Helicopter escapee a free man

John Killick is free from prison - and this time he didn't need a hijacked helicopter.

The 72-year-old made international headlines in 1999 after he pulled off one of the most daring escapes in Australian history with the help of his Russian lover, Lucy Dudko.

At the time, Killick was serving time for a spate of armed robberies in Sydney's Silverwater prison, where his cell mate was a helicopter pilot.

A plan was hatched.

Dudko hired a chopper for a joy flight but the pilot realised his passenger had other ideas when she held a gun to his head.

Dudko and Killick spent 45 days on the run before they were caught at a caravan park in Sydney's west.

Killick would spend 15 years behind bars for the robberies and the escape, while his lover was sentenced to 10.

Their relationship continued despite being held in separate jails - in a 2014 interview Killick told the Seven Network they exchanged more than 4000 letters.

In 2005, he received the last.

"For the past month I've been doing bible studies and I'm taking it very seriously," Lucy wrote.

Dudko had turned to religion to seek forgiveness for her part in the escape.

Killick was granted parole in April 2014 but a cloud still hung over his head.

In 1993 - 10 years after being arrested over an armed robbery in Brisbane - Killick breached his parole conditions by failing to report to NSW authorities.

Queensland police wanted him extradited to face the decade-old music.

Eight months ago, Magistrate Janet Wahlquist ruled the transfer should go ahead despite citing initial questions over the validity of the warrant - a decision which was later upheld in the NSW Supreme Court.

"I'm not the same person - I'm older and wiser," Killick said at the time.

But he surrendered in Brisbane in July, saying he had accepted his fate.

After six further months behind bars, Killick finally walked free from the Woodford Correctional Centre, north of Brisbane, on Thursday morning.

There was no helicopter. No Russian lover. No manhunt.

Just a man who had served his time, imprinted his name as a legend in the minds of Australian inmates, and is banned from contacting the woman he once loved until he is 80.

On Thursday, he was remorseful.

"I've made a lot of mistakes and you can't take them back," he told reporters outside the Caboolture police station, where he signed release papers.

"I really believe I've paid for what I've done."