A widespread manhunt is currently underway in the capital of Australia’s Northern Territory, after a 44-year-old detainee pulled off a dramatic escape from a local courtroom last Friday. Brandt Graham, who was in official custody at the time of his breakout, fled the Darwin Local Court shortly before 10 a.m. local time, and has evaded law enforcement detection for more than 24 hours as of the latest updates.
According to official statements from the Northern Territory Police Force, Graham was under the direct supervision of court security officers from private security firm G4S when he executed his escape. Local media outlet NT News confirmed that the fugitive scaled an 8-foot-tall glass-enclosed holding dock inside the courtroom, breaking away from pursuing security staff to flee the building entirely.
Surveillance footage from the office of ABC Darwin, located directly across the street from the courthouse, captured visual confirmation of Graham’s escape. The footage shows the fugitive running from the area wearing a green long-sleeve shirt and black shorts. Roughly 50 minutes after his breakout, law enforcement received reports of a possible sighting of Graham at Doctors Gully, a waterfront location within Darwin.
In a public advisory released Saturday, Northern Territory Police confirmed their working theory that Graham remains in the greater Darwin region, and raised serious new concerns that third parties are knowingly providing active assistance to help him avoid recapture. “The public are urged not to approach him and to contact police immediately via triple-0 if sighted,” the advisory warned, as law enforcement continues to step up patrols and search operations across the capital.