Fugitive sex offender Daniel Livingstone expected to return to prison, but planned to spend his money on "alcohol and chicks" on his release, Parole Board documents show.

Police arrested the convicted child sex offender about 3.30pm on Friday at the shops in Naenae, about seven kilometres from the flat in Upper Hutt from which he absconded early on Thursday after breaking his electronic monitoring bracelet.

Police were alerted by a member of the public, and also by Hutt City Council CCTV cameras, which are monitored at Lower Hutt police station.

NZ POLICE Daniel Livingstone pictured on CCTV on Monday.

Cordons were set up around the area and, although Livingstone tried to escape, he was caught within the cordon.

He is expected to appear in court on Saturday morning, charged with breaching the conditions of his extended supervision order.

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Livingstone was convicted in 2006 for the abduction and rape of a 10-year-old girl in Whangarei.

His last Parole Board decision from 2014 reveals Livingstone had been "apathetic and lethargic" during child-sex offender treatment.

In a decision from February that year, he was reported as saying he would spend his Steps to Freedom release money on "alcohol and chicks" and expected to return to prison soon.

The board raised concerns that there was a weakness in Livingstone's safety and release plans. He had been denied access to the Whare Oranga Ake rehabilitation unit, which "heightened risks" for him if he "went it alone", the report said.

The board noted he had no support outside the prison and no links to the community.

But that year he was freed to an address in Palmerston North under an extended supervision order, which meant he had to wear a monitoring bracelet.

The Parole Board noted that he declined legal assistance for the purpose of the supervision order, which raised further concerns.

He was subject to an ESO after his release in 2014 to a Palmerston North address, which meant he had to wear a monitoring bracelet.

Strict conditions were set for his release, which included that he not leave his house between 8pm and 7am. He was not allowed near schools, parks or preschools, or any other places where children went.

Livingstone moved to Upper Hutt in June this year.

He slipped the ankle bracelet early on Thursday, raising questions about how and why several hours elapsed between the tamper alarm on the bracelet going off, and police breaking into his flat.

Police said on Thursday that the alarm went off between 1.30am and 2am, and that about seven hours passed before they entered the flat.

On Friday they said they always thought it likely, after the alarm went off, that he had absconded. They were focused more on looking for him than on checking his flat.

"Police would like to make it clear that efforts to locate Daniel Livingstone began when officers first attended his property at 3.50am yesterday.

"He was actively sought as an absconder from the moment that door-knocking at his property failed to gain a response.

"Steps taken included area patrols, area and background inquiries, and also checking an address of an associate.

"Officers visited the property where Mr Livingstone was living on two separate occasions at the request of Corrections in the early hours of Thursday morning.

"In these circumstances, there are no specific powers of entry without warrant for a constable to forcibly enter premises when they believe an offender is not there.

"On the third visit, police took the step of forcing entry to the property, given the seriousness of the situation.

"The ankle bracelet was located inside the property, which confirmed that Livingstone had absconded. However, active steps to locate him had already been under way for several hours by that time."

Detective Inspector Grant Wormald said police would review the way the incident was handled.

"We are looking at whether there was another option there. But suffice to say, when they did go in, it was to confirm that he definitely wasn't there ... look for any other relevant evidence.

"We will move forward and see if there are some learnings, and see if there is a better way we could have done it to ensure things like this don't happen again."

It did not appear Livingstone had any help while on the run. He was alone when caught and showed various emotions, Wormald said.

"In some way, I think he was almost relieved he had been found as well."

Corrections Minister Sam Lotu-Iiga said the response to Livingstone's case was simply not good enough.

"Police and Corrections must work together to achieve quicker and more effective response times," Lotu-Iiga said.

"The anklets are not indestructible but an alarm is activated if they are tampered with and that alarm is acted on by Corrections and often the police. In Livingstone's case, that occurred far too late."