ESCAPING FROM CUSTODY.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 260, 3 November 1925, Page 13

ESCAPING FROM CUSTODY.

I 1 THREE MEN FOUND GUILTY. E THE SENTENCES CONCURRENT. g " r Z ___— I{, \ ACCUSED RAISE A TECHNICAL ra E POINT. ur = ! Handcuffed, but exhibiting every sign tb ii of composure, Ernest John Brasting, at E' .Tame? Harold O'Brien and Oustav fo = ; Henry Hansen, the" three notorious T: ; I criminals who, last week, were sen--51 tenced to imprisonment for five years i and declared habitual criminals on a :' number of charges of breaking, enter--5 j ing and theft, appeared before Mr. Jusis J tice Herdman in the Supreme Court 5 j yesterday afternoon charged with, on : j September P. escaping from lawful cusEI tody, and further with having been Z ■ convicted of an offence they did escape E from lawful custody. — Mr. Paterson prosecuted, and 'he Z accused, who were not represented. E pleaded not guilty. E Mr. Paterson stated that the acE j cused escaped from local custody while = : being held for an offence, and, secondly. EI after having been convicted of an E I offence. After being sentenced in the ■■ Lower Court on several charges, and 3 I committed to the Supreme Court on — J others, the accused requested that they Z', be sent to the police station for the z\ \ night so that they could prepare a list S; of witnesses to call for their trial at ~ the Supreme Court. The request was granted. At 9-50 that night, the con- — stable on duty visited them, but on 5 his next visit "at 10.00 he found that 5 they had escaped. An iron bar had S been filed through, and the bar and the Z hack-saw used were found in the cell. E Hansen was later arrested in a pie cart E in Queen Street, and the others at E Pidgeon Mountain. All accused were s; in possession of articles which they did ~ not have when they were in the prison. S: Detective McWhirter gave evidence as Ej to the conviction of the accused in the S- Lower Court. = O'Brien: Did you see the warrants, Z\ \ and, if so, were they made out to the E Superintendent of Mount Eden Gaol? E Witness: I saw the warrants. You ~ : were placed in a place of legal custody. Z\', O'Brien contended that if the warE , rants stated that they had to be handed HD over to the gaoler at Mount Eden, it ™ was illegal to send them to the lockE up. S Witness: It was at your own request. E His Honor: The warrant has nothing — to do with it. The Crown has to prove ~ that you escaped from custody. ~ Evidence was also given by ConE stables Carroll and Edwards, who were E; in charge of the watchhouse on the — night of the escape. z: Constable Sutherland gave evidence E as to arresting the accused Hansen., E while Detective O'Sullivan recounted the s arrest of the other two escapees at ~ Pidgeon Mountain. E: Hansen gave evidence and stated that E the warrant should have been produced E as evidence for the defence. ~ His Honor: All the necessary warE rants have been produced. E Hansen: I should be able to read it. E At his Honor's request an official of S> I the court held a warrant while Hansen E j read it aloud. He also contended that 1Z \ they should have been handed over to \ ] the gaoler at Mount Eden. X ' His Honor: You are charged with •'""" escaping from legal custody. Hansen: It is a technical point, and 5 if I had learned counsel I could have the point argued and convince the jury. His Honor: You could not convince mc. Hansen (heatedly): I could say more, but you won't let mc. His Honor: That i.= siiffiricn+. O'Brien addressed the jury at [■.•nerth. and urged that the technical pom; raised by Hansen should be looke-.l into. Brasting agreed with the last accused and again made an appeal on behalf of his wife and mother, whose hearts were broken. His Honor dryly remarked that Brasting had nearly broken a man's jaw. This seemed to amuse O'Brien who pave vent to his feelings in a broad grin. In summing; up, his Honor said it was not for him to comment on what the prisoners had said. They had admitted escaping from custody, and he would leave the matter at that. The jury were absent about twenty minutes, and returned a verdict of guilty on both counts. In passing sentence of twelve months' imprisonment on both charges on all accused, the sentences to run concurrently with those already imposed, his Honor said he would not add to the sentence of five years, but he pointed out that it depended on the accuseds' conduct in gaol as to whether they got out after the completion of their sentence. Brasting and O'Brien were then charged with breaking, entering and theft, and receiving stolen property on three occasions after escaping from custody. The two men pleaded guilty. On the chanres of breaking, entering and theft, both accused were sentenced to twelve months' imprisonment on all charges, the sentences to run concurrently with those already imposed. When O'Brien signified his intention to appeal for a new trial on the sentence of five years, his Honor pointed out that the Court of Appeal could increase the sentence.