Child sex offender Phillip John Smith is accusing the government of unlawfully bringing him back to New Zealand after his audacious overseas escape.
Smith skipped the country in November 2014 and went to Chile and Brazil while on temporary release from Spring Hill prison - where he was serving a life sentence for murder.
He's been at the Court of Appeal to appeal the two years, nine months handed down to him for the escape.
Jonathan Mitchell was in court.
