Latest news with #MichaelRennie
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
Urgent manhunt for heavily tattooed prison inmate who escaped on a tractor two days ago
A manhunt is underway for an inmate who escaped a prison farm on a tractor. Michael Graeme Rennie, 43, was last seen using the machinery while working at Lotus Glen Low Custody Correctional Centre in far north Queensland. Rennie likely left the farm on a red tractor on Sunday morning, Detective Inspector Jason Chetham said. 'I haven't heard that one before,' he told reporters on Monday. 'There have obviously been prisoners abscond from the corrections centre up there in the past but I don't think anyone's left on a tractor.' Police are on the lookout for the heavily tattooed Rennie who is serving more than six years for motor vehicle, weapon, drug and other offences including serious assault, theft and burglary. Police have released a photo of Rennie and the tractor he was using when he escaped the Atherton Tablelands prison farm near Cairns on Sunday. 'The Tablelands is an agricultural centre so tractors on the road I don't think are something that would turn a lot of heads, but we're keen to find it anyway,' Det Insp Chetham said. Rennie is described as Caucasian and 174cm tall, with blue eyes and fair hair. He has multiple tattoos across his body including a gun on his left shoulder, a demon holding a skull with horns on his left arm, a full sleeve on his right arm. Rennie also has multiple dog bites and scars on his left arm, police said. He was from the state's far north and there had been a 'number of sightings' of the tractor, Det Insp Chetham said. 'We don't have specific concerns about what he might do in the community ... but we certainly ask people not to approach him and to call us immediately if they have any information,' he said. A 28-year-old man serving two years for break-and-enter offences escaped from the prison farm in February 2023, and was arrested three days later.
News.com.au
3 days ago
- General
- News.com.au
Prisoner on the run after breaking out of Qld correctional facility in a tractor
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.
ABC News
4 days ago
- General
- ABC News
Prisoner Michael Rennie at large after fleeing Lotus Glen prison farm on red tractor
A prisoner remains at large after absconding from a prison farm in rural Queensland aboard a stolen tractor. Police believe Michael Graeme Rennie, 43, left Lotus Glen Low Custody Correctional Centre, about 100 kilometres west of Cairns, during a 90-minute window on Sunday. Rennie, serving a sentence of more than six years and three months for serious assault, theft, burglary, drugs, weapons and driving offences, was last seen at 10:20am on Sunday. At the time he was working at the prison farm driving a red Massey Ferguson tractor. By midday, when a head count was conducted, Rennie was gone, police said. "There have obviously been prisoners abscond from the correctional centre there in the past but I don't think anyone has left on a tractor before, " Detective Inspector Jason Chetham said. "We certainly think he's likely to have left on it. "We don't have specific concerns about what he might do in the community, not targeting anyone, but we certainly ask people not to approach him and to call us immediately if they have any information." Detective Inspector Chetham said there had been "a number of sightings" of the tractor "but nothing is confirmed at this point in time". Rennie was from far north Queensland and "doesn't have far to go to get to family", Detective Inspector Chetham said. "We're looking at all his antecedents and who he might be keen to contact or attempt to contact," he said. The Lotus Glen prison farm is part of a correctional centre located between the agricultural service towns of Mareeba and Atherton. The low security facility is one of six prison farms in Queensland and accommodates 134 prisoners. Prisoners undertake training programs at the farm to develop skills to help them find work once they are released. Detective Inspector Chetham said he did not know the tractor's maximum speed but said it would not "turn a lot of heads" if seen on the road in the Atherton Tablelands. Detective Inspector Chetham said police could call in its air wing to help find Rennie, although he declined to go into specifics of the search. He also declined to comment on security arrangements and prisoner classification at the prison farm. "They're not familiar to me and I'm not part of that department so that's probably a question for Corrective Services to answer," Detective Inspector Chetham said. Queensland Corrective Services has been contacted for comment. In February 2023, a 28-year-old man serving a two-year sentence absconded from the Lotus Glen prison farm. He was arrested more than three days later. There were also previous instances of prisoners escaping in 2020 and 2022.
News.com.au
4 days ago
- General
- News.com.au
Police warns to public to not approach prisoner who escaped Queensland prison
A prisoner is on the run after a shock escape by tractor from a correctional facility in Far North Queensland. Michael Graeme Rennie, 43, is serving a six year, three month sentence for various offences including serious assault, motor vehicle offences, theft and burglary offences and drugs and weapons offences, at Low Custody Correctional Centre. He was conducting his work duties on a correctional farm on Sunday when he escaped. Rennie was last seen driving a Red Massey Tractor with an attached bucket. The correctional facility offers programs in the fields of both farming and industry, to equip inmates with skills in preparation for their release. The Queensland Police have warned the public to not approach him 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 a number of body markings, with the upper half as follows: a gun tattoo on his left shoulder, a dragon and skull on his right shoulder, with 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 3 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 forearm and knuckle dusters. The lower half of his body includes a knee to ankle brick wall, panther, anarchy sign, skull, 4 headstones, clown face and 8 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.
