APPEAL FAILS

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31661, 23 April 1968, Page 9

APPEAL FAILS

Sentence For Escaping “Escapes from prison are becoming more prevalent,” said Mr Justice Wilson in the Supreme Court yesterday, in dismissing an appeal by Arthur Byron Pearce, aged 26, a workman, against 18 months imprisonment for escape from lawful custody, burglary, and car conversion. The magistrate who sentenced Pearce had been quite right in imposing a deterrent sentence, his Honour said. Pearce (Mr R. F. B. Perry), who is unrelated to the appellant above, escaped from Paparua Prison in March in company with a man named Howard, and was sentenced to 12 months concurrent imprisonment on charges of burglary and car conversion while at large, and six months imprisonment, cumulative, for the escape from custody. He appealed on the ground that his sentence was excessive. Mr Perry submitted that Pearce’s escape was prompted by being upset over unhappy domestic circumstances, was mutually agreed on with Howard—Pearce not being the instigator—and lasted only two days before he gave himself up, whereas Howard was at large for some time. These matters were a relevant consideration, but had not all been before the magistrate. For the Crown, Mr C. A. McVeigh submitted that the sheer seriousness of the crime of escape, with consequent public expense, demanded a deterrent sentence.