Daily Mail

Jetski fugitive

British drug dealer with crossbow flees Australia by sea … and gets 90 miles before being caught

- From Richard Shears in Sydney

WANTED over drugs charges in Australia, David Jackson did what any optimistic fugitive might do.

He grabbed a crossbow and a jetski, and made a dash for a remote island – but not before leaving a note for police declaring: ‘I’m not coming back.’

It was a case of famous last words for the British criminal, however, as his bungled escape ended in his capture just five miles from possible freedom.

The 57-year-old had travelled nearly 90 miles on jetski before running aground on mudflats – ending a dramatic threehour sea chase by authoritie­s.

Jackson, who faces jail after admitting serious drugs charges, was arrested in Australian territory on Saibai Island on Monday, just a few miles short of his apparent destinatio­n on mainland Papua New Guinea.

A note left in the Subaru Outback car he abandoned on a beach in Cape York, the northernmo­st point of Queensland, read: ‘If I’m not back by Wednesday, I’m not dead. But I’m not coming back.’

Locals in Punsand Bay had reported seeing Jackson load his jetski with supplies, including extra fuel and a crossbow – and claimed he had tried to buy a compass and map of the Torres Strait in the days before his escape.

A witness told the local Courier Mail: ‘He was suspicious from the get-go. He’d driven his car into the water and made a dash for it on the jetski.’

Another said: ‘When he jumped on his jetski he just took off, flat out. It was a dead calm day and he was fairly whistling.’ Police and border force officials set off in pursuit after witnesses reported his suspicious behaviour. Jackson had been staying in a local campsite, authoritie­s said, and had told a ferry operator he needed a one-way ticket to cross the Jardine River – an unusual request since there is nowhere further north on land to go. By the time authoritie­s were alerted to Jackson’s suspicious activity, he was already speeding off on his jetski. But after he stopped to buy fuel at several island posts, a cutter carrying border force officers and federal and Queensland police caught up with him. Jackson had been on the run for a month after pleading guilty to possessing meth – or methamphet­amine – for sale or supply, with an arrest warrant issued in Western Australia on February 26. Australian Border Force spokesman Jo Crooks said: ‘This arrest sends a strong message to wouldbe fugitives – our reach across Australia is second to none.’ Jackson is due to appear in court in Cairns tomorrow.

 ??  ?? In hot water: David Jackson, who faces jail in Australia, was arrested after his jetski ran aground just five miles from freedom
In hot water: David Jackson, who faces jail in Australia, was arrested after his jetski ran aground just five miles from freedom
 ??  ??

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Kingdom