29 Aug 2015

Sex offender convinced 'to hand himself in'

2:18 pm on 29 August 2015

A sex offender in the Wellington region who cut off his electronic monitoring bracelet and fled has been captured by police.

Zane McVeigh

Zane McVeigh Photo: Supplied/ NZ Police

Zane McVeigh, 19, who was last year convicted of detaining a woman with intent to have sex, was on the run for less than a day.

"Wellington Police Crime Squad has now located and arrested Zane McVeigh without incident," the police said.

Police earlier said they were advised by Corrections just before 6.30pm yesterday that McVeigh was no longer at his home and had removed his bracelet.

The Corrections Department said it acted swiftly when it was alerted.

"Corrections notified police immediately when the notification was received and police are actively looking for this offender," a statement said.

According to media reports, McVeigh and a 36-year-old associate tried to bundle a 22-year-old woman into a van in Vogel Street in central Dunedin in October, 2013, but the victim fought them off.

He was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison in August last year.

McVeigh is believed to be the 20th person now evading the authorities after removing their monitoring devices.

There are just over 4000 people currently on electronic monitoring.

Three weeks ago, convicted child sex offender Daniel Livingstone cut off his bracelet and was on the loose for a day and a half before the police found him in the Hutt Valley.

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