Melburnian David McMillan's first arrest was for breaking into a Richmond match factory to enlarge his matchbox-label collection. At 12, putting crime aside, he then began presenting TV's 'Peters Junior News' for the Nine Network. Newsreading and the straight life didn't stick however and McMillan was thrown out of two of Melbourne's best schools before returning to crime and becoming one of Australia's most notorious smugglers, leading a group that developed the bag-swap system at Sydney's Kingsford-Smith airport. Following a State-Federal taskforce operation, massive police raids and one of Victoria's most expensive trials, which lasted six months, McMillan was sentenced to seventeen years in prison. While awaiting trial, McMillan again made the headlines after attempting to escape Melbourne's high-security Pentridge Prison by helicopter using former SAS personnel. Following release from prison on parole, surveillance immediately resumed leading McMillan to return to the life from which escape appeared impossible. Under false identities, he fled to Bangkok where he was promptly arrested and jailed. Following his dramatic escape from prison in Bangkok, the story of which is retold in this book, McMillan slipped to the Afghan border and again onto the smuggler's trail. In the years that followed, he avoided a life sentence in Pakistan and serious time in Colombia before a stretch in Scandinavia brought an end to his most dangerous life. In the late 90s, McMillan retired to London, where he now lives.
David McMIllan is better known as 'the only Westerner to have escaped the notorious Bangkok Hilton' ... his story, Escape, has been selling well throughout Southeast Asia.-- The Nation, Thailand Drug trafficker David McMillan ... spent two years plotting his escape from a Bangkok jail.-- BBC Gripping.-- Zoo Weekly, UK In the style of Howard Marks--the international drug dealer who became a best-selling author--McMillan is touting a book about his prison escapades. The book, entitled Escape, is selling well in Asia.-- London Evening Standard, UK Inmates at HMP Erlestoke near Devizes, Wilts [UK], can borrow books from a catalogue including Escape by David McMillan, which describes how he broke out of Thailand's 'Bangkok Hilton' prison.-- The Telegraph, UK Once McMillan puts his daring plan into place, the action rips along like a thriller ... breathtaking stuff.-- News of the World, UK Reads better than any thriller.--Stephen Leather, Bestselling author The book is exceptionally well written ... Escape begs to be made into a movie.-- Pattaya Mail, Thailand The jailbreak was straight out of a movie.-- The Age, Australia This is one of the world's most notorious--and remarkable--heroin traffickers: Melbourne man David McMillan. Despite still being on the run, McMillan has written a book, Escape, about ... his amazing breakout in Bangkok.-- The Australian