PRISONER ESCAPES FROM CELL IN COURTHOUSE

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31587, 26 January 1968, Page 26

PRISONER ESCAPES FROM CELL IN COURTHOUSE

(New Zealand Press Association) AUCKLAND, January 25. A prisoner escaped from the ground-floor cell toilet of the Auckland Magistrate’s Court this morning by squeezing through a gap sawn earlier in the barred window.

The man, a 27-year-old unemployed Hung a r i a n restaurant worker, Mihaly Bede, made off in a Morris 1100 parked in nearby Courthouse Lane. Bede was searched at Mount Auckland prison before . he was taken to the court with about 20 other prisoners. T t is believed that an iron bar was recently found in his possession at the prison. After reaching the holding cell at the court and before being called for his appearance in the first-floor court room, Bede, who is facing 17 charges, was stripped and searched again. One of the charges alleges that he operated a car in which a loaded fire-arm was carried. At 9.45 a.m. Bede asked for permission to go to the toilet adjoining the cell. In the toilet he forced out a bar which had been sawn through—possibly during the night—and squeezed through a narrow gap to the ground. He went along the alleyway

by the side of the building into Courthouse Lane, where the car was waiting. A witness later told the police that a fair-haired man was seen driving the car away. Road Checka Police immediately set up road checks on all main outlets from metropolitan Auckland and mobile patrols were scouring the whole area. The Morris 1100 was stolen last night from Khyber Pass. It is painted red. Police fingerprint experts arrived at court to examine the escape scene. They found blood stains on the iron bars and on the window sill. The police say that Bede is almost Polynesian in colouring and appearance. Though Hungarian, he speaks good English, with only the faintest of accents. They advise the public to keep clear of him, but they say he is unlikely to become violent unless approached. Little Stir The cut in the window bar was angled downwards, but the police do not yet know if it was sawn from outside or inside. The escape caused little stir in Court, where Bede was due to appear before Mr D. G. Sinclair, S.M. The police prosecutor, Sergeant P. Wood, told the Magistrate that Bede had escaped; and the case was stood down. The 17 charges against Bede comprise four of burglary, six of car conversion, two of possession of instruments capable of burglary, two of assault to facilitate flight, one of resisting the police, and one each of dangerous driv-

Ing and operating a car in which a loaded fire-arm was being carried. In Custody He had appeared before Mr F. McCarthy, S.M.. last Thursday and was remanded in custody for a week. The stolen Morris was found abandoned in Powell Street. Avondale, soon after midday. Police and tracker dogs were rushed to the scene. A housewife, Mrs Nellie Nutt, of 36 Powell Street, saw two men drive up in the car at about 11.15 a.m. “I saw this car drive up

and park on the wrong side of the road opposite my place,” she said. “Both the fellows in it were ‘darkies,’ but the driver was fairer than the other fellow. “The darker chap was wearing a sort of driving jacket knotted around his waist, which flapped rather strangely. “I didn’t like the look of them; they looked like a couple of baddies. I shut all the doors and watched them walk away up the street. “They strolled away in the direction of Blockhouse Bay Road very casually,” said Mrs Nutt.