A patch member of the Mongols outlaw motorcycle gang is on the run after escaping from an enclosed court dock while making a bail application at Darwin Local Court. The man, named in court documents as Brant Graham and known as Smokey, was facing drugs and weapons charges at the time of the dramatic breakout, which has triggered a manhunt across the Northern Territory capital.
According to the account broadcast by ABC News, Graham had just had his first attempt at bail denied when he allegedly took matters into his own hands. The escape reportedly began with a smoke bomb followed by a sudden sprint, as the accused fled from the custody of the G4S security guards who were responsible for him inside the courtroom.
CCTV footage of the incident shows the Mongols member trading his motorcycle for foot, darting across four lanes of road with two contracted security officers trailing roughly two seconds behind him. The vision captures the speed of the escape and how quickly the guards were left chasing after the fleeing accused once he had broken free of the building.
Eyewitnesses who did not wish to appear on camera described a chaotic scene inside the court. They said they saw Graham scale the inside of the Perspex court dock before making a run for it through the court security scanner, and that in his rush he almost knocked over a pregnant woman who happened to be in his path.
Court documents obtained by the ABC confirm that the man known as Smokey is a patch member of the outlaw motorcycle gang the Mongols. He had appeared before the court in relation to drugs and weapons charges, and the failed bail application was the immediate trigger for the escape attempt that followed his first knockback.
Just three days before the courtroom breakout, Graham had posted a video to social media offering a rare glimpse inside a Top End Mongols clubhouse. In the clip, a track by the band Roland's was playing in the background, with the footage providing an unusual public window into the world of the outlaw motorcycle gang in the Northern Territory.
The manhunt for the escaped accused is continuing, with authorities working to track him down after he disappeared from the court precinct. The Northern Territory's Department for Corrections has confirmed that an internal investigation is now under way to examine how a man in custody was able to escape from the dock of a local court in the middle of a bail hearing.