A GLEN Innes prison escapee who evaded capture for 79 days allegedly committed two armed robberies in five minutes while on the run, court documents state.
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Marcus Kenneth Buchanan, 34, who gave police an address in Thomas St, Raymond Terrace, was arrested in Newcastle West on Thursday after a massive manhunt that spanned Glen Innes, Kempsey, Grafton, Coffs Harbour and finally the Hunter.
Buchanan and fellow inmate Joshua George Laszuk were in their cell of the minimum-security Glen Innes Correctional Centre about 9pm on October 27 when Buchanan noticed the window in his room was loose.
The pair were able to escape through the window and simply walked out of the jail, court documents state.
Buchanan was serving a 12-month jail term for assault occasioning actual bodily harm and contravening an apprehended violence order. He was due to be released in August, 2016.
Laszuk was arrested a few hours later by an off-duty prison officer driving along the Gwydir Highway, but by then he and Buchanan had gone their separate ways.
A white Ford Laser was stolen from Glen Innes the following morning and found burnt out in South Grafton a few days later. But there was no sign of Buchanan.
On November 2, less than a week after his escape, Buchanan is alleged to have used a shortened .22 calibre rifle to hold-up the Target department store and Coles supermarket at Kempsey within a five minute period. He escaped with about $2500.
Detectives from the State Crime Command’s Robbery and Serious Crime Squad were called in and established Strike Force Mirool to track and arrest Buchanan.
But for two months Buchanan managed to be one step ahead of police.
In late November, heavily-armed police searched a house in Coffs Harbour, but there was no trace of Buchanan.
Then a few days later a siege in Toormina, south of Coffs Harbour, ended with no one found inside.
Police, acting on intelligence, swooped on Buchanan in Steel St, Newcastle West about 1.40pm on Thursday. He was found with some cannabis seeds and ammunition in a bum bag.
Buchanan pleaded guilty to escaping from lawful custody, possession of ammunition and possession of a prohibited drug in Newcastle Local Court on Friday.
He did not apply for bail and it was formally refused. The matter was adjourned to Port Macquarie Local Court on March 24.
Co-accused Laszuk also appeared in court on Friday, this time in Armidale District Court, for a severity appeal against his nine-month sentence for the failed escape.
Laszuk was successful on Friday in his bid to have the prison term reduced after Judge Jennifer English varied his sentence to three months.
He will be eligible for release in July.