A detainee who got his partner pregnant after he escaped Canberra's jail and went on the run for eight days will be behind bars when his baby is born.
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Jacob MacDonald, 21, will serve 15 months behind bars for fleeing the remand section of the Alexander Maconochie Centre with another inmate, Patrick McCurley, 28, in September last year.
The prison break-out, which was the first successful escape from the Hume jail since it began taking prisoners in March 2009, sparked an extensive cross-border search and prompted Corrections Minister Shane Rattenbury to announce a full internal review.
MacDonald was sentenced to a maximum of four years and one month imprisonment for the escape and a string of other offences including aggravated burglary and theft in the ACT Supreme Court on Wednesday.
He will be eligible for parole in December.
A police statement of facts, tendered in the ACT Magistrates Court last September, said the pair took less than 10 minutes to escape the grounds of the prison shortly after 11pm and were not discovered missing until a muster nearly six hours later.
CCTV footage from the jail showed the pair climbed out a window of their accommodation several hours after they had been locked inside with four other detainees for the night.
The two men then scaled the first inner perimeter fence with the cable tray about 11.11pm before they used it to climb over the second fence, the documents said.
They then put the tray against the third fence and climbed to the top before they jumped off and into the outside grounds of the jail about 11.15pm.
Security cameras captured them fleeing the grounds towards the Monaro Highway, court documents said.
Corrections staff noticed the cable tray leaning against the outer perimeter fence during a perimeter check about 4.10am.
A head count of all detainees later revealed MacDonald and McCurley were missing and police were called.
McCurley was arrested after a high-speed police chase in Majura two days later and officers captured MacDonald in Narrabundah the next weekend.
MacDonald eventually pleaded guilty to escaping custody.
A court hearing earlier this month was told McCurley had conceived his first child with his long-term partner during his brief stint on the run. The baby is due in May.
In his sentencing remarks, Justice John Burns noted MacDonald's lengthy criminal history and said the offences before the court showed his disregard for court orders.
The court heard MacDonald was on remand for charges of aggravated burglary, theft, fraud and property damage linked to two incidents in March and April 2015.
MacDonald had broken into a convenience store with a co-offender and stolen more than $5000 worth of cigarettes
The next month he smashed the window of a Mercedes Benz and nabbed a handbag, later using a card found inside to buy items worth almost $200.
Justice Burns said MacDonald had accepted full responsibility for his crimes and expressed remorse and regret for his actions.
He said it did not appear that any significant premeditation or planning went into the escape and noted MacDonald didn't commit any offences while he was out.
The judge took into account MacDonald's youth, the 284 days he'd spent in custody before the offences and his reasonable prospects for rehabilitation.
Justice Burns also acknowledges the amount of time MacDonald was on the run and the police resources used during that period, saying the offence was mid-range seriousness.
McCurley was last year sentenced to 18 months in prison for the escape as part of a longer jail sentence last year. He will be eligible for release in June next year.
