Cassidy Hynes of Belmont, pleads guilty to escaping the Geelong Magistrates’ Court

A Belmont man’s daring escape attempt from the court dock resulted in a broken heel.

Cassidy Hynes pleaded guilty to escaping custody.

Chaos erupted in a courtroom when a Belmont father attempted a daring escape that culminated in a collision with a glass door and a broken heel.

Cassidy Hynes, 28, appeared in court on Monday via video link from the Melbourne Metropolitan Centre and pleaded guilty to a charge of escaping custody.

Hynes had appeared in the Geelong Magistrates’ Court on March 14 for a bail application relating to shop theft matters and was further remanded in custody.

As soon as the hearing was finished, Hynes leapt up over the dock before officers had the chance to restrain him.

Hynes then successfully made his way out of the courtroom where Constable Kiley Jane shortly followed and yelled out to security to stop him before he could escape the court.

Hynes raced past security guards and made his way through metal detectors and continued towards the main glass entry doors.

Police prosecutor Hannah Marshall said the glass doors did not open in time and Hynes ran into the doors, fell back into the hands of security and was returned to a cell in the Geelong police station.

Hynes’ lawyer Hannah Lyons described the incident as “very ugly” and said it resulted in Hynes breaking his heel.

“Mr Hynes decided he had no other option at that point in time, other than to leap out of the dock and try and make his way out of the court,” Ms Lyons said.

“It was something very distressing to his family.

“It was really gut-wrenching to be able to see their child in that state of mind.

“There were a combination of factors that were at play there … he was coming off substances.”

Prior to his incarceration, the court heard Hynes had been using methamphetamine and marijuana regularly.

As of Monday, Hynes had served 40 days in jail since the escape attempt, and magistrate Simon Guthrie described the incident as “chaos”.

“He jumped that dock, ran through here, created chaos, simply because he didn’t like it,” Mr Guthrie said.

“It’s difficult to accept that you want to have a bright future, are truly remorseful, or trustworthy, or committed to such things as the law.”

Mr Guthrie adjourned sentencing for another week while Hynes is assessed for a community corrections order.

Originally published as Cassidy Hynes of Belmont, pleads guilty to escaping the Geelong Magistrates’ Court