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Source: ONE News -
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A dangerous prisoner on the run from Auckland Prison at Paremoremo managed to cut his way through the fence of the tough jail using an angle grinder.
This is not the first time Kevin Polwart has been on the run from authorities and police are warning people to be on alert for the career criminal.
Although the prison has a high security unit, Polwart was working in a part of the prison with two fences and no internal patrols.
The low security area gave Polwart more freedom, and access to machinery and cutting equipment which he used in his escape, prompting an extensive manhunt.
The prison manager has confirmed to ONE News that Polwart cut his way out with an angle grinder on the end of a 15 metre extension cord.
But prison staff are justifying missing what must have been a loud escape.
"The yard itself is an exceptionally noisy area. You've got cranes, tremendous amount of tools and a large number of people moving about ... that noise would not have been out of character for that area," says Auckland Prison manager Neil Beales.
Polwart has a history of dodging the police and in 1999 he eventually gave himself up after eluding police for more than three weeks.
Two years later he bettered that effort, avoiding capture for six weeks after breaking out of Rimutaka Prison where he was serving 10 years for a $600,000 heist.
On both occasions he taunted the police, communicating with them via ONE News. "I suppose I wanted to be number one in a lot of things but not at the top of the wanted list," he said at the time.
It is not clear what prompted Wednesday's break for freedom, but police believe he must have been desperate.
Meanwhile, the prison has now closed down the work area Polwart was in and is reviewing the files of all other prisoners who have been working in that part of the prison. They say when they do eventually catch Polwart he will be straight back into high security.
