Pepper blinds guards

Press, 2 August 1977, Page 1

Pepper blinds guards

The police are still hunting for four prisoners who escaped from the Christchurch Magistrate’s Court cells yesterday after throwing pepper in the faces of two police guards. Constables Alistair De Kort and Jack Bennie were temporarily blinded in the surprise attack which came as thev were escorting prisoners to a waiting police van about 12.30p.ni The escapers, two of whom are charged with rape, sprinted off along Armagh Street and lost their pursuers among the lunch-hour crowd.

Every available police patrol car was called in to search the inner city area. Road blocks were also set up on the outskirts of Cnristchurch, but the four escapers were still at large late yesterday afternoon. One of the four, Larry Thomas Geeson, aged 21, appeared in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday

morning charged w’ith escaping from Paparua Prison last month. Geeson is about 165 cm (sft sin) tall, with brown hair and blue eyes. He was wearing prison clothing — blue denim trousers and a black or blue shirt. Two of the escapers. Darryl Wheeler, aged 21. and Wayne Crump, aged 21. are both charged with rape and several other offences, including burglary and assault. Wheeler is a European, about 185 cm (6ft lin) tall, and is heavily tattooed. He was wearing green trousers and a tracksuit top. Crump is 177 cm (sft lOin) tali, of medium build, with shoulder-length fair hair. The fourth man, John McKinnel Donnelly, aged 22, is charged with burglary.