After a concerted effort by McGirr & Associates and supporters in and around the Northern Beaches, prison escapee Darko Desic has been released from immigration detention today.

Mr Desic captured the imagination of many Australians after handing himself in after 30 years on the run, escaping from Grafton prison in the early 1990s.

Faced with the prospect of deportation to a country that no longer exists, being the former Yugoslavia, there has been a long-running campaign by this firm to firstly have his sentence commuted, and secondly to have a visa issued by immigration authorities.

Today, common sense has finally prevailed.

“It’s given me renewed confidence in the Australia I know and the Australia I grew up in,” Paul McGirr said.

“He’s in shock,” Mr McGirr said. “He has accommodation and he hopes now to be able to get on with his life.”

Prison escapee Darko Desic wins deportation battle, granted visa | Daily Telegraph