By Emma Partridge, Perry Duffin and Olivia Ireland
A terrified mother has described the moment she was allegedly carjacked by a blood-covered inmate who escaped from Sydney’s Long Bay Correctional Complex, and revealed how she got away.
Jason Neil Melbon, 43, faced court on Tuesday after escaping from the jail in Sydney’s east on Monday afternoon and allegedly attacking two women.
Police say Melbon assaulted the first woman in her home on Esperance Close in Little Bay, tying her up with power cords, before running up to a second woman a few doors down.
That second woman, a nurse known only as Rachelle to preserve her safety, said she was unpacking groceries in her Little Bay driveway when Melbon allegedly approached.
“I saw blood on him so I was quite scared, he told me he just got out of jail,” Rachelle told Nine News.
Rachelle said Melbon demanded her car keys but she refused. Melbon then allegedly told her “you’re driving, so get in the car”.
“I was just very scared, very scared,” Rachelle said.
“My heart was racing but what was going through my mind was when can I run? When can I make a run for it?”
Rachelle says she ran from the car when it stopped at Battye Avenue in Beverley Park and took the keys with her.
“I pretty much ran with my key down my top and made a run for it ... screaming out ‘Help me’ and beautiful neighbours came to my aid,” Rachelle said.
Melbon also allegedly ran from the stopped car and, after a short foot pursuit, he was arrested in the street about 1.05pm.
He was charged with escaping from lawful custody, two counts of aggravated break and enter and committing a serious indictable offence, taking and driving a conveyance without the consent of the owner, and two counts of taking and detaining a person with intent to obtain advantage.
Melbon was refused bail at Sutherland Local Court on Tuesday, and will face court again on October 12.
Melbon was a minimum security inmate who absconded shortly after headcount at lunchtime on Monday, authorities say. He was in prison for a shooting and violent carjacking in 2008.
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