ESCAPE FROM MOUNT EDEN.

Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 183, 2 August 1923, Page 3

ESCAPE FROM MOUNT EDEN.

FOUR PRISONERS ON TRIAL ALLEGATIONS AGAIXST WARDERS. NO EXCUSE FOR ESCAPING. T. There was something of a Gilberttan rec atmosphere about the Supreme Court! tfo this morning when four prisoners who jin escaped from Mount Eden Goal on June of 6, and were all recaptured within four days, were placed in the dock on a charge f<, of escaping from lawful custody. The I re' prisoners were Richard Hayce, "Charles !pa King, Eric Burnett, and Lawrence Ith Egmont Windsor. As the four ranged ,on across the dock it was seen that all were B; handcuffed, and one of them (King) Vi appealed in vain to his Honor to have of the irons removed. Each prisoner had ar evidently prepared his "brief," and sp exhibited sheets of paper with itot.es' ge thereon. When asked to plead, all four |to replied, "Guilty, under extenuating di circumstances."' * be "Not guilty," his Honor summed up co their plea more succinctly and in the | m proper legal manner. It was apparent jot that Hayes had been appointed the jvi spokesman of the quartet, ;ind before' di the case was proceeded with, h<? reminded fe his Honor that all four liad pleaded :l< guilty under entenuating circumstances, y< They had applied to the Registrar to subpoena certain witnesses. This appli-' a \ cation he understood had been referred g' to his Honor, who found it was impoa- j* sible to accede to it. 8, His Honor: Tiiere was no good rea- «; son shown.—l understand you wanted to 'B* subpoena other prisoners. Extenuating jol circumstances, pointed out his Honor, « was no excuse. That matter could be referred to the Justice Department. Mr. Paterson then detailed the escape. The men were all serving substantial sentences, in other words, they were dangerous criminals. CHIEF WARDER'S REPARTEE. Chief Warder H. W. Glynn then re- t] counted the escape from No. 1 quarry . about ten o'clock on the morning of . June 6 and the early recapture of two jof the- men the name evening, and the ~. other pair four days later. Hayes j r eagerly took advantage of the oppor- j. tunity to cross-examine. | , "When I was arrested, did you say you were glad to get mc?" he asked—"l don't -, remember, but I wae glad." . | . "Did you not turn round and state j, that I had been a constant source of j trouble?" —"I don't remember, but you j ™ I have been. You are a menace to the discipline of the prison," was again the j , disconcerting answer. |. Prisoner continued to fire off his ques-; tions. When he asked witness to show ; how he had upset the discipline, witness ** replied that his questioner had been j . placed on bread and water, and also ' p I placed on non-association for three ! months because of his influence on the , , prison discipline. j Prisoner: In what way!— You are an !gi agitator and incorrigible. j f About this stage hie Honor interrupt-: , ed the farce, saying the Court had had enough' of this. Prisoners were charged > j with escaping from custody. If they t wished to question the credibility of the g witness they could ask relevant qnes- \ tions. , Hayes resumed the cross-examination. "Have I not been continuously persecuted?"—" Not by mc." ■. "Have I not been knocked about?"— ■ "Not ■to my knowledge." Prisoner waß proceeding to press some further .queries about the prison food, . when his Honor pulled him up again. : ' "I am not going to allow this. You * can make your complaints to the depart- < c I ment." I a "Your Honor, we were attempting to ' . establish extenuating circumstances. ,. His Honor: There can be no extenuat- j. ing circumstances. You either escaped , or you didn't.' If you have any reason- . able complaint you can make it to the Justice Department. THE JURY ADDRESSED. 1 When further formal evidence for the i Crown was concluded none of the ac- j cueed desired to give evidence, and they \ evidently relied on the oratorical powers 1 of Hayes to put their case. This pris- " oner started off in the usual style. \ "Your Honor and gentlemen of the T jury." and proceeded to relate that since , he had been in Mt. Eden he had tried < his level best to get on with the ' warders, but owing to interpretations that were put.on casual remarks there f was frequent trouble. There was, he , alleged, "pimping" in the gaol, and f malice and animosity was borne towards ' him by some of the warders because "mountains had been made out of mole | hills." He alleged that he had been ill- i treated in the gaol. For instance, last i Monday he was kicked in his cell. > i At this stage of the oration "counsel" s was checked by. his Honor. "You must I understand this," he -said, "that is no defence for escaping. You must make your complaints against the administration to the authorities. Have you anything to show the jury to prove that you did not escape?" "Well, no!" replied Hayes. COMPLETELY DRIVEN AWAY. Windsor added that their defence was all the same; they would have to resign themselves to the jury. "Can I tell the jury the reason why I escaped was because I was completely driven away?" asked King. His- Honor: That isa matter for the Minister of Justice. It is not a matter you can ventilate here. 'His Honor told the jury that the complaints which had been referred to could be placed before the prison authorities, and individuals, reputable citizens, who were appointed to investigate prison . administration. All the jury had to decide was whether these men escaped from lawful custody. After a short retirement a verdict of guilty was returned. A further charge against three of the accused was then proceeded with, namely breaking, entering, and theft, from a tlweling in Morris Avenue, owned by Mr. ■ Biss. Burnett had already confessed to ' the crime, explaining in a statement, that the four accused broke into the house, discarded their prison clothes there, and donned new apparel, the property of the unfortunate owner. The other three accused pleaded not guilty to the charge of breaking and entering, and theft, but admitted receiving. They were given every latitude by his Honor, and subjected some of the witnesses to a tedious and apparently pointless examination. As an example of the futility of their questions was the fact that Wind- i sor pressed the detective to read the i j statement of confession made fey ! (Proceeding). J