A prisoner accused of escaping from Corrective Services custody by leaping out a window at Shoalhaven Hospital last week had originally been taken to the facility after swallowing razor blades, a court has heard.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Harold Milton Brown fronted Wollongong Local Court on Tuesday less than 24 hours after he was captured at Lake Illawarra following a week on the run.
The court heard Brown, 35, was arrested on armed robbery offences on August 1 and was being housed at South Coast Correctional Centre when he allegedly swallowed three razor blades on the evening of August 21.
He was taken to the hospital and given an x-ray, which located the blades in bowel. They had no caused any lacerations or perforations.
He remained in hospital overnight under guard of Corrective Services officers.
At 8 o’clock the next morning Brown had another x-ray, which revealed the razor blades were still inside him.
Hand and ankle cuffed to the bed, Brown was transferred under guard to the hospital’s surgical ward where he was placed in a single room with an ensuite.
He was uncuffed around 1pm to go the the toilet and have a shower.
It is alleged just after 1.30pm guards heard a loud noise coming from the room’s ensuite, prompting them to try to open the door however it had been tied shut with Brown’s green prison trackpants.
The guards managed to break into the room a short time later, in time to see Brown exiting through a smashed glass window, court documents said.
Officers tried to exit through a fire escape but could not get out due to not having swipe card access.
Brown was last seen running into the rear of a property on Shoalhaven Street.
A police search involving the police helicopter failed to locate him and he remained on the run until his arrest on Monday night.
Brown was remanded in custody during a brief court appearance on Tuesday.
His case was adjourned to Nowra court in September.