A drug criminal who dodged border controls and fled New Zealand just days after convicted murderer and sex offender Phillip John Smith allegedly escaped to South America has been caught in Australia and deported.
Kris Willoughby, 30, was freed from prison last September only to defy the conditions of his release and fly from Auckland to Brisbane in late October.
A warrant was issued for his arrest and Australian authorities were notified.
But Willoughby didn't act like a man on the run.
He boasted on social media that he was enjoying a party lifestyle on the Gold Coast.
And he also continued to fall foul of the law.
Willoughby was convicted on charges of wilful damage and receiving tainted property on December 8.
Southport Magistrates Court yesterday confirmed he was fined A$2500 ($2680) and ordered to return the property to its rightful owner.
Australian police yesterday failed to respond to questions over how they did not manage to detain Willoughby at the time, despite him being a wanted man.
It all came to an end last Thursday, though, when the fugitive was arrested by police again and was locked up at Beenleigh Police watch house.
"He was taken into custody in relation to offences under the Immigration Act, and as such, was handed over to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection morning around 5am," a Queensland Police Service spokesman said.
A spokesman for Australia's Department of Immigration and Border Protection yesterday refused to comment, citing "operational reasons".
But New Zealand Police confirmed he was returned to Auckland yesterday afternoon.
He was arrested on arrival at Auckland Airport for breaching prison release conditions and will appear at North Shore District Court today.
The Willoughby case sparked a system-wide review looking at how he managed to get through border control.
Last night, the Department of Corrections said the review identified "some gaps" in the management of Willoughby, who had been released in October after completing a sentence "significantly less" than two years for unspecified drugs offences.
"We have taken appropriate steps to minimise the risk of this occurring in the future," said Corrections' operations manager community corrections for northern region, Alastair Riach.
"Corrections thanks the New Zealand and Australian authorities for their assistance in this matter."
Corrections had earlier said that Willoughby had legally obtained a valid passport for the trip. There had been no alerts in the organisation's computer system to prevent him leaving.
After Phillip John Smith was found hiding in a Rio de Janeiro backpackers hostel and extradited to New Zealand in November, a multi-agency review into his escape was carried out.
He was able to allegedly leave the country after applying from prison for a passport under his birth surname, Traynor, which had no criminal convictions entered against it.
The review found that relevant agencies did not have access to full or accurate information about Smith and made recommendations to update the system.
- By Kurt Bayer of NZME
