Fugitive Warrick Walkerbear recaptured after escaping same Broome Regional Prison yard as arsonist Maude Dixon

Broome fugitive Warrick Walkerbear escaped from the same prison yard as a woman in 2019 who went on to torch a local primary school, it can be revealed. Mr Walkerbear was recaptured on Thursday night after leading police on a three-day manhunt across Broome after jumping a fence at Broome Regional Prison where he was being held on remand facing burglary and stealing charges. It’s understood at around 9.50pm police received a tip on Mr Walkerbear’s location, and upon conducting a door-to-door search of properties on Stracke Cove in Broome found him asleep on a mattress in a vacant property. Corrective Services Minister Bill Johnston confirmed in parliament Mr Walkerbear was being held in the women’s exercise area of Broome Regional Prison at the time of his escape, as there were no women in the facility. “Now it is actually true that a female prisoner last year escaped from the same yard,” he said. “That woman did a backflip off an air conditioning unit over the top of the razor wire onto the crank of the fence, which is an extraordinary achievement. “The fact he has got over the razor wire is an extraordinary achievement, and I will be very keen to see exactly how it occurred.” Mr Johnston said he understood Mr Walkerbear had injured himself during the escape. The Minister was referring to Maude Dixon, 23, who was in February sentenced to five years in prison for escaping the prison and later setting fire to the century-old Broome Primary School. A Department of Justice spokesperson would not answer whether any changes had been made to prison security in the wake of that escape. The spokesperson said immediate actions had been taken to prevent a re-occurrence and a thorough investigation and internal review of the most recent incident was being conducted. Broome detective John Harty said police had shifted their main search area to Cable Beach on Wednesday night after reports Mr Walkerbear, 27, was seen exiting a vehicle near Minyirr Park. “After that report we moved a lot of resources to the Cable Beach area including the canine unit, but we were unable to locate him,” he said. Extra police officers and a canine unit were flown to Broome to assist with the search on Wednesday, while a 24 hour roadblock was in place on the sole road out of Broome. On Friday morning Mr Walkerbear was charged with escaping lawful custody and will appear in Derby Magistrates court on Wednesday, November 3.