One of Australia's most wanted men has been captured in bushland north of Sydney after nearly seven years on the run.
The former abattoir worker Malcolm Naden, 38, was caught when 20 specialist police officers surrounded a property near Gloucester, 200 miles (300km) north of Sydney, in a midnight raid. He was bitten by a police dog and taken to hospital before appearing in court. Naden had been charged with the murder of his cousin, 24-year-old Kirsty Scholes, in 2005 and two counts of aggravated indecent assault of a 15-year-old girl in 2004. Naden's ability to elude police had become something of an embarrassment. He was nearly caught last December, when dozens of police moved in on a campsite in rugged bushland near Tamworth, 250 miles north of Sydney. There were red faces all round when he escaped, shooting a police officer in the process. Police have described Naden as a "master bushman". Clues to his whereabouts came from thefts in the local area. He is believed to have survived by living off the land and raiding remote properties for food and supplies during his time on the run. At one point he was reported to have been living in a zoo enclosure. Police say he is in good health, despite his time in the bush. The New South Wales state premier, Barry O'Farrell, congratulated officers on capturing Naden. "Sure he wasn't arrested as soon as people would like. Sure there were critics out there saying it had been messed up, but here we have a result," he said.
Locals spoke of relief that he had finally been caught. Lyn Steghs, who lives on a property near where Naden was captured, told the ABC her home had been broken into several times.
"We've had the tactical force out there, the dogs, the helicopters," she said, adding she has been sleeping with a gun under her pillow. But not everyone is delighted Naden has been caught. Since the start of the year, dozens of officers had been based in the small town of Gloucester, population 5,000. The publican at the Avon Valley Inn, Gary Daley, told the Sydney Morning Herald Naden's presence had boosted business. Beer sales at his pub had increased by up to 20% with officers dropping in for a drink after work. "The police were injecting some dollars into the economy, you know. That's probably going to scale down to a skeleton staff now and things will carry on as normal," he said.