PRISON MUTINY.

Auckland Star, 2 September 1933, Page 4 (Supplement)

PRISON MUTINY.

NEW PLOT DISCOVERIES. BIGGER THAN DARTMOOR. FRUSTRATED ESCAPES. Despite the precautions taken after the great Dartmoor mutiny, when the most dangerous of the convicts were scattered to gaols throughout Britain, the discovery of new plots is causing uneasiness in prison circles. Following rbmours of the frustrating of a big escape move at Durham, came the eleventh-hour defeat of another, on a much bigger scale, at Parkhurst, Isle of Wight. Led by mutineers from Dartmoor, about 60 prisoners had almost completed their preparations for the capture of the gaol, when, in the nick of time, a whisper of the secret enabled the authorities to foil the plotters. Ilad the men succeeded, it is believed, from the thoroughness of their arrangements, that they would have staged a mutiny surpassing even that of Dartmoor in its extent and seriousness. Ihey had everything ready to open the doors of 00 cells and overpower the warders. Roof to Basement Search. Skeleton keys had been made secretly in the engineering shops; hammers and files had been stolen and hidden, and ropes and a rope ladder with metal gripping devices had been prepared to enable tho plotters to scale the 38ft prison wall. Jt is believed that the men must have been working on their plans for more than a month, yet so secretly that none of the officers dreamt of the danger ahead. Then, on the eve of carrying out the desperate bid for liberty, one man dropped a guarded hint to a warder. But, with the memory of the Dartmoor nfiair still fresh in mind, and knowing that there were nearly 20 of the Dartmoor leaders in Parkhurat, that suggestion was more than enough for the officer. Immediately every available oflicer was put on duty, and the prison was searched from root to basement. Hidden in Ventilators. Cunningly hidden in ventilators were the keys the convicts had -made for themselves. The rope ladder, ingeniously spun from mail bag twine, was found concealed in the yard, together with the hammers and other weapons intended for knocking out the unsuspecting warders. The plot, one of tho prisoners confessed, would have been a far bigger thing than the Dartmoor a Only a handful of officers would have been on duty in tho middle of the night, and it was then the ringleaders were to sneak out of their cells, using the skeleton keys, and release the other prisoners in the block, numbering about 60. An inquiry is to be conducted by the Prison Commissioners, and one of the principal questions to which they will seek an answer is: How is it possible for such elaborate preparations for mutiny to have escaped the attention of the officials?