A Sydney inmate was carrying out ground maintenance within prison walls when he asked a corrective services officer about the potential for off-site work.
He was told he would have to “prove himself” first.
Less than two hours later, Jason Neil Melbom had used a chair to scale a three-metre fence and flee the Long Bay Correctional Complex. Within three more hours, he had embarked on a terrifying crime spree through Sydney’s eastern suburbs. It involved invading or attempting to invade nine homes and attacking unsuspecting locals, including binding one woman with a laptop cord and kidnapping another.
The now 46-year-old was sentenced in a district court on Friday to eight years’ prison with a non-parole period of five years and six months for the rampage on August 14, 2023.
At the time, he was serving a 22-year sentence at the Malabar facility for prior serious offences and was to be eligible for parole in 16 months.
The escape occurred sometime between two musters with inmates at 11am and 12:30pm. Melbom was present at the first one, but mysteriously absent at the second.
As a frightened woman tried to flee, he grabbed her arm and hair and pulled her back into the loungeroom.
Unbeknownst to them, he had jumped a fence and ran, in what a judge described as an “unsophisticated and opportunistic” act.
The fugitive wasted no time in aiding his escape.
He rushed to a nearby house, stole a knife from an outdoor Tupperware box and unsuccessfully demanded a resident surrender his car keys.
Then, he broke into another home and confronted a man and his daughter with the knife. He stole the keys to the family’s Mazda 2 and drove it to Little Bay, stopping by another house to abandon the Mazda and steal cigarettes.
The escapee stole car keys from inside another home and ran outside. He was confronted by the resident while sitting in the driver’s seat. As she yelled for help, he fled on foot, leaving behind the knife, cigarettes, and sunglasses.
From here, the violence escalated.
Melbom invaded another house in Little Bay. As a frightened woman tried to flee, he grabbed her arm and hair and pulled her back into the loungeroom.
Amid a scuffle, the woman’s head struck an oil heater. Melbom told her to “stay quiet” as he pulled her hair, punched her and grabbed her car keys.
The woman ran into her study, where Melbom tied her hands with a laptop cord and fled in her Hyundai Santa Fe. He drove to a house three doors down.
Dripping in blood and with clenched fists, he threatened a woman who was unpacking shopping in her driveway, saying he had just got out of jail and had shot people before but would not hurt her if she drove him away.
Fearing for her safety, she obliged.
Dripping in blood and with clenched fists, he threatened a woman who was unpacking shopping in her driveway.
The woman drove for about 40 minutes before Melbom told her to pull into a side street in Beverley Park. He said they would “do a home invasion”, Judge Tom Jones outlined as he read the agreed facts.
This was the woman’s chance to escape; she parked the car and ran. Melbom stopped chasing when she screamed.
By now, police were on the hunt. Melbom broke into another house – stealing keys and Ugg boots – and threatened to stab a man before police found him in a backyard.
A pursuit followed, with Melbom attempting to break into yet another home. A woman, who was home alone with her baby, pushed him away and shut the door on his arm. He was arrested shortly after.
Melbom pleaded guilty to escaping lawful custody, kidnapping, assault while armed, five break-and-enter offences and several similar offences which were taken into account.
For his sentencing, he dialled into court from Goulburn’s High Risk Management Correctional Centre (HRMCC), known as “Supermax”. It is Australia’s highest-security prison.
His mother attended court in person.
Jones said his escape was “essentially unsophisticated and opportunistic” but involved an abuse of trust by prison authorities who allowed him to do “relatively unsupervised and unstructured” work.
His motivation was obtaining resources to help his escape, he added.
The judge noted Melbom’s remorse shown in a letter to the court. He accepted his judgment was impaired by various mental health disorders, longstanding substance abuse and a troubling upbringing that “left its mark”.
However, he said the attacks would have been “shocking and terrifying” for his victims and that community protection was paramount.
Jones found special circumstances due to Melbom’s risk of becoming institutionalised and the extended supervision he will need upon release.
With his sentence backdated for time already spent in custody, he will be eligible for parole in October 2029.
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