The mayor of an outback Territory town has recounted the moment an escaped prisoner jumped his fence, bummed a smoke and then fled into the street before being arrested.
Prisoner Richard Henwood, 37, had been on the run for five days after escaping the Barkly Work Camp along with fellow prisoners Maximus Cutta, 20, and Ezra Austral, 23.
Henwood and Cutta were arrested on Thursday evening and Austral was arrested a few hours later.
Tennant Creek Mayor Jeff McLaughlin was in his backyard on Friday afternoon when he saw a blur which, he said, he'd thought was a dog jumping over his fence.
He quickly realised it wasn't.
"And then I was like, 'Oi!' what are you doing!' [It was] old mate in a big black hoodie, black jumper and pants, and I thought, 'that's not the right attire for summer," Cr McLaughlin said.
"I said, 'what are you doing?' and he said, 'they're after me!'
"And then I was like, 'no shit, Sherlock.'"
By Mr McLaughlin's account, Henwood then demanded a cigarette, to which the mayor obliged.
Henwood then reportedly bolted out into the street.
Mr McLaughlin alerted his neighbour, a police officer, and rang triple-0.
The escapee was arrested soon after.The three prisoners had triggered a five-day manhunt after they removed their electronic monitoring bracelets and fled the Tennant Creek work camp between Saturday night and Sunday morning.
NT Police said dogs, drones and tactical response officers had been used in the search.
Assistant Commissioner Michael Murphy said on Thursday that the absconders were believed to have been in contact with family members since being on the run.
NT Police said in a short statement last night that the third prisoner to be arrested, Austral, "had been actively avoiding police apprehension for the past five days was arrested in the township this evening".
Police thanked the public for their assistance in tracking down the prisoners.
Mr McLaughlin, also a member of Tennant Creek's Neighbourhood Watch board, said he was impressed by how his town's authorities came together to re-capture the prisoners.
