NSW: Prisoner says he climbed fence: Corrective Services

AAP General News (Australia)
12-07-2008
NSW: Prisoner says he climbed fence: Corrective Services

By Caroline Berdon

SYDNEY, Dec 7 AAP - A minimum security escapee from a jail in Sydney's south has told
police he escaped by climbing over the rear fence of the complex, Corrective Services
authorities say.

Inmate Alex Mihail, 50, was captured in Sydney's west on Saturday night after allegedly
escaping from Long Bay Correctional Complex in Malabar on November 26.

Mihail, who was serving time for vehicle theft and traffic offences, was arrested with
a 31-year-old woman at a house on Captain Cook Drive in Willmot.

Department of Corrective Services assistant commissioner Brian Kelly on Sunday said
Mihail told police he had escaped from the jail by scaling the back fence.

"A desperate person is able to do quite incredible things and he climbed over the fences
which included barbed wire," Mr Kelly told reporters.

He added that the inmate would have had to climb two fences to secure his escape -
one of four metres and one of three metres.

Claims emerged on Friday that Mihail escaped by simply walking out the front gate of the jail.

NSW opposition justice spokesman Greg Smith on Sunday said it was worrying that the
Department of Corrective Services was unwilling to release security footage of the prison's
front entrance for the time of Mihail's alleged escape.

He said he wanted the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) to look into the matter.

Mr Kelly said the chairman and senior members of the Prison Officers Vocational Branch
had been shown video footage "which clearly shows (Mihail) did not walk out of the front
gate".

"Any misinformation about him walking out of the front gate has been proffered by people
with other agendas," he said.

Mr Kelly said the incident was not an embarrassment for the prison service, adding
that the escape rate in NSW is "by far" the lowest in Australia.

Minimum security prisoners were often allowed to go out to work or to do courses, usually
had a short time left in their sentence and were provided with a certain amount of trust,
he said.

"You have to understand this is a minimum security prisoner, doing a very short sentence,
working on the grounds all day.

"There will be opportunities for minimum security prisoners to escape but our case
management process is so good, we've been able to keep them at record lows although we
have record high number of inmates in custody."

Mr Kelly said prison escapes were usually triggered by family issues, which could be
particularly prominent around Christmas time.

The reasons for the Mihail's escape remained unclear.

Mihail has been charged with inmate escape from lawful custody and is awaiting transfer
to a maximum security wing at Silverwater jail in Sydney's west.

The woman who was arrested with him in Willmot has been charged with knowingly harbouring
an escaped inmate.

AAP cjb/wf

KEYWORD: ESCAPE WRAP

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