Prison escapee Kane Quinn had been locked up for shooting at police during 'drug-fuelled rampage'

Kane Quinn, 30, is due to be sentenced in November after he pleaded guilty to an escape charge laid over an incident in which his then-fiancee busted him out of a prison vehicle.

Quinn was being driven from the Alexander Maconochie Centre to Canberra Hospital for a medical appointment in July 2021 when Lila Rose Mary Walto, 29, chased an ACT Corrective Services vehicle in a stolen car and repeatedly rammed it to set him loose.

The ACT Magistrates Court heard during Quinn's last appearance that he was serving a NSW prison sentence in the territory's jail, and that it was not due to expire until December 2029.

The Canberra Times can reveal the 14-year prison term imposed on Quinn, who was sentenced in NSW under the name Kane McDowall, related to a rampage that spanned several days.

A NSW Court of Criminal Appeal judgement shows he and a co-offender, Timothy Clynch, began a destructive crime spree in Murrumbateman in December 2015.

The offenders carried out several break-ins to steal items, which included cash and ammunition, from places in that town, Gundaroo, Gunning, Jugiong and Gundagai.

Quinn and Clynch were eventually confronted at the Dog on the Tuckerbox cafe in Gundagai by a highway patrol police officer, who had been alerted to an early morning break-in.

The senior constable tried to arrest the pair but they resisted and dropped several items, including Quinn's wallet, a shotgun cartridge and some cannabis, as they fled.

That officer and one of his colleagues subsequently pursued the pair onto the Hume Highway, with Quinn the passenger in a utility driven by Clynch.

"As the utility continued south on the Hume Highway, a shot was fired from the utility in the direction of the highway patrol vehicle containing the officers," the judgement says.

Police lost sight of the utility but later spotted it again and started another pursuit, during which Quinn fired further shots at their vehicle.

"Police used road spikes on the Hume Highway, which caused the front tyres of the utility to go down," the judgement says.

"The utility continued north along the Hume Highway.

"In the Binalong area a further shot was fired towards the police, causing police to drop back from the utility. Some of the pellets hit the police vehicle.

"Police continued to follow the utility, which was travelling on deflated tyres."

The vehicle eventually went off the highway and into the Yass Service Centre.

Quinn and Clynch fled the utility upon arrival there and approached a Ford Falcon, which was parked outside a service station.

MORE COURT AND CRIME NEWS:

Quinn, armed with a shotgun, yelled at this vehicle's owner to "get the f--- out of the car or I'll kill you".

He then pulled this man out, bruising him, as Clynch hauled the owner's 14-year-old nephew out of the passenger seat.

Police pulled into the service station around the time Quinn hopped into the Falcon, and officers fired two rounds, without hitting anyone, before arresting him and Clynch.

NSW District Court Judge David Frearson SC jailed Quinn for 14 years, with a nine-year non-parole period that meant he would be eligible to apply for early release in December 2024.

Quinn subsequently made an unsuccessful appeal against the sentence.

Magistrate Louise Taylor is set to decide on November 9 whether last year's escape in the ACT will have any impact on the date Quinn becomes eligible for release.

The 30-year-old's barrister, Stephen Robinson, has asked Ms Taylor to sentence Quinn to about seven months in jail and start the new term no later than January 9 next year.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: