Prison Escapes: What Does the Law Say?

Have you ever wondered what the law was on prison escapes and how often they actually occur?

You might be surprised to learn that escaping from prison is taken very seriously in the legal system. In New South Wales, the law governing prison escapes is clearly set out in Part 6A of the NSW Crimes Act 1900 which includes six sections dedicated to offences related to escaping custody.

This part of the Act covers a range of crimes, from rescuing inmates from lawful custody, to aiding or facilitating an escape, to permitting or harbouring an escapee. With a prison population of over 12,000 adults in NSW, these laws are designed to prevent escapes and maintain the integrity of the justice system.

While you might think of prison escapes as something straight out of a movie, the truth is they are more common than you might think. Based on data from recent years, the rough number of prison escapes annually ranges between four to twenty escapes from NSW prisons annually. However, the majority of these escapes are often unsuccessful, and many inmates are apprehended within hours or days.

What are the penalties for escaping, and related crimes?

The penalties for escaping prison are designed to serve as a strong deterrent, reflecting the serious nature of such offences. The law treats prison escapes as a direct challenge to authority of the justice system, with severe consequences intended to discourage both inmates who escape and those who assist in the escape.

In particular, Escaping comes with a maximum penalty of ten years imprisonment which is added onto the end of an inmate’s sentence.

Ten years is also the maximum sentence for taking part in the construction of a tunnel that could reasonably be used in allowing inmates to escape. It is important to note that it is not necessary for the prosecution to prove that the tunnel was actually intended for use in facilitating the escape.

Knowingly harbouring, maintaining or employing an escaped inmate carries a maximum penalty of three years.

And aiding or facilitating an escape has a maximum penalty of seven years.

Courts are supposed to take escaping very seriously, as it undermines the integrity of the criminal justice system. But the situations whereby inmates escape vary considerably, and actual sentences differ accordingly.

For example, the situation where an inmate escapes to attend a funeral and returns may be treated much less seriously than a convicted murderer escaping and remaining at-large for several weeks.

Committing an offence after escaping from prison is classified as an aggravating factor, which means that a harsher penalty may be issued.

But despite the penalties attached, many are undeterred and have often come up with ingenious ways to escape, with varying degrees of success.

The Nature of Escape Plans

Escape plans range from the wildly elaborate, such as taking over a helicopter at Silverwater prison, to sewing prison guard uniforms and using explosives to blast out of prison, to the astonishingly simple: wearing a disguise and strolling out from the visitors area.

But one of the most extraordinary cases involves one of the killers of Anita Cobby, whose name has once again entered the spotlight due to the Memorial Service that occurred in her remembrance on 2 February.

One of her killers was part of a group of seven prisoners who engineered an elaborate escape plan and almost succeeded back in 1979, seven years before Cobby’s tragic murder.

The group was comprised of convicted murderers and sex offenders.

The men worked in ‘shifts’ digging their way down a hole hidden in a wardrobe and through the soft sandstone walls of Parramatta gaol.

They used knives, forks, screwdrivers and eventually a shovel to chisel a tunnel out of the prison and into the nearby linen company.

The hole was finally dug and the day for escape had come – and it was nearly successful until inmate Michael Murphy, who would go on to murder Anita Cobby, made one short telephone call.

He called his grandmother and told her that he would be out soon. Unfortunately for Murphy, she then called the prison back, repeated the good news and asked when her grandson would be released.

This of course raised alarm bells and the tunnel was discovered the morning of the intended escape, although previous searches had not uncovered the hole.

Sixteen years later, the mastermind Lanigan, convicted of murder, escaped from Long Bay Farm and has never been heard of since.

Murphy escaped in 1986 from Silverwater prison but his freedom only lasted a year, when he was once again behind bars for his part in the Anita Cobby murder.

And while security in prisons is always increasing, those desperate to get out will continue to lay awake at night thinking of ways to escape.