Prisoner on the run after breaking out of Qld correctional facility in a tractor

News.com.au

2 days ago

A prisoner is on the run after a shock tractor escape from a correctional facility in Far North Queensland on Sunday morning.
Michael Graeme Rennie, 43, is serving a six-year, three-month sentence for serious assault, motor vehicle offences, theft and burglary, and drugs and weapons offences, at Lotus Glen Correctional Centre in Atherton.
He escaped while working on the prison farm.
Rennie was last seen driving a red Massey tractor with an attached bucket.
Queensland Police Detective Inspector Jason Chetham told a press conference that it was understood Rennie escaped the facility using the tractor.
'(Rennie) was last seen at about 10.20am yesterday (Sunday) morning and discovered missing in a headcount just before midday yesterday afternoon,' Inspector Chetham said on Monday.
'We believe he was conducting duties at the correctional centre using a red Massey tractor and that tractor is also unaccounted for, so we believe he may well have left the facility with that tractor.'
The headcount was conducted at 11.55am, about an hour and a half after Rennie was last seen on the facility.
Inspector Chetham has asked the public to contact the police if they have any information on his whereabouts.
'We don't have any specific concerns on what he might do in the community, not targeting anyone, but we're certainly asked people not to approach him and call us immediately if they have any information,' he said.
'He's from Far North Queensland, so he doesn't have to get far to see the family. so that's an angle we're running here.
'The Tablelands is an agricultural centre, so tractors on the road are something, I don't think, will turn a lot of heads, but we're keen to find it anyway'.
The Lotus Glen Correctional Centre offers programs in the fields of both farming and industry to equip inmates with skills in preparation for their release.
Police have warned the public to not approach Rennie if seen and to immediately contact authorities.
Rennie is described having fair hair and complexion with blue eyes, with a light build standing at 174cm and weighing 56kg.
He also has several body markings, including a gun tattoo on his left shoulder, a dragon and skull on his right shoulder, a screamer on his top shoulder blade, a clown with a gun on his left ribs, the letters 'SMP', a gargoyle, a demon holding a skull with horn and three names on his left arm, multiple dog bites and scars on his left arm, and on his right arm, a Celtic design, skull clown, full sleeve on his forearm and knuckle dusters.
The lower half of his body includes a knee to ankle brick wall, panther, anarchy sign, skull, four headstones, clown face and eight ball on his left leg, a Celtic sleeve on his outside right calf, a star on his right foot, and a joker with crown on the side of his right knee.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Policelink through the online suspicious activity form, which operates 24 hours per day or call 131 444.