Ex-fugitive pleads guilty to WA escape

A fugitive found living in the bush after fleeing a prisoners' soccer match in Perth has been ordered to serve an extra 10 months behind bars.

Bernd Neumann, 61, pleaded guilty in Perth Magistrates Court on Tuesday via video link from Casuarina Prison.

He was about three years into a 15-year jail term for drug trafficking when he walked away from the game in Wilson in February 2014, sparking an interstate manhunt.

Neumann was found in October last year living in a Queensland bush camp and extradited to Perth.

The police prosecutor said Neumann had been trusted to look after a dog at the supervised soccer match at Thomas Moore Park as part of a prison rehabilitation program.

But during the match he handed the pet to a fellow inmate and said he was going to the toilet.

When he didn't return, a search was launched and the game was called off.

"You breached that position of trust and escaped. It was very foolish of you," Magistrate Richard Bayly said.

Neumann's lawyer said it was an "extremely impulsive decision" that led him to Queensland where his family lived.

He will now serve the remainder of his sentence in a maximum security prison.