he was serving.
Hema had to serve just two-thirds of his sentence because of sentencing laws at the time, which made him eligible for parole in September next year, Parole Board spokeswoman Sonja de Friez said.
But although he was to appear before the Parole Board then, she said, offenders like him were "never" given parole at the first meeting.
Ms de Friez said Corrections could apply to have Hema complete his full sentence. If it was successful, he would stay in jail until May 2016.
The Corrections Department yesterday moved to defend its treatment of Hema. Northern assistant regional manager Jeanette Burns said the department had a "robust" security classification system.
"Prior to the escape, the prisoner had improved his behaviour and had demonstrated an increased motivation to change. For this reason, he was assessed as being able to be safely and securely managed in minimum security."
Prisoners nearing parole are assigned to work parties to help with their integration into the community.
"Corrections would be failing in its responsibility to protect the public if it was not undertaking steps to prepare him for his eventual release," Ms Burns said.
Labour's law and order spokesman, Clayton Cosgrove, said Corrections Minister Judith Collins needed to explain what she was doing about Hema - and other escapes.
However, a spokesman said she would not comment as his escape was considered an "operational matter".