DARTMOOR REVOLT

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 57, 8 March 1932, Page 7

DARTMOOR REVOLT

FEAR STILL REIGNS

THE WARDERS' WIVES

.CLOSE WATCH OUTSIPE

(From "The Post's" Representative.) LONDON, 2nd February.

During the past week the only, evidence of the recent disturbance at Dartmoor has been the'retention of the barricades manned by armed police across the road on each side of the main gateway of the prison. All traffic passing these barriers is being examined, both in the daytime and at night. . : . . .

The women and children of Prince'

town have been in a state of nervous

. tension ever since the mutiny, and it is. 'o reported that some of the wives have decided to. appeal to their fellow-women in Princetown to sign a petition to the Prison Commissioners asking for the immediate transference of their menfolk to other prisons. _ There are, of course, other causes leading up to this remarkable act on the part of the warders 3 wives. The warders , have openly expressed their feelings that had some of the convicts escaped—as they so nearly did—not a single woman or child in the village would have been safe from the most vicious attacks. There is, in consequence, a tremendous dread among women of any recurrence of the scenes of a week ago, both for the safety of themselves and also of their menfolk.

One day last week two men who were suspected of beirig ex-convicts and

were seen near the prison, were subject i' to official attention, and were asked to explain their, presence in * the district. One of the nien protested "that he was . not in any way intrested in recent happenings, and he was allowed to go on promising to leave the district. ; GUARD AGAINST OUTSIDE ATTACK.

f \ The police have been searching a wide area for persons whose presence at Dartmoor might be regarded as con- -■ nected. in any way with recent events. "This action followed the receipt of in- ; formation that an attack on the prison was expected- from' outside, and since "■ then motor police patrols and other officers havß been engaged in ■ a systeni- •■'• atic search. ■ . The view held by officials; in Princetown (according to the "Daily Tele- ■'.'. graph" correspondent) is that an attack from outside would have been.be- ■ Vgun by the arrival of two motor-lorries - with granite—a familiar sight on Dartmoor roads, and one not likely, therefore, to arouse suspicion. ■.According to the plan, the first of ; these lorries, on reaching the prison - approach, was suddenly to swerve towards the outer : gate, crash through it * .and turn aside, enabling the second ■■_ lorry to smash in the-inner gate lead- . ing to the prison yard. Behind these lorries were to be cars containing the armed accomplices of the convicts. The noise created by the. crashing^ lorries t would warn the convicts of. the arrival

■. of their friends, and be the signal for them to create a commotion which ~ would add to the difficulties, .of the v prison staff and facilitate escape. According to the same correspondent, j. the discontent, in the prison has not been confined to the prisoners the war- . ders have a grievance. They complain 1 thai the tendency of the.Home Office

, in recent years to show greater leniency , towards convicts haa placed them at a i*: disadvantage in dealing -with the type 1 of criminal sent to Dartmoor. • In numerous cases convicts have greeted war- '■- ders' -with saeers and obscenities, and occasionally have made physical attacks. -.--■. •• ■ • ■'■■;-■■..

The convicts, on their part, consider that they have a. grievance if from any cause there appears to be any tightening of the prison discipline,, such as has been alleged as a ground for the recent happenings in the gaol. ■■■•• A MASTEB OEIMINAL.

In an article in the "Evening Standard" signed by "A Criminologist," it is suggested that the recent mutiny was the result of outside agencies bent on securing the liberty of the man who was the master mind behind one of the most dangerous gangs of bandits in the country.

"This man," says the writer of the article, "is undoubtedly Britain's cleverest criminal. It took Scotland Yard three years to put him behind prison bars—and when they did they took extraordinary precautions. Armed, detectives guarded his cell at the London, police station, and at the remand

prison at Brixton. Every time he was taken to Court in the Black Maria, two cars full of armed-detectives provided an escort.

"Then, as be left "Waterloo for Dartmoor, faced with a long sentence, , there were twenty detectives on the platform. Similar precautions were ; taken at every station at which th>' train stopped. Such extraordinary mea!- ---' sures are not taken without some very, , good reason. And the reason in this- ■ case was that Scotland Yard knew that' a desperate attempt was being organised to rescue this criminal. "People may wonder why such risks , "should be run to get this one man out of prison. The explanation is quite simple. He is a born leader of men, and for years, until his arrest a few months ago, he was the head of two of the most dangerous gangs of • motor bandits in the country. "He personally organised a series of big raids' in London, but. until three years ago successfully hid his identity from the "police. He was, in fact, a living tlouble of Professor Moriarty. Although only in his thirties, there is no_ doubt he has been long connected with crime; he once claimed the doubtful credit of being the originator of the smash-and-grab raid. ; "He has a first-class brain, and in any other sphere of life he would have risen to the top of his profession. But - he chose the calling of the criminal, : and his ability for organisation is no doubt necessary to his old associates if they are to stand any chance in the campaign against motor bandits which ■ the Flying Squad of Scotland Yard are so relentlessly pursuing. THE PKISON CONDEMNED. ''Dartmoor is under-staffed,'' writes the "Daily Express" correspondent. "It is a difficult prison from the working point of view—out of dato, inconvenient in buildings and equipment. Imagine, for example, having gas lights ing in a convict prison in England in 1932! "The married quarters outside the prison walls are mostly gloomy, old, and uncomfortable. The Prison Commissioners might well receive a deputation fTom the wives of the Dartmoor wardeis and listen with attention to what the women have to say about the official homes provided. For a woman to live at Prineetown during the winter months is just unhappy exile. I wonder the wives of the prison officers do not organise "a feminine revolt of their own. : ■ "Kemember, also, that on top of 1 everything else, the women are always afraid of their men being attacked and injured. They know all the details of warders slashed with razor blades or maimed in other way 3. Each says to herself, 'It may be my man next.' Dart- ,. moor inside is seething still with dan- ". ger. Outside there is unrest and fear. '] "The report of Mr. dv Parcq will