Dangerous escaper will flee Chch, say police

Press, 15 November 1984, Page 1

Dangerous escaper will flee Chch, say police

Detectives believe that the man who escaped yesterday from Addington Prison will flee Christchurch because he has too many enemies in the city. Larry Thomas Geeson, aged 27, who was one of four men jailed after a Christchurch gang killing last year, escaped from the prison’s kitchen some time before 6.30 a.m.

Geeson made enemies in Christchurch’s gang underworld as a result of his involvement in the fatal shooting of a Highway 61 gang member. The High Court found that Quentin Martin was shot dead outside the gang’s headquarters by a person in a passing van. Geeson, who was one of the persons in the van, was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to three years and three months imprisonment. He gave a “V” for victory sign as he left the High Court after sentence was passed. A detective who worked on the Martin case said

yesterday that the police would not be the only people looking for Geeson. He is considered dangerous and the police throughout New Zealand have been alerted. Airport and port authorities have also been asked to keep a watch for him in case he tries to leave New Zealand. The houses of several of Geeson’s Christchurch associates were searched by detectives yesterday, but they failed to find any trace of him.

He is 165 cm (sft sin) tall, of medium build, with brown eyes and fair, thinning hair. He has extensive tattoos on the arms, shoulders, and neck.

The presence in Christchurch this week of the detective who headed the Martin inquiry, Chief Inspector Brian Williams, has prompted speculation that Geeson might have timed his escape to settle an old score.

Mr Williams had told the hearing that, without prompting, Geeson admitted to him that he had fired a

shot from the van, although the shot had not hit Martin. Geeson later denied making the admission.

Mr Williams, who has since been transferred to Porirua, is in Christchurch for a murder trial.

Fears of gang reprisals led to Geeson’s transfer from Paparua Prison to Addington Prison four months ago. The acting superintendent of Paparua , Prison, Mr Mitchell Leimon, said Geeson was moved to the smaller prison so that he would be under less pressure. He had been made a “trusty,” which enabled him to work in the kitchen with a minimum of supervision.

Mr Leimon said he was disappointed that Geeson had breached the trust placed in him. . Detective Sergeant John Ell, who heads a team of detectives searching for Geeson, said he escaped by sawing a single bar across the kitchen window, possibly with a hacksaw blade. He. then used a wooden pole to attach a grappling hook on

the prison’s 6m -southern wall which is adjacent to Army barracks. The grappling hook was made from a kitchen instrument and an extension cord, both obtained from the kitchen.

Geeson has a history of violence. His criminal record includes a conviction for burglary at the age of 14, robbery at 19, and aggravated robbery and aggravated assault at 20. “He is considered a person we would not like to see at large for too long,” said Detective Sergeant Ell. Geeson has escaped from custody several times. His companion on two occasions

in 1977 was the multiple escaper, John Donnelly. In August of that year the pair were among four prisoners who escaped from outside the then Magistrate’s Court by throwing pepper in the faces of their police guards. In October, 1977, Geeson and Donnelly surprised prison officials by escaping from the most secure block at Paparua Prison. Geeson spent most of a four-year sentence, from 1977 to 1981, in solitary confinement at New Zealand’s top-security prison, Paremoremo, in Auckland. During his 39-day hunger

strike at Paparua last year, he was almost transferred to the hospital at Paremoremo. However, he started eating again and was allowed to remain at Paparua. It was his second hunger strike while awaiting trial for his part in the shooting. Geeson is the third dangerous prisoner to escape from a Christchurch prison in the last two months.

Mark Richard Whittaker, who was jailed for his part in the attempted armed robbery of a Christchurch service station in February, escaped from Paparua Prison on September 16.

John Chris Sharnock, who was serving a six-year sentence for armed bank robbery, used a Justice Department motor-cycle in his escape from Paparua on October 18.

Both men were at large for some weeks before being apprehended.