CATCHING FUGITIVES FROM JUSTICE.

Dunstan Times, Issue 3132, 28 August 1922, Page 2

CATCHING FUGITIVES FROM JUSTICE.

(By H. L. Adam, author of “The Story of Crime.”)

The arrest of Bevan reminds ns that the law possesses a very long arm, and that neither time nor distance avails a fugitive when once he is “wanted.” There is scarcely a. spot on the earth where the law of 'extradition does not now apply. Spain was the last European country which afforded a safe haven of refuge for the fleeing wrongdoer. There have been notable cases where culprits have been caught after a. long and stern chase. That of Jahez Balfour will he still fresh in the minds of most people—how he Hod to the Argentine, where he lay “doggo,” as it were, with Scotland Yard waiting patiently on his doorstep, ready to grab him the moment a chance presented itself. The official who went out to get him was the late chief of the C.1.D.. Frank Freest, and 1 remember him giving me a most graphic description of how he made the capture and afterwards brought his prisoner to London. One of the most remarkable cases was one where the owner of a small craft trading between London and provinc'al ports destroyed his vessel in order to cheat the underwriters. He disguised himself and hooked a passage in the vessel as she lay in the London •locks preparatory to sailing for Newcastle with ,a cargo of esparto grass, lie impersonated a man who was snp- !■'<) ed to lie deaf and' dumb, and kept hims'df very much to his cabin dining the voyage. One dark night he crept out of liis berth and set firo> to the cargo, and it was only by a miracle that the vessel, or what was left of it. reached its destination. When it did so tiie mysterious deaf and dumb passenger bad disappeared. Suspicion was aroused, and lie was subsequently ariosted and charged with the crime. He was, however, released on bail, which lie promptly “jumped,” quickly leaving the country for America. There he remained in safety for eight years, when lie unwisely paid a flying visit to Newcastle, thinking, no doubt, that he might do so now with impunity. Blithe was seen, recognised, arrested, tried, and sent to penal servitude. A year alter he died in prison. I have the record of another very remarkable case, where a man charged with embezzlement was arrested no less than twenty-live years after he had disappeared. Ho was duly brought before a magistrate, and even more remarkable still, the prosecutor was still alive and. came forward in the interests of justice. At the trial of Jahez Balfour in 185)5, before the jury was sworn his counsel urged that ho could ho tried for no offence other than those proved' by the facts on which he had been surrendered by the Argentine Republic. Ho asked that any other counts in the indictment should ho quashed. The judge, however, refused to do this, saying that the point should have been raised by a “plea in bar” before the prisoner pleaded not guilty to the indictment. Whitaker Wright, when arrested in New York, placed no difficulty in the way of the yourt which ordered his surrender. He faced his trial —only to escape serving his sentence. At the present day the odds against, a “wanted” man cheating the law arc overwhelming.