A man who police say left his wallet and ID at the scene of a crime has again made things easy for police by tagging a court cell with his own initials.

Christopher Rushbrook, 23, was arrested on Tuesday after returning to pick up his wallet from one of two cars he had allegedly broken into at Masterton's Solway railway station.

But just minutes after being bailed on a final warning on Wednesday, Rushbrook bolted from Masterton District Court without signing his bail documents.

Police then found his initials tagged on the walls of his holding cell.

He handed himself in yesterday and now faces charges of escaping police custody and wilful damage, on top of a series of theft charges.

Lawyer Ian Hard described the latest incident as "a pretty unfortunate series of events".

The charge of vandalising the cells would be difficult to deny, Mr Hard said. "He's probably got no option but to plead guilty; he's written his initials in there."

Judge Thomas Broadmore said his warning to Rushbrook would still have been "ringing in his ears" when he fled. I remember saying, or words to the effect, if he breached bail his next stop would be Rimutaka [Prison].

"My immediate reaction is that he's been . . . stupid but it's probably not appropriate to lock him up just for that."

He freed Rushbrook on bail again with a 23-hour curfew until his next court appearance later this month.

- © Fairfax NZ News