DAD OFFERS TO GO TO JAIL FOR HIS SON

All Boy Yates wants for Christmas is jail time.

The 66-year-old Mangonui man strolled into the Kaitaia Police Station
this week with an unusual request - he wanted to be locked up in the
hope it might flush out his son, Stephen Yates.

His 30-year-old son, a known methamphetamine user who is believed to
possess several firearms, has been recalled to prison where he was
serving a sentence for violent crimes.

Senior Sergeant Gordon Gunn turned down his father's offer to spend
time in jail in a bid to convince his son to hand himself in.

"It was an honorable gesture, but one we had to decline," Mr Gunn
said.

Police have been searching for Stephen Yates for the past two
months.

He is still on the loose despite armed police swooping on a remote
forestry area earlier this month in response to a reported sighting
of him.

Armed police, offenders squad officers and police dog handlers
swooped on Waipapakauri Ramp, about 15km north-west of Kaitaia. Some
squad members flew in by helicopter, landing on Ninety Mile Beach.

Mr Yates said his offer to spend Christmas in jail arose from concern
for his son and for the safety of others.

"My intentions were that I would rather spend Christmas in jail and
for him to come forward and face the consequences of his alleged actions.

"I was prepared to go to jail, I didn't know you couldn't voluntarily
go in."

He last spoke with his son before the armed offenders squad call-out
and pleaded with him to give himself up to police.

"As soon as I mentioned going in with me to the police he didn't
think too kindly of that."

He expressed concerns about his son's drug use and the effect the
drug P had on his behaviour.

"It doesn't matter if you're the best person in the world if you're
using P ... I believe you can change from a loving person to a
destructive one in a few minutes.

"We want him to come out and lead an honest life.

"I would rather be in jail appealing to him to come in. I would love
to spend my Christmas in jail to show him how much I want him to hand
himself in."