Sydney prison escapee Darko Desic’s deportation notice slammed

The man who gave himself up to police after spending 30 years on the run has been sentenced to extra jail time, but will fight a deportation notice.

A Sydney prison escapee who was on the run for 30 years will fight a move by the government to deport him, with his lawyer slamming it as “unAustralian”.

Darko Desic, 64, was sentenced on Thursday in Central Local Court to two months in prison after pleading guilty to escaping custody in 1992.

He walked into Dee Why Police Station on September 12 this year and said: “You’ve been looking for me” after flying under the radar for and extraordinary 30 years, the court heard.

Darko Desic handed himself in after 30 years on the run.

When everyone went to sleep on August 1, 1992, Desic used a hacksaw blade to cut the bars of his Grafton Correctional Centre cell window and bolt cutters to get through a fence to flee, the court heard.

He was more than a year into his 3½-year sentence for two charges of cultivating marijuana.

Desic, who appeared in court via video link from Clarence Correctional Centre, will serve the remainder of his sentence, with the extra two months added to the end.

He will be eligible for release on December 29, 2022.

But his worries are not over after Border Force notified him that he will be deported at the end of his sentence.

The Yugoslavian native claims he escaped prison originally to avoid being sent home after his release and punished for not completing mandatory military service.

Darko Desic in 1985. Picture: Supplied

Bizarrely, the court heard that despite his escape, he legally became a permanent resident in 2008.

His lawyer Paul McGirr said outside court the deportation letter may have been an error generated automatically.

“He doesn‘t have the same country to go back to. A number of people are going to fight for him because it’s un-Australian to kick someone when they’re down,” Mr McGirr said.

“He’s a loved member of the community and we’re going to fight for him.
Mr McGirr said his client was “grateful” and “humbled” for the support he had received from the northern beaches community he now calls home.

Desic’s legal team has also written to NSW Attorney-General Mark Speakman asking for clemency on the original drug charges, arguing the public’s attitude to marijuana use has changed since the 90s.

Mr McGirr earlier told the court his client had lived without access to health services, performing his own dentistry by pulling out his infected teeth.

Desic worked cash jobs before becoming homeless due to the pandemic.

Earlier in the hearing, police prosecutor Scott Williams asked Magistrate Jennifer Atkinson not to fall for the romance of how an “Aussie larrikin” turned himself in to police decades after escaping from a Sydney prison.

“This case evokes a sense of Aussie larrikinism or a romantic idea of escape from custody,” Mr Williams said.

“Regardless, it was committed back in 1992 and he has been at large from that time to now.

“There’s a strong emphasis for general deterrence to ensure prisoners who might think of escaping know no matter how much time passed they will be punished for what they did.”

Desic’s story has caught the attention of fans worldwide, with $32,200 raised so far to help him start his life again on the northern beaches after release.

Yoav Y, who donated $20, wrote: “Somewhere in faraway Europe, your story reached me on the local news. I hope you will get the second chance you deserve.”

Simon Katic who gave $150 to the fundraiser wrote: “The guy deserves a break.”