Detention Centre Escape Mystery
Sun Herald
Sunday August 31, 2003
AUTHORITIES investigating the mysterious flight of a Sydney detention centre inmate have refused to comment on the possibility that he paid a bribe to walk free.
The 31-year-old Italian national had been unaccounted for since being reclassified as a medium risk detainee at Villawood early last week, a Department of Immigration spokeswoman said yesterday.
Sources inside the centre say suspicion is growing that the man may have paid up to $10,000 for someone to simply ``look the other way" while he slipped out a gate, The Sun-Herald has learned.
Department officials and police have confirmed that the circumstances of the escape are being investigated. However, both refuse to give details.
It is understood the man, a visa overstayer awaiting the outcome of his application for refugee status, was first noticed missing on Monday or Tuesday.
Guards initially believed he may have been hiding inside the facility but repeated head counts and searches failed to locate him.
Other detainees say no evidence has been found that suggests the man climbed his way to freedom over a perimeter fence or somehow smuggled himself out.
The escape is at least the third such incident at Villawood this year.
Five detainees bashed a guard unconscious and cut through a fence in February, whilst a Chinese national managed to flee in March, in similarly unexplained circumstances.
A police spokesman said yesterday the escapee was seen by Villawood staff about 7pm last Sunday.
He was described as being 175 centimetres tall and weighing 75 kilograms.
© 2003 Sun Herald