Lila Walto likely to admit springing prisoner Kane Quinn from custody of ACT Corrective Services

Lila Rose Mary Walto, 28, fronted the ACT Magistrates Court in a brown prison-issued jumper on Friday morning, when she was hit with nine fresh charges over last week's incident.

She joined Kane Quinn, also 28, behind bars last Friday night after the pair were arrested following the man's nearly five hours on the loose.

Police allege Walto stole a $60,000 Jeep Wrangler from a car dealership and used it to repeatedly ram an ACT Corrective Services car as officers drove Quinn, a sentenced prisoner, to Canberra Hospital for an appointment about 4.10pm last Friday.

Video of the incident, which spanned a number of suburbs in Canberra's inner south, shows the Jeep chasing and smashing into the Toyota Camry that was being used to transport Quinn from the Alexander Maconochie Centre.

The Wrangler ultimately followed the ACT government car into an apartment complex in Griffith.

A man alleged to be Quinn got out there and ran into the stolen vehicle, which took off at speed along a footpath and grass verge.

Police say they found the tattooed convict, who was described as having a distinctive rat's tail and being 193cm tall, hiding in the roof of a Lyneham house about 9pm that night.

Officers arrested the 28-year-old inmate, Walto and a second woman who was later released without charge.

Neither Quinn nor Walto applied for bail when they appeared in court the next morning.

Their relationship has not been detailed in court.

Walto was initially charged with seven offences, including three counts of assaulting a frontline community service provider.

When she appeared in court again via audio-visual link from jail on Friday, Magistrate Glenn Theakston read to her nine fresh charges.

They included rescuing a person from lawful custody using force, harbouring an escapee, and interfering with the Camry in circumstances dangerous to health.

One of the other new charges, of arson, related to the torching of the stolen Jeep, which was set alight in Forrest.

Walto did not enter pleas but her lawyer, Carley Hitchins, told the court she expected guilty pleas would eventually be put forward in relation to some charges.

The Hackett woman was originally listed for a bail application, but Ms Hitchins said she had been instructed not to proceed with it.

Walto is expected back in court on August 2, when Quinn has also been listed to appear.

Quinn, who is charged with escaping from lawful custody, has not entered or indicated a plea.

Last Friday's events shocked even senior police officers like Detective Acting Inspector Shane Scott, who said he could not recall anything like it in Canberra despite a lengthy career in law enforcement.

"It's a little bit like a scene out of a Hollywood movie," he said.

The episode may also prompt changes in prisoner transport, with ACT Inspector of Correctional Services Neil McAllister revealing he would be investigating the "critical incident" and compiling a report in a process set to take at least eight weeks.

Mr McAllister last year wrote to the ACT Legislative Assembly that the Toyota Camry was "a mid-size family car" and it was "unclear ... why an at-risk detainee could not be transported safely in a larger-capacity vehicle".

His November 2020 report said one court transport unit officer had described the car as "unfit for purpose".

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