Pensioner victim fearful as authorities left red-faced at escape of Shane Andrew Gauci
A PENSIONER has been living in fear after her attacker escaped custody, leaving embarrassed authorities facing mounting questions about how the violent criminal fled a prison van.
A PENSIONER has been living in fear after her attacker escaped custody, leaving embarrassed authorities facing mounting questions about how the violent criminal fled a prison van.
Father-of-three Shane Andrew Gauci, 41, was arrested in the early hours of Wednesday morning after fleeing a Toyota people mover that had stopped to refuel at a Gorge Rd service station at Newton on Monday morning.
As two separate investigations were launched, The Advertiser learned Gauci was jailed last year for attacking a widow while on parole.
Despite at least two parole breaches, an “extensive” criminal record over the past 22 years and the state’s highest court casting doubt on his rehabilitation future, jail officials viewed him as a “low-risk” prisoner who was suitable for a special pre-release program.
As Gauci’s family reportedly pleaded for him to hand himself in, an “embarrassed” prisons boss denied his agency had blundered after no information was publicly released on the fugitive for more than 12 hours.
Both police and the Corrections Department claimed it was the other’s responsibility.
His latest victim, Maureen Mcgregor, 69, told The Advertiser of her shock at Gauci’s escape, which occurred 16 months after he was jailed for attacking her outside a Salisbury bank. Speaking from her northern suburbs home last night, the widow – whose two sons have also died – said she wanted the “police to catch him, badly”. “I couldn’t fight a man off,” she said. “It has frightened the life out of me again.
“I still can’t shake it off. It haunts me and I’m always looking over my shoulder. I always look both ways.
“I hope they catch him and I won’t be going to (her local shopping centre) again. I can’t go through it all again. It really took the sting out of me.”
Gauci, a heroin addict at the time, attacked her and stole her handbag in a “scuffle” after she used a Bank SA ATM at 9.40am on June 15, 2016. He had been released from prison just six weeks earlier.
He had been jailed for a series of 2014 house break-ins while also on parole at the time.
Mrs Mcgregor added: “He got me by the arm and spun me around really hard and he’s pushed me at the car. I said: ‘Get away from me, get away from me’. There was a whole bundle of ladies and they said: ‘You leave her alone’, and... charged at him. I managed to get free but he tried to drag me into the car.” His Mitsubishi’s numberplate was captured by a security camera and detectives arrested him the next day.
His victim told the District Court how she was “still fearful” and “constantly checking over my shoulder in fear of this happening again”. In her victim impact statement, she wrote: “It is always with me.
“I am generally a tough person but this has made me more anxious about who is near me. I should not be in fear when I go out.” Gauci, formerly of Burton in Adelaide’s outer north, disappeared after travelling with other prisoners bound for a national park, just after 8am on Monday.
Amid claims he asked to use the toilet, a supervisor raised the alarm at 8.30am. His family, including his elderly mother to whom he is close, are said to be distraught. Police warned the public not to approach him.
Eastern Adelaide detectives have spoken with his family and friends while several properties have been raided.
Premier Steven Marshall admitted it was an “unacceptable” incident but had “faith” in his public servants.
Court documents show Gauci’s first conviction occurred in 1996 when he was 19. His rap sheet is four pages long.
Judge Sophie David jailed him in June last year for three years and two months with a non-parole period of two years.
The sentence was due to start in February this year after serving a previous parole term.
He appealed to the Court of Criminal Appeal, which later backdated the sentence to his June 2016 arrest.
Justices Malcolm Blue, Tim Stanley and Martin Hinton said his criminal history – including “numerous” dishonesty and property crimes – “betray(s) the hold his addiction has had over him” and lamented his failure to respond to judicial “leniency”.
They were not “encouraged” by his views of parole “being a problem” and him preferring to remain behind bars “rather than face the pressures that come with” being on parole. What gave them hope was him suffering “prison burnout”, being drug-free, his family support and access to help.
Corrections chief David Brown yesterday said key details were subject to a police and internal inquiry. “Every escape is clearly unacceptable. Of course the department is embarrassed that anybody escapes from custody. We have to learn from these,” he said.