Police still looking for people who helped three Townsville inmates abscond from farm facility

Police are still trying to track down multiple people who helped a group of Townsville prisoners escape custody, as it’s revealed what the inmates did during their brief stint of freedom.

POLICE are still trying to track down multiple people who helped a group of Townsville prisoners escape custody, as it’s revealed what the inmates did during their brief stint of freedom.

On Monday evening, three prisoners walked off the Townsville correctional farm facility and were picked up by people in a vehicle which drove them from the Stuart area.

All three inmates, Les Noel Noble, Layne Rex Newman and Preston Donald Zane Quakawoot, have since been rounded up, arrested and placed back behind bars, but their accomplices are still out there.

Layne Newman, Les Noble and Preston Quakawoot escaped the prison farm this week. Picture: QCS

Townsville District Acting Chief Superintendent Dave Miles said they suspect more than one person was involved in the escape plan.

“We are still making inquiries in relation to those people,” Supt Miles said.

Newman was the first to be arrested on Tuesday night after allegedly running from a stolen Mazda on Gosper St. A 20-year-old Condon woman was arrested alongside him.

Noble was also allegedly in the same car and ran from police, going to ground for three days, but eventually handed himself into police on Thursday morning.

Quakawoot was arrested at a house in Stuart on Wednesday morning where police allege he was being protected by two women.

A 43-year-old Rasmussen woman and a 22-year-old woman from Ingham have both been charged over harbouring Quakawoot.

It’s understood the men didn’t leave Townsville and spent time with known associates in the area.

All three men have been placed back into the high-security prison, but it can be revealed one of the men has a history of escaping custody.

In 2018, Quakawoot broke free from police officers transferring him to a Bundaberg watch-house.

His escape sparked a three-hour search which included police, drones, dog squad and detectives.

Despite his history, Quakawoot was allowed to reside in the low security prison area.

Opposition spokesman for Corrections Dale Last questioned how this was allowed to happen.

“How the prisoners are monitored and supervised … is not good enough,” Mr Last said.

“Why was that prisoner in a low-security farm environment when he has a previous incident record of escaping custody?”

Queensland Corrective Services ignored questions about how a prisoner with a relevant history was allowed in a low-security area.

“Prior to being placed in a low security facility such as a prison farm all prisoners are subject to a detailed risk assessment where a range of factors are taken into consideration such as sentence length, risk to the public and behaviour,” a spokeswoman said in a statement.

Originally published as Police still looking for people who helped three Townsville inmates abscond from farm facility