PRISON ESCAPEES

Grey River Argus, 12 February 1941, Page 8

PRISON ESCAPEES

Committed for Sentence

[Per Press Association] CHRISTCHURCH, February 11

Pleading guilty to charges of escaping from Paparua prison on January 25 and assaulting Sloan Bolton Woods'on the same date, three men were committed to the Supreme Court for sentence, in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday, before Mr. E. C. Levvey, S.M.

They were: Evans George William Chase, a labourer, aged 19; Geoffrey Francis Evans Turner, a labourer, aged 19; Manuel Poihipi, a labourer, aged 20.

Stanley Raymond O'Connell, a’ labourer, aged 22 and Claude Byron Hill, a traveller, aged 21, were also charged with escaping from Paparua prison on J'anuary 25. Accused, it was stated, were all serving terms of reformative detention, as follows:—Turner, six years; Poihipi, three and a half years; Chase, four and a half years; O’Connell, five years; Hill, four years. The charges were heard separately, Detective-Sergeant McClung representing the police. Sloan Bolton Woods, a' warder-in-structor at Paparua prison, said that on January 25 he was sitting in the west wing of the prison, attending to correspondence. Poihipi, followed by Chase and Turner, had approached him with a letter for his inspection. When he began to read it, Poihipi seized him by the legs and upset him on the ground. All three accused then held him forcibly while they look his keys. He received several blows on his bocjy and face, necessitating medical attention and absence from duly. The Magistrate.: Is there no means of protection against such assaults at the prison? You were very trusting weren’t you?—l suppose I was. Acting-Detective T. Knowles then produced statements by Chase, Turner and Poihipi, saying that they had had no intention of assaulting the warder and that they had merely wished to lake his keys. Detective-Sergeant A. A. Herron corroborated the evidence of the previous witness. ; The three accused pleaded guilty

and were committed to the Supreme Court for sentence.

In evidence of the second charge, that of escape, the superintendent of the Paparua prison gave details of the sentences which the prisoners were serving and briefly described the escape, and the recapture of four of the prisoners the same evening.

Sloan Bolton Woods and Donald Joseph Oliver warders at Paparua prison, also gave details of the escape.

Constable R. Turnbull, Acting-De-tective T. Knowles, and DetectiveSergeant A. A. Herron, described briefly the recapture of the prisoners.

All the accused pleaded guilty, and were committed to the Supreme Court for sentence.

Poihipi also pleaded guilty to three charges of theft, and to converting to his own use a. boy’s bicycle, valued at £3, the property of Alastair Joseph McDonald.

The theft charges were a's follows: On J'anuary 25, stealing throe pounds of butter valued at 4s 6d, the property of Robert Fairburn; on January 26, at' Yaldhurst, stealing a man’s overcoat gloves, a bicycle lamp and a bicycle, of a total value of £8 7s 6d, thq property of John McLean and others; and on January 25, at Yaldhurst. stealing a padlock-key and suit-coat, valued at 4s 4d, the property of William Thomas Burgess. Detective-Sergeant J'. McClung said that all the thefts were committed between the time of accused’s escape from the prison and the time of his recapture.

Accused was convicted and discharged on each charge.