‘Vicious’ rapist, bank robber and prison escapee Brett McFarlane jailed again after parole

The violent, serial criminal was free on parole when he put the lives of two police officers in danger to try to escape them.

A serial bank robber and prison escapee – who slit the throats of two people he met while posing as a hitchhiker – has been jailed for driving at two police officers while on parole, a court has heard.

Brett Matthew McFarlane, 57, has a lengthy rap sheet spanning four decades which lists attempted murder, several bank hold-ups, motor vehicle offences and other offending.

Most recently he was found guilty at trial of a charge of aggravated creating the likelihood of harm when he drove at two uniformed police officers in the backstreets of Morphett Vale about 2.45am on June 2, 2021.

At the time, he was on parole after serving numerous jail terms since the 1980s, including a 14-year jail term for assaulting and attempting to murder a couple he met while posing as a hitchhiker in 1985.

The “vicious” attack included the repeated rape of a woman, before he slit both of their throats.

In sentencing for his latest offending, Judge Simon Stretton described the earlier attack as a “nightmare” for the couple who had survived but “from which they have likely never fully recovered”.

He said McFarlane also had a knack for fleeing the confines of prison and had escaped from custody on three occasions.

In June 1987 McFarlane broke out of Yatala Labour Prison by climbing walls and cutting through perimeter fencing with an oxyacetylene torch.

“In your subsequent single month at large you committed an armed bank robbery, stealing over $5000, and further offending,” Judge Stretton said.

Brett Matthew McFarlane.

SA Police mug shot of convicted armed robber Brett McFarlane.

He was rearrested on July 31, 1987 but escaped from holding cells at Adelaide Magistrates Court in November the same year.

“You immediately resumed serious offending in the subsequent two months committing no less than five armed robberies, the most serious of which involved you armed with a heavy calibre pistol, and in company of others, stealing over $50,000,” he said.

McFarlane was granted early release on parole in 1998 after serving just 13 years of an 18-year non-parole period and began offending again, including an attempted holdup with a semiautomatic rifle.

“The trust placed in you by the Parole Board was entirely misplaced,” Judge Stretton said.

In 1999 McFarlane again escaped from Yatala Labour Prison and, while at large, orchestrated more bank robberies.

“In the ensuing six weeks prior to your apprehension, you committed three further armed bank robberies with a total of $28,500 being stolen,” Judge Stretton said.

He said that series of offending, added to his unserved prison time, resulted in a head sentence of about 30-years, with a non-parole period of about 16 years and six months.

McFarlane was released on parole in 2019, but he was returned to custody for abusing illicit drugs before being again released on parole prior to the June 2021 offending.

Judge Stretton said McFarlane knew a Parole Board warrant had been issued for his arrest at the time of the latest incident after he twice tested positive for drugs, in April and May 2021.

He said McFarlane initially sped away from police in the early hours of June 2, 2021, but lost control of the car he was driving as he tried to turn a corner.

He spun the car 180 degrees to face the oncoming police car.

“You drove directly at the police in circumstances likely to cause harm to them, reckless as to causing that harm, for the purposes of escaping them,” Judge Stretton said.

“It was only the quick reactions of the police in immediately swerving left out of your way that avoided the otherwise inevitable collision.”

Judge Stretton said McFarlane’s evidence at trial for why he was in the backstreets of Morphett Vale in the early hours could not be accepted by the court.

“Your reasons were simply too bizarre, convoluted and inherently unlikely,” he said.

He found McFarlane’s reason for the offending was to avoid apprehension.

Judge Stretton said McFarlane’s personal history included a “very difficult childhood with very poor parenting from both parents” which led to him running away and leaving school early and drug abuse.

He married a lawyer he met in prison in 1990. She was later struck off for her inappropriate relationships with clients, before being readmitted to the bar.

Judge Stretton said he recognised McFarlane’s “advancing age” and that he was now “motivated to make more efforts” to lead a law-abiding life upon release from prison.

He imposed a three-year sentence for the latest offending which was added to more than seven years of unexpired parole, leading to a final head sentence of 10 years, 10 months and three days.

“Ultimately, Mr McFarlane, it will come down to you. You should be planning from today to set yourself up on release to totally avoid other drug-takers and criminals because that will be your best chance to avoid drugs yourself and to stay out of prison on an ongoing basis in the future,” he said.

He set a low non-parole period of four years, backdated to McFarlane’s arrest in June 2021. McFarlane was also banned from driving for five years.