Prison escapee Beau Wiles will spend at least another six months behind bars for his brief but well-publicised run from the law.
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The one-time Bellambi fugitive appeared via videolink at Wollongong District Court Friday morning, almost unrecognisable beneath a full, brown beard cultivated since his October 1 capture and return to prison.
Defence solicitor Laura Fennell told the court Wiles had much on his mind when he slipped away from a minimum security section of Goulburn Correctional Complex on September 30 and into a car with his girlfriend, Rebecca Watts, waiting inside.
The escape came three days after Watts had visited the prison and become, in Wiles’ words, “heaps emotional”, telling him she had recently suffered a miscarriage.
Watts also told Wiles of his stepfather’s ailing health.
“There were two factors [motivating the escape],” Ms Fennell told the court.
“One was the grave distress that Rebecca Watts had found herself in following the miscarriage. He said she was very emotional and that was his main concern.
“When arrested he only managed to see Ms Watts and hadn’t made contact with his stepfather.”
Wiles had about 10 months of his sentence still to serve when he used a contraband mobile phone to arrange his escape.
He remained on the run for about 30 hours. Meantime, pictures taken inside prison and published to his social media page circulated around the world.
Ms Fennell stopped just short of suggesting the media attention had served as a form of additional punishment.
“It did attract, for some reason, a great deal of media interest,” she said.
“Forevermore when his name is Googled there will be a Facebook picture of him in a very unflattering pose in red underpants.”
“It’s something he’ll have to live with the rest of his life.”
The court heard Wiles had an early exposure to drugs and alcohol, using cannabis at age nine and meth at 14.
Wiles was sentenced to a term of two years’ imprisonment, to begin from the date he would have been released, July 11, 2016.
Judge Paul Conlon set a non-parole period of six-months, meaning he will become eligible for release on January 10, 2017.
Addressing the court, Wiles said he intended to move to far north Queensland to live with a friend and find work, once released.
“If parole recommend for me to do rehab I’d like to be paroled straight into rehab,” he said.
