NT Police arrest 33-year-old Kris Cooper after escape from Darwin city watch house
A Territory man stuck in a crowded watch house cell managed to break out, leading police on a 24-hour manhunt through Darwin.
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Update - Saturday, February 8: A Territory man who busted out of a makeshift prison was on the run for more than 24 hours before his capture.
NT Police confirmed that 33-year-old Kris Cooper had been recaptured in Ludmilla on Friday afternoon following his escape from the Darwin Watch House, above the Knuckey St Coles.
A police spokesman said Mr Cooper was arrested without incident, just 8km from the police prison.
Details of how Mr Cooper broke out of the watch house have not been disclosed, with police providing a 90-minute window in which he made his escape between 3.30pm and 5pm on Thursday.
This is the second escape from the Darwin watch house since September, when two men used bed sheets to create a makeshift rope out of a broken window, before stealing a car and fleeing towards Wadeye.
Since March 2023 the police facility has been taken over by Corrections due to population pressures in the system, despite consistent concerns about the use of the short-stay cell facilities for long term prisoners.
As of Friday there were 49 people held in the Darwin police prison, 117 in the Palmerston cop shop and a further 54 in the Alice Springs watch house.
Prisoners, corrections staff and police have flagged serious issues with overcrowding, limited access to recreational and showers and other hygiene issues in the watch house cells.
The NT Ombudsman has flagged his ongoing concern for the ongoing use of the “restrictive” watch house facilities, while the matter has also been referred to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Initial - Friday, February 7: A fugitive who escaped from a police prison in the heart of Darwin remains at large 12 hours after his daylight escape.
On Friday morning Northern Watch Commander Steve Rankin confirmed police continued to search for 33-year-old Kris Cooper after he broke out of the Darwin Watch House, above the Knuckey St Coles.
Mr Rankin said Mr Cooper fled from custody sometime in a 90 minute period between 3.30pm and 5pm, Thursday.
He was last seen in the Karama area driving in a blue Great Wall utility vehicle with NT registration CF 69 NG.
Mr Cooper is described as a 178cm tall, medium build Aboriginal man with a medium complexion.
He was last seen wearing a low-security Corrections green T-shirt and blue shorts.
Police said while he does not pose a risk to the public, they are urged not to approach him and to instead immediately call 131 444, quoting the reference number P25036816.
As of January 30 were 48 people held in the former watch house, as the Territory’s Corrections population continues to overwhelm prison and police facilities.
This is not the first time prisoners have escaped from the Darwin Police Prison, with two men going on the run for 12 hours in September.
The pair used bed sheets to create a makeshift rope out of a broken window, before stealing a car and fleeing towards Wadeye.
At the time NT Corrections said it was reviewing “vulnerabilities” in the Darwin City watch-house.
However both corrections and police unions condemned the ongoing use of short-stint watch-house cells as unfit and unsafe for long-term prisoners.
The latest NT Ombudsman annual report flagged ongoing concern for the ongoing use of the “restrictive” watch house facilities.
“It is highly undesirable to hold prisoners there for extended periods and as anything more than a stopgap measure,” the report said.
“The facilities are not capable of being sufficiently improved to meet minimum standards and so should not be used in an ongoing capacity.”
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Originally published as NT Police arrest 33-year-old Kris Cooper after escape from Darwin city watch house
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