PRISON RIOT.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 71, 25 March 1940, Page 7

PRISON RIOT.

RISING AT DARTMOOR. I.R.A. Extremists Set Fire To Gaol Block. RINGLEADERS OVERCOME. United Tress Association.—Copyright LOXDON. March 24. On the eve of celebrations in Eire i to mark the Easter rising of 1916, a number of extremist members of the Irish Republican Army imprisoned in Dartmoor gaol mutinied and started a riot. They set fire to the D Bloek, in which all the terrorists are confined. Twelve of the most dangerous of the Iri*h prisoners were the ringleaders. They seized and gauged two warders while they were exercising, took their keys and released other Irish prisoners. Amid wild shouts the mutineers Collected piles of bedding and set fire to the building. One warder was thrust : into a cell, given a gas mask, and told to lie a good boy. Prisoners who had not been released yelled through the grilles, adding to the pandemonium. Hundreds of residents of Princetown heard wild screams and shouts from the prison and saw flames and smoke. Special squads of police cordoned off the gaol, the {rovernor of which swiftly summoned all the warders. They barricaded the rioters in one section by piling up cement bags in doorways. The ringleaders were overpowered after a short struggle and handcuffed. They were then placed in separate cells. Order was restored in three hours, after which the warders attended their usual .Saturday night dance. The prison fire brigade quelled the flames in 90 minutes. They had a large hold and burned the roof. Home Office officials state that the damage was slight. This is the first attempt at mutiny since the historic fight of 1932.