Darko Desic hands himself into NSW Police 30 years after prison escape
Darko Desic was 13 months into a three-and-a-half year sentence when he escaped from Grafton Jail on August 1, 1992. On Sunday, he surrendered saying life back inside was better than being homeless.
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A man who broke out of prison in 1992 has handed himself in to police after almost 30 years of living under the radar, when he decided life back inside was better than being homeless.
Darko Desic was 13 months into a three-and-a-half year sentence when he escaped from Grafton correctional centre in the middle of the night on August 1, 1992.
On Sunday morning, the now 64-year-old handed himself into Dee Why Police Station.
Desic told police that for the past 29 years he has been living on Sydney’s northern beaches and working as a labourer deliberately doing cash-only jobs, but in recent months the Covid pandemic hit hard and he had been made homeless and so decided to hand himself in.
Police said the Yugoslavian-born Desic – who became known as “Dougie” after escaping – claimed he broke out of jail because he feared that once his sentence was up he would be deported to Yugoslavia, where he expected to be punished having years earlier fled without doing his compulsory military service.
“He said he’s been living in Avalon, just doing labouring and odd jobs for cash for almost three decades,” a police source said.
“About 2am on August 1, 1992 he used a hacksaw blade to cut through the bars on his windows and then took bolt cutters from the maintenance shed, which he used to get through the fence.
“He’s been completely law abiding, never come under attention, never been spoken to. He told us he never caused anyone any trouble so no one ever looked at him twice.
“But Covid stopped all the cash work, he’s become homeless over the past couple of weeks and he slept on the beach on Saturday night and said ‘stuff it, I’ll go back to prison where there’s a roof over my head’.”
Desic was sentenced to a maximum of three years and eight months in prison in 1991 after being convicted on two counts of cultivating a cannabis.
Having now handed himself into police, he will pick up where he left off with his jail sentence.
Desic will have to serve out the minimum of one year, one month and 19 days remaining before he is eligible for parole.
If he is not granted parole he will remain behind bars September 30, 2023.
It is understood that a warrant for Desic’s arrest lasted for only 20 years, meaning that after 2012 even if he had been picked up by police he would not have shown up as a wanted man on their systems.
The only time he has been on the radar since his escape was in 1998 when a potential sighting was reported near Nowra.
That led to Desic being named on the Australia’s Most Wanted TV show, but nothing further came of it.
Desic was actually so successful in rejoining society after his escape that even Immigration officials had given up looking for him, and in 2008 granted him residency in Australia.
In addition to resuming his prison sentence, Desic was also charged by police with escape by prisoner from lawful custody – a sentence that carries a maximum seven-year term.
Desic faced Central Local Court via video link on Tuesday where he made no application for bail and will return to court on September 28.
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