Matthew Leslie Tune pleaded guilty in Tamworth District Court on Tuesday to violently assaulting a man with a hockey stick inside a Baird Cr home in South Tamworth in March 2012.

The 32-year-old was extradited from Victoria in September last year after fleeing NSW while awaiting trial.

He was arrested one week after the launch of Operation Roam 2014, a nationwide appeal to track down a list of the 20 most wanted alleged offenders, including Tune.

Oxley detectives, who had been searching for Tune, received information he was hiding out in Victoria, and further details flowed through after Tune’s image was circulated nationally.

Acting on intelligence from Oxley police, Victorian detectives swooped on a home in North Melbourne and arrested Tune.

He was extradited back to NSW by Oxley detectives and taken into custody, where he has remained since.

Tune was due to stand trial in Tamworth District Court on Monday on three charges, before he pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent, possessing a prohibited drug and failing to appear in accordance with a bail undertaking.

During the attack in Baird Cr on March 3, Tune was armed with a hockey stick and attacked a man, leaving him with serious and permanent injuries.

Police at the time said it was a “savage attack” and maintained the victim was lucky to be alive.

Judge Deborah Payne accepted Tune’s guilty pleas and has adjourned the case for sentencing in July.