In the decision, Smith was described as a “manipulative, serious criminal with a high risk of reoffending”.

The Samoa-born and Mangere-raised MP Sam Lotu-Iiga has been thrown a $1.5 billion, 4000-staff portfolio as the new Corrections Minister.

Prison beatings happen in New Zealand almost daily and only "good luck" stands in the way of more deaths.

The bid by Phillip John Smith and his sister to have their case transferred to the High Court has been delayed until May.

A teenager accused of murder who is on the run after disconnecting his electronic monitoring anklet called Corrections soon after.

The Corrections Department has given the names of 10,000 offenders to border officials in a bid to prevent another escape in the wake of the Phillip Smith case.

The woman accused of helping Phillip John Smith escape custody can now be revealed as his sister.

The stepfather of murderer and paedophile Phillip John Smith believes a woman accused of helping him flee authorities was conned.

An Auckland Prison officer has been suspended as the Department of Corrections seeks answers on how convicted murderer and paedophile Phillip Smith fled the country.

A computer hacker has demonstrated how home detention bracelets can potentially be fooled into letting criminals roam free.

A male prisoner who's spent the past ten days in Wanganui Hospital managed to escape last night.

Murderer and child sex offender Phillip John Smith's claims that he was aided in his escape to Brazil by a prison guard have angered inmates.

Convicted murderer Phillip Smith's allegations that a Corrections officer helped him escape custody last month are unsubstantiated, the Corrections union says.

Should heads now roll in the upper echelons of the Department of Corrections in the wake of convicted murderer and child molester Phillip John Smith's absconding from temporary release from jail and getting all the to Brazil before being apprehended?

A prison tutor was justifiably dismissed from work after she sent an inmate a postcard while she was overseas.

A prison inspector has rebuked jailers for advising inmates to relieve themselves on vehicle floors.

Finding escaped prisoner Stephen Maddren is now like finding a needle in a haystack, police concede.

The mother of escaped prisoner Stephen Maddren has made an emotional plea for her son to give himself up.

Police have fears for escaped prisoner who fled an Otago Corrections Facility wearing only trackpants and a top as 'hypothermic conditions' set in.

A Rimutaka inmate and prison guards were attacked because the offenders believed the prisoner had "narked" to guards, a court has heard.

Any register listing the names of convicted paedophiles must have iron-clad security measures to prevent details being leaked to the public, experts say.

A man with a history of violent offending has admitted assaulting a senior Crown lawyer after escaping from security escorts while being led to courtroom cells.

The family of a man who was stomped to death by teenagers is shocked the ringleader has been running a Facebook page for two years - from his prison cell.

Prisoners will not be able to have more than three pieces of fruit a day in NZ jails, after a major riot was found to have been caused by inmates who were drunk on home-brewed alcohol.