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Escaped Australian prisoner recaptured in pub ‘just wanted to see mum’

A prisoner who gave police the slip at a north Australian airport and was eventually found drinking beer in a pub said he fled because he wanted to see his mother.

Kayd Thorp, 24, took cover in bushland and swam across a Brisbane city creek to dodge search teams in a six-hour manhunt on Tuesday which ended when he was discovered having a pint in a local pub.

“I think his beer was still being poured when they swooped,” an officer told Australia’s Courier Mail newspaper. “He didn’t even get to blow the froth off.”

Thorp was preparing to board a flight to the southern state of Victoria to face charges over the fatal beating of a man in February when he managed to escape his police escorts.

Officers told Brisbane Magistrates Court that Thorp was not handcuffed and fled while officers were checking in their bags.

When he was caught, Thorp said he had only wanted to see his mother one last time before going to Victoria. It was unclear whether he had visited her during his six hours on the run, they said.

Thorp received a six-month term on Wednesday after pleading guilty to escaping lawful custody.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .