Prisoner eludes police

Press, 9 August 1985, Page 1

Prisoner eludes police

PA Auckland A man being taken to prison yesterday escaped for the second time in three months. As on the first occasion he got away by hiding under a prison van.

The man, Simon Allan Kerr, aged 24, rolled under the van outside the District Court at Auckland about 1.30 p.m. and clung to the vehicle chassis as it was driven towards Mt Eden Prison.

After several kilometres, when the van stopped at an intersection, he fled. Kerr, found in Christchurch last week, had appeared in the court on a charge of escaping from custody. He had been at large since mid-May when he escaped from outside the District Court at Auckland by rolling under a prison van. On that occasion he hid under the vehicle until the gate of the “cage” outside the courthouse was opened, then disappeared into lunchtime crowds in the central city. Both times Kerr has slipped away from police escorts in the “cage” while prisoners have been filing into vans.

Before the May escape he had been in court on burglary charges and remanded in custody for a week, without plea. The police said they were concerned about Kerr’s attitude and believed he should not be approached.