"I HAVE QUIT."

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 91, 17 April 1936, Page 7

"I HAVE QUIT."

NO MORE CRIME. ESCAPEE'S EXPLOITS. DEPORTED FROM AMERICA. "THE UW WTIX ALWAYS GET YOU." Notorious for his exploits In Australia, New Zealand and America over the past ten years or more, a passenger ou the Mariposa, who is travelling under the name of Mr. W. G. Henry, is being deported from America to Australia at his own request, knowing full well that he has a term of five years' gaol to serve in Sydney for robbery!

Henry, who when in New Zealand went under various names, was recently paroled by the San Quentin, California, gaol authorities after serving just over three years of a 15-year sentence. His exploits over the past 10 or 15 years have led him along the precarious path of crime, but he now swears he has given up living 1 by doubtful methods.

"I've quit," he said to-day. "Crime does not pay. The law always gets you. lam now 33, and I have spent a good deal of my life in gaol. I want to give up that life and start afresh. I have a wife and little girl in Australia, and I want to do the right thing by them. That is why lam going back to serve my term at my own request. After that I have got a job to go to in South America. I did not waste my time in San Quentin. I studied the language and took a course in physiology and anatomy. I have got a little diploma that will be useful to me." Sentenced At Dunedin. It was in 1931 that Henry, who wis then known as Thomas William Wilson, came to New Zealand. He arrived in Invercargill after being suspected of a series of robberies on the ship. Although 'he was questioned, he was not arrested and still claims that he had nothing to do with the thefts. It was not long before Henry found himself in trouble. Four months after his arrival he w.is associated in four charges of breaking and entering and stealing a total of £4791 at Dunedin.. On these and two further charges of assault and doing grievous bodly harm, he was sentenced in June. 1931. to five years' imprisonment with hard labour, with one year's reformative detention thereafter.

Early in July of 1931, Henry was brought to Auckland to complete his term at Mount Eden gaol. Six months later he developed an internal complaint and was taken to the Auckland Hospital for observation. He had been there only five days when he escaped. He was not guarded while in hospital and about 10 o'clock on the evening of December 21, 1931, left his bed to go to the lavatory. That was the last seen of him.

Not long after Henry got away from the hospital, a pair of trousers and a coat were stolen from a house in Grafton Road while the occupants were asleep. Within a short time of his escape Henry was aboard a ship which sailed the same night for America. His escape was the result of the organisation of his friends in the underworld.

But Henry's alleged internal trouble was no ruse. He became progressively worse in health as the ship steamed away from New Zealand and when Suva was reached it was necessary to get medical help. He was operated upon.

Fifteen Years. After travelling all over the United States, Henry was arrested in California on a robbery charge and sentenced to 15 years. He thought a good deal while he was one of the 5000 prisoners in San Quentin, and decided to give up crime. As soon as he was paroled, he asked that he be deported to Australia so that he could serve the term of five years which he knew was hanging over his head there. His request was granted. With the knowledge that he was "wanted" in New Zealand for escaping from lawful custody, and knowing that he had also more than four of his five years to serve in this country, Henry wrote to the Governor-General, Lord Galway, asking for a pardon from his New Zealand crimes.

It will perhaps be thought strange that Henry was not arrested by the Auckland police when the Mariposa arrived this morning. Detective-Ser-geant J. Walsh and Detective W. Mahood met the ship on arrival and interviewed Henry, but although a warrant was issued in 1931 at Auckland for arrest, Henry was on an American ship and was being deported to Australia. If the New Zealand police fi#d insisted on arresting him, the Department would have been forced to pay a bond of £100 to the chief officer of the Mariposa, under whose charge Henry has been brought to New Zealand.

Freedom of Ship. On the voyage from America, Henry has been a free man while aboard the Mariposa. He is travelling cabin claw, has a room to himself, and goes about as an ordinary passenger. He has no escort. His passage is being pair by the Australian Government. He is full of gratitude for the manner in which he has been treated by the ship's officers.

To-day Henry paced up and down the decks of the Mariposa. He dare not land on New Zealand soil, for he knows that he is liable to be arrested as soon as he sets foot in the Dominion and charged with escaping. Henry's one hope now is that "a humanitarian officialdom" will not extradite him from Australia to New Zealand after he has served his five-year term in Sydney. I "I tell you, fellows, I've quit," he said. "It's taken me a long time to find out, but it does not pay. There's nothing to it. I've got a wife and an eleven-year-old kiddie. It's time I thought about them."