Violent kidnapper jailed, but eligible for parole

Brett Makiri. Photo / NZ Police

A man who escaped out of the front door of Auckland central police station after his arrest over a violent kidnapping has been jailed for more than two years.

But Brett Kupa Makiri will be immediately eligible for parole, having spent almost a year in custody.

Appearing in Auckland District Court this afternoon, 24-year-old Makiri was jailed for two years and four months on charges of kidnapping, assault with intent to injure and escaping police custody.

Early last year, Makiri began a brief relationship with the 29-year-old victim when the pair lived in a Glen Innes flat.

The woman was moving out on April 21 when Makiri offered her a ride to West Auckland in a stolen Subaru he was driving.

But he headed south and when his ex-partner questioned him, he told her: "if I can't have you for myself then I'm kidnapping you".

She took out her phone to call for help but Makiri ripped it from her hand and threw it out the window.

During the car ride, Makiri ripped out clumps of the woman's hair and punched her repeatedly in the face, at one stage telling her he would kill her and that "no one would ever see her again", according to the summary of facts.

As the victim saw a police car approaching, she grabbed the steering wheel to veer towards it in a desperate bid to get their attention.

Makiri reacted by punching her again and forcing her to crouch in the footwell of the passenger seat.

As the pair approached Thames the defendant forced her head down further and the woman reacted by grabbing at his testicles so viciously, she broke one of her acrylic fingernails.

Makiri later relented when his ex told him she was feeling car sick.

He allowed her to sit back in the seat but he buckled her seatbelt into the mechanism on his side so she was unable to get away.

Hours after what should have been a short car ride, Makiri pulled into a Coromandel driveway surrounded by bush.

Realising it was her chance to escape, the woman slipped under the seatbelt and ran off.

She fell down a bank and into the garden of a nearby property where the residents alerted police.

Makiri was located the next day and taken to Auckland central police station where he was interviewed on the fifth floor by Detective Constable Benjamin McLaughlin.

However, he was left alone during a break in questioning and walked out, eventually leaving the building through the front public entrance.

He was finally recaptured on April 25 after he was found in a South Auckland sleepout.

Judge Nevin Dawson was impressed by Makiri's letter of remorse to the court in which he took responsibility for his actions, and the courses he had completed while in custody.

"You appear to be a person of some promise, notwithstanding your invidious criminal record," he said.

"Given you're 24 years' old, I'd like to think there's some hope for you."

Judge Dawson acknowledged it might not be long before Makiri was released and said it was an "opportunity to walk the talk".