ON THE RUN AFTER SKIPPING BAIL

expert Dr Trevor Bradley said, short of tagging every bail accused with GPS, there wasn’t a lot more police could do to keep track of those on bail and potentially stop them reoffending.

‘‘The police already dedicate a lot of time to bail checks. But if someone adopts a very low profile, and doesn’t draw attention to themselves, it can be very difficult to find them. In big cities like Auckland you could remain undetected for a very long time.’’

Earlier this year Waihi police put out an appeal for information on a man involved in manufacturing $4 million worth of methamphetamine after he skipped bail over a year ago.

Whangamata man Steven John Mehrtens, 56, was arrested in May 2010 for his part in a major drug operation spanning Auckland and the Coromandel.

Later released on bail, he disappeared in January 2011 and has not been seen since. But he’s not the only one. More that 28,500 alleged offenders nationally have yet to be located after failing to appear in court after being bailed during 2010/11 year – 2392 of those in the Waikato.

At the beginning of last month 2,500 of them were still on the run.

Justice Minister Judith Collins would not answer specific questions around the issue of alleged wrongdoers absconding while on bail yesterday. But she has previously said that the new bail laws, if passed by Parliament– would give the police ‘‘a bit of teeth’’.