An inmate classified as a high-risk sex offender was “wrongly released” from a Victorian prison after a court incorrectly ordered he be let out on bail.
The inmate spent more than three hours free last Thursday night before he was recaptured after authorities realised an error had been made.
The man, who cannot be named, had been remanded in custody after a Melbourne magistrates court hearing last Thursday, but later that evening Ravenhall prison staff received court orders saying he was to be released on bail.
Guardian Australia understands prison staff involved in the management of the offender raised their concerns about the legitimacy of the court orders with the prison’s release team.
They had been monitoring the earlier court hearing and were aware he had been remanded, so implored the release team to hold the man until they could clarify the orders with the court, Guardian Australia has been told.
But he was released from the prison, in Melbourne’s outer-west, shortly before 9pm. He was recaptured by police at 12.30am on Friday in the inner city suburb of Prahran – about 30km away.
It is understood police were contacted within 30 minutes of his release.
The magistrates court has launched an investigation to determine why the man was released.
The man is understood to be facing charges that are not related to sexual offending, but is a registered sex offender categorised as high-risk because of his significant history of related offending.
The magistrates court, Corrections Victoria, GEO Group (the private operator of Ravenhall prison) and Victoria Police would not answer detailed enquiries about the error.
It remains unclear how the man spent his hours of freedom, including how he made his way across Melbourne, where exactly he was recaptured, and how the error occurred.
Few details about the nature of the investigation into the error have been released.
“The magistrates court is investigating the circumstances of the prisoner’s release to determine how any error occurred,” a court spokeswoman said.
“We note the prisoner was arrested and returned to custody the day following him being released.”
A GEO Group spokeswoman confirmed: “a prisoner was released on bail from Ravenhall Correctional Centre on the evening of Thursday 18 March in accordance with court orders.”
Victoria police confirmed it was involved in searching for the “wrongly released” man last Thursday night and arrested him early last Friday, but directed other enquiries to Corrections Victoria, who in turn directed enquiries to GEO Group.
The man is due to face court again next month.
The wrongful release comes as the Victorian government continues to grapple with a prison population that ballooned after the introduction of stricter bail laws in 2018, but has dropped during the pandemic as the laws were relaxed.
The state has been urged to permanently reform the laws, which were introduced after six people were killed in Bourke Street by a man who had been released on bail.
The prison population peaked in April 2019, Corrections Victoria data shows, when the prison population reached 8,212. The latest figures show that as of 28 February, that figure had dropped to 7,174.
There have been no major Covid-19 outbreaks recorded in the Victorian prison system, which resumed personal visits earlier this month.
