Warnings over escapee prisoner ignored
PRISON authorities had been warned not to allow a dangerous inmate who escaped last week to work outside the Darwin Correctional Precinct’s secure perimeter fence.
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PRISON authorities had been warned not to allow a dangerous inmate who escaped last week to work outside the Darwin Correctional Precinct’s secure perimeter fence.
Shaun Liddle was on the run for more than two days after driving out of the prison in a buggy that is used at the jail’s horticultural centre.
He waved at the prison’s security cameras as he drove out on to Willard Rd towards Gunn Point about 1.55pm on Friday.
The NT News has learned Liddle’s prisoner management plan had warned he should not be allowed to work outside the secure perimeter fence.
The plan, prepared in February, says Liddle should not be let outside the perimeter fence for employment and that he only be allowed outside the prison’s main walls for medical and court appearances.
Despite this, Liddle was working in the prison’s horticultural Centre last Friday, which is outside the prison’s secure walls.
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Only cyclone fencing stands between prisoners and freedom and there is a gate which allows vehicles to come in and out unchecked.
Liddle drove a green Polaris side-by-side buggy out the front gate about 1:55pm on Friday.
“He waved to the security cameras as he drove straight out the front gate,” one source said.
He spent more than two days on the run before he was apprehended at Mindil Beach on Sunday night.
Prison sources said Liddle was one of the most difficult inmates to manage at the Holtze prison.
IN OTHER NEWS
In 2014 Justice Judith Kelly described Liddle as a “troublemaker in prison” as she sentenced him over the terrifying robbery of two prostitutes.
The same hearing was told Liddle had allegedly been involved in 31 assaults on other prisoners in just over 12 months while on remand.
The NT Corrections Department declined to answer questions about Liddle’s escape, or about claims Liddle had previously escaped from custody.
“Northern Territory Correctional Services cannot discuss details of individual prisoners due to a range of privacy and security reasons,” the department said in a statement.
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