3 Sep 2011

Escaped prisoner captured at camping ground

2:25 pm on 3 September 2011

Police say the escaped prisoner Lex Miller gave himself up after being surrounded while he was inside a vehicle at a Gisborne camping ground on Friday night.

Miller escaped from Tongariro-Rangipo prison on 25 August.

Bay of Plenty district crime manager, Detective Inspector Tim Anderson, says an off-duty police officer spotted Miller at the camping ground.

Miller was sentenced to nearly eight years in prison for the attempted murder of his wife in 2008.

Inspector Anderson says the crime was serious, cold and calculated, and the police had concerns for the safety of some people associated with the case.

Miller was due to appear in the Gisborne District Court on Saturday.