Northern Territory police are searching for two male prisoners aged 19 and 24 who escaped from a watch house in Darwin’s CBD this morning. The prisoners appeared to have smashed a window from within their cell and used a bed sheet to create a makeshift rope to climb down the building. Police are advising people, if seen, to not approach the men but to notify police on their whereabouts.
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TVTranscript
00:00This hole in the wall behind me is what's forming the investigation into just how two
00:07prisoners managed to escape from this Darwin watch house in the early hours of this morning.
00:12We have just spoken to a neighbour who watched the whole thing unfold from her balcony across
00:17the road.
00:18She said that around 4.45 this morning they were sitting out on their balcony, they heard
00:22a big crash.
00:23We can see broken glass, the prisoners must have smashed a window and they've somehow
00:28managed to remove the grate that was covering that hole in the wall, they're not sure how
00:32they did that.
00:33They then used clothes or bedding to abseil down from the roof and by the time police
00:39arrived about five minutes later, the two men were nowhere to be seen.
00:43Now what we do know in terms of this escape is that the two men were serving sentences
00:48for serious domestic violence charges.
00:51Just for some context for those not from the Northern Territory, this watch house behind
00:55me is being used as overflow for prisons due to prisons being so full.
01:00So they're lower security, there are about 40 prisoners serving time in those watch houses.
01:05There have been a few breakouts from there before.
01:07NT Police say that they are looking into how this escape happened but also NT Corrections
01:12will need to conduct their own inquiry.
01:14Here's what Police Commander Danny Bacon said.
01:16All that will be revealed as part of that investigation process, both by police in obviously
01:21determining how they escaped and obviously try to locate them, but also corrections will
01:25need to review in regards to their own security of the facility that they are managing.
01:30Now police say they'll have an increased presence around Darwin today as they continue to search
01:34for the two men.
01:35They were last seen on CCTV walking along Daly Street.
01:39They're investigating whether or not there's a connection to a stolen car in Perhaps this
01:43morning to these escaped prisoners.
01:45They're not sure if those two things are linked.
01:47They are encouraging people to keep an eye out.
01:49They're wearing prison uniforms, which are shorts, a t-shirt and thongs.
01:53They could have gotten into a car, they could be on foot.
01:56They're still searching.
01:57They have dogs out.
01:58But they are telling the public if you do see the men, do not approach them, just call
02:02police and let them know of their whereabouts.