’Dangerous’ fugitive found with stolen piglets
AN international fugitive who could pose a serious danger to the public has been released on bail after being charged with the possession of four piglets taken from a children’s petting zoo in Canberra.
Owen Van Duren, 39, appeared in the ACT Magistrates Court on Thursday charged with a single count of possessing stolen property. Court documents reveal the pigs went missing from a petting zoo at Yarralumla last Thursday.
Police and RSPCA officers went to a house in nearby Deakin on Wednesday, concerned for the welfare of animals in the back yard. They seized the piglets, which staff at the petting zoo later identified as the ones that were stolen.
Court documents detail his escape from a Thai prison and subsequent theft of a catamaran while on bail, which he and his former special forces and French Foreign Legion soldier brother, Shane Van Duren, sailed back to Darwin.
Shane Van Duren – who is not accused of any criminal wrongdoing related to the alleged piglet heist or the yacht theft – is also former parliamentary candidate for Fraser Anning’s Conservative National Party.
The catamaran saga earned Owen Van Duren a conviction for unlawful use of a vessel.
He is also wanted on allegations relating to stolen cars.
The court heard police are expected to lay further charges related to the discovery of “a large amount” of high-powered explosives, a hydroponic cannabis crop and an arsenal of guns, some of which are suspected to have been stolen.
Magistrate Margaret Hunter was on Thursday about to refuse Owen Van Duren bail. “It’s too dangerous, I’m sorry … I have to consider the safety of the community,” she said.
But because Van Duren had only been charged with possessing the piglets, he was entitled to bail. “Maybe we need to amend the bail act,” she said.