Convicted rapist, immigration detainee back in custody

A convicted rapist who had been on the run for five days after escaping immigration detention while awaiting deportation has been captured.

Michael Angok was transferred from Villawood Immigration Detention Center to a hospital in Western Sydney for medical treatment when he escaped on Wednesday.

An initial search by NSW Police found some of his personal belongings had been dumped on the road a few hundred meters away, but the 30-year-old disappeared.

Officers found him on Sunday about 25km away in the northwestern Sydney suburb of Seven Hills.

Angok was convicted of sexually assaulting and gang-raping a 14-year-old girl in Doonside park in 2014.

He had served his sentence for the crime and was being held as an immigration detainee awaiting deportation.

Immigrants spending time in prison for crimes committed in Australia has become a major political issue since 2023, when the Supreme Court ruled that indefinite detention was illegal.

Some had serious criminal convictions, including murder and rape, while others faced less serious charges and all had served sentences behind bars before being taken into immigration custody due to visa issues.