During its 150 years of operation (1848 to 1998), Maitland Gaol housed some of the most dangerous criminals in Australia. There had been daring and dramatic escapes - about 37 in all - but none was more daring or dramatic than the escape of seven of Maitland Gaol's most dangerous inmates on the morning of Thursday, September 1, 1977 - and we had them all back in custody within 90 minutes.

All had previously escaped from custody, some on multiple occasions. One was serving life imprisonment, the other six a total of 122 years. A couple were notorious - Raymond Denning was well known for his criminal exploits; Roy "Red Rat" Pollitt had recently been sentenced to an additional 16 years jail for firing a shotgun at two Newcastle detectives during a high-speed car chase.

Shortly before 9am on that day, the seven climbed up through an exhaust vent in the shower room, crossed the roof and climbed down a rope of bed sheets to the ground outside the prison. Three of the escapees - Stephen Shipley, Richard Linott and Terence Humphries - were recaptured within half an hour, hiding under a house at East Maitland.

Pollitt, Denning, Frederick Owens and William Sutton waved down a passing car, ejected the driver and drove off. They swerved through a police roadblock and were pursued by a highway patrol car until they broadsided to a halt near the Hunter River at Duckenfield. Pollitt, who could not swim, ran along the riverbank and was arrested a short time later hiding in a grain shed.

Denning, Owens and Sutton swam across the river, stole another car and were soon being pursued by another highway patrol vehicle as they headed along Seaham Road towards Raymond Terrace.

Meanwhile, I was in the detectives office at Mayfield Police Station when we heard the wireless message about the escape. I grabbed the cars keys and with my two colleagues headed off at a rate of knots up the highway, across the Hexham Bridge and towards Raymond Terrace, as we followed progress of the pursuits on the police radio, then across the Fitzgerald Bridge onto Seaham Road. There, in the distance, was a Holden sedan hurtling towards us, with a highway patrol car in hot pursuit.

I instinctively knew that we must not let them get into Raymond Terrace. By now we knew that they were all extremely dangerous, but we did not know if they had got their hands on firearms. Regardless of whether they were armed or not, there was potential for a hostage siege and mayhem if they reached the township. Seaham Road was barely two lanes wide, so I stood on the brakes, spun the car around and angled it across the road so they had to run off the road into the low scrub, or hit us. Fortunately they chose to run off the road. We jumped out and grabbed the three of them without too much fuss.

Off to Maitland Police Station, with the three of them in the back of the car, handcuffed, laughing as they compared notes about their short taste of freedom. I chose to interview Willy Sutton, who took delight in telling me how he had climbed up into the exhaust vent for 10 minutes each day, for two months, and slowly worked on the steel grille and mesh with a piece of hacksaw blade, covering it with tape and matching red paint. He described himself as "the craftsman". On the day of the escape, the seven hid in the shower block, changed their clothes and, after two of them turned all the hot taps on to create a "steam screen", climbed up through the vent and out. Coincidentally or not, this Willy Sutton bore the same name as the legendary American bank robber and prison escapee who famously replied, when asked why he robbed banks: "Because that's where the money is".

After being charged with a string of offences and put before the Maitland Court of Petty Sessions, they were all shipped off to Katingal, the new maximum security jail within the Long Bay prison complex. They returned to Maitland Court on November 4, 1977 for committal proceedings and were sentenced at Darlinghurst District Court to lengthy terms of imprisonment, to be served after they finished their already-lengthy prison terms.