Alleged escapee faces new charges

A 24-YEAR-old man who allegedly escaped from a Hobart court precinct is expected to face additional charges after being tracked down by police.

After allegedly fleeing the Hobart Magistrates Court about 11.30am yesterday, Tasmania Police conducted an extensive ground and air search of the city to locate Rhett Williams.

Tasmania Police Inspector Laurie Huxley said he understood Mr Williams allegedly escaped from inside the court and was later found near the Domain toilets about 12.45pm.

“As a result of some really good work from our officers on the ground, we saturated the area, we started a grid search, and then enlarged that as we thought time had started to evaporate in regards to the time of the report,” he said.

Inspector Huxley said significant resources were used in the search, including about 25 police officers from multiple stations and the Westpac Rescue Helicopter.

Mr Williams was not armed. Inspector Huxley said the heightened police presence through the city was not due to issues of public safety, but rather the need to use as many resources as possible to resolve the incident.

“There’s always a concern about people’s heightened state when they’re on the run from police. There certainly wasn’t any incident involving a member of the public or any overt danger to the public,” he said.

“As the officer in charge, I’m going to take advantage of any and all of those resources to try and get a speedier resolution to this as quickly as I can.

“He will face court in relation to additional charges.”