Phillip Smith details Corrections claim

Phillip John Smith. Photo / NZH

Phillip Smith has detailed to police his interactions with a Corrections Officer who allegedly helped him leave the country, his lawyer says.

Smith was interviewed this afternoon by two police officers, in the presence of his lawyer at Auckland Prison on the subject of the two charges he is facing, his lawyer Dr Tony Ellis said.

The video interview lasted around two hours, during which Smith gave a detailed and account of his interactions with a Corrections Officer, which were relevant to the two charges he is facing, Dr Ellis said.

The name of the relevant Corrections Officer was also provided to police, he said.

Dr Ellis said he expected the information to be further investigated by police.

Christopher Ryan Clifton appeared in Wanganui District Court today on charges related to Smith's alleged escape.

The 25-year-old man was charged on December 9 under the Passports Act with making false representations.

He is accused of making "an oral statement that he knew to be false" on June 26 last year which allegedly helped Smith to get a passport.

Smith was cited on the charge sheet under his birth name of Phillip John Traynor.

The charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

Smith appeared in Auckland District Court yesterday where he pleaded not guilty to escaping custody and unlawfully obtaining a passport.

He was caught in Rio de Janeiro on November 13 a week after allegedly fleeing New Zealand while on temporary release from Spring Hill Corrections Facility in South Auckland where he was serving a life term.

In 1995, he stabbed to death the father of a boy he had been sexually abusing, after tracking the family down to a Wellington house where they had moved to escape him.

Smith was on bail at the time for the sexual offending and charges of blackmail against a man who later killed himself.

- additional reporting: Wanganui Chronicle