Aaron Bunch
A convicted rapist on the run for five days after escaping from immigration detention while awaiting deportation has been caught after police spotted a pair of shoes he had apparently left behind.
Michael Angok escaped last Wednesday while being transported from Villawood Immigration Detention Centre to a western Sydney hospital for medical treatment.
An initial search by NSW Police found some of his personal items had been thrown onto the road a few hundred metres away, but the 30-year-old had disappeared.
On Sunday, officers tracked him to Seven Hills in north-western Sydney.
Angok was convicted of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl in a gang rape at Doonside park in 2014. He had served his sentence for the offence and was being held in custody as an immigration detainee awaiting deportation.
On Sunday night, the Australian Federal Police said that following a large-scale search and extensive inquiries by their officers with Bankstown Police Area Command, they tracked him to an address on June Street, Seven Hills about 3pm.
Police allege they found a pair of shoes belonging to the 30-year-old man at the front of the home where a crime scene was declared.
Police used the Dog Squad to canvas the area. About 3.45pm, officers arrested the man on the corner of Hartley and Terminus roads, Seven Hills.
He was taken to Blacktown Police Station where the warrant was executed. He was refused bail to appear at Blacktown Local Court on Monday.
Investigations into the man’s whereabouts before his arrest are continuing.
Immigrants who have spent time in prison for crimes committed in Australia have become a hot-button political issue since 2023, when the High Court found indefinite detention was unlawful.
While some had serious criminal convictions, including murder and rape, others faced less serious charges, and all had finished serving their time behind bars before being placed in immigration detention over visa issues.
AAP
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