A Tongan national, Paea Teu, has been arrested following a dramatic two-day manhunt after he allegedly attacked two Australian Border Force officers during a transfer from Villawood Detention Centre to Sydney Airport.
The 28-year-old allegedly stabbed a 54-year-old officer in the neck with a makeshift shiv crafted from nail clippers and assaulted a second officer, aged 36, in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Teu then fled the scene, prompting an extensive police search across Sydney’s southwest.
Authorities tracked him down after a tip-off from a vigilant resident who spotted him on Eschol Park Drive. Teu was arrested shortly after on Ballantrae Drive in St Andrews. A 24-year-old woman, believed to have been harbouring him, was also taken into custody.
Teu has been charged with wounding with intent to murder and causing grievous bodily harm, while the woman faces charges for knowingly harbouring an escaped inmate.
The injured officers were treated at Westmead Hospital, with one sustaining serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
Teu was denied bail and appeared in Parramatta Local Court today, while the woman was granted conditional bail and is set to face Campbelltown Court on May 22.
This incident has raised further concerns over detainee transport security, with authorities expected to review protocols in the wake of the attack.
