Inmate found one month after escaping Queensland prison on tractor

A prisoner at large for one month after he escaped from a correctional centre on a tractor has been tracked down by police.

Jul 02, 2025, updated Jul 02, 2025
Prisoner Michael Graeme Rennie has been found after a month on the run.
Prisoner Michael Graeme Rennie has been found after a month on the run.

An inmate who made a getaway from a prison on a tractor has been located one month after he fled custody.

Michael Graeme Rennie, 43, absconded on a red tractor while on work duty at Lotus Glen Low Custody Correctional Centre in far north Queensland on June 1.

He was serving more than six years for motor vehicle, weapon, drug and other offences, including serious assault, theft and burglary.

Police at the time said it was unprecedented for a prisoner to escape on a tractor.

“There have obviously been prisoners abscond from the corrections centre up there in the past but I don’t think anyone’s left on a tractor,” Detective Inspector Jason Chetham said.

Rennie was found at 12.45am on Wednesday in Cow Bay, nearly three hours from the Atherton Tablelands prison farm.

The tractor still has not been found, police said.

Rennie has been charged with one count each of escape by persons in lawful custody and unlawful use of a motor vehicle.

He was remanded in custody to face Cairns Magistrates Court on Wednesday.

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