Geraldton musician’s take on dramatic manhunt for Greenough Regional Prison escapees

In just 30 minutes, Geraldton musician Darcy Hay whipped up a song inspired by the Greenough Regional Prison break, which saw 10 inmates escape on Tuesday night.

As police searched for the escapees on Wednesday, the singer-songwriter put pen to paper, coming up with acoustic blues song The Runaway Boys.

“(The song) just kind of came out,” he said.

“It was so atmospheric with the rain and the helicopter; the sound of that was just thunderous.

“It was the only thing I could think about.”

The manhunt lasted 40 hours, involved up to 160 police, three fixed-wing aircrafts, two helicopters and four police dogs.

Ten men have been arrested and charged with escaping lawful custody and will face court next month.

Hay is a former journalist with the Geraldton Guardian and has performed at a number of events in the region, including Nukara Music Festival and the Gascoyne River Music Festival.