WELLINGTON.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 11, Issue 837, 23 March 1867, Page 2

WELLINGTON.

THE THREATENED OUTBREAK IN THE GAOL. INTENDED POISONING OF THE OFFICERS AND ESCAPE OF THE PHISONERS. (From tlio • Advertiser,' March 18.) A good deal has been lately heard of the attempt to poison the warders of the Wellington gaol. The following evidence was taken before the visiting justices, Messrs. W. W. Taylor and Ed. Pearce, yesterday, and, as will be seen, resulted in an order for the first case of flogging which has occurred in Wellington gaol. At 10 o'clock a.m., the Justices met, and the prisoners, who were all in irons, were brought before them. .'xi::.iii The Warden of the gaol, Mr. M. Read, conducted the case against the accused. Mr. M. Read charged the three prisoners, John Riley, James Young, and George Angel, with conspiring to murder the officers and effect their escape from gaol." William Ilibertfield, a prisoner l under sentence of eighteen months for stealing, sworn, deposed — About two months and a- half ago Riley spoke to me about effecting our escape from gaol ; he said it would be very easy to poison the turnkeys ; he said the poison was to be put into their tea ; the arrangement was that Young was to get into the cook-house and put the poison in the pot while the tea was being made ; Riley told Rooney, who was a discharged prisoner, to get the poison ; he told him to get this while he was working beside him. Mr. Tnylor — How do you know Riley told him ? Witness — Because Riley told me so. Rooney was discharged from the gaol about three weeks ago ; Riley proposed to me to make my escape from the gang, and fall in with Austin and Rooney, and get clothes for him (Riley) as soon as he had escaped ; Austin was a discharged prisoner from the gaol ; Riley intended to escape by cutting his irons ,• besides poisoning the officers he intended to poison Tricker and Gaffhey j Riley said, "those two must go ; " the way in which it was proposed to eftect their escape was by opening the iron gates in the corridor with a key made by young ; the key was shown to me on Saturday by Riley . in : Young's presence ; Riley said, " this will make it all right with us now ; " they were to get arms out of the guard-room. '• ■ ! •-

I Mr Read — But did they not expect that the officers would resist ? ■ • i Witness — They were supposed to be all poisoned by this ; after escaping, they were -to, go. to Johnston ville and change their clothes ; they were then to return to town, ' and break into Mr Pearce's house, take the is&yj of-the office and open the safe ; they prje^fWe|e;also to break into Mr M. Read's KSia^e|a^^get the money there ; Riley told me alHnis, but Young was present 5 they said Angel was to join them ; in case the poison had failed they had intended to shoot the gaolers with the arms from the guard-room ; Riley had the piece of steel produced (a steel busk of a woman's corset), and also a file and a piece of a woman's crinoline ; Young had the file, but I do not know how it got into the gaol ; the piece of steel was brought in by Riley in his boot. Riley, on being asked if he had any questions to put, said that he did not deny that he had a conversation with the witness as to escaping, but had never spoken of poisoning; he had intended to make his escape, but the other two prisoners who were charged were perfectly innocent; he did not wish to deny his intention to escape, but he decidedly denied his intention to poison or kill ; the, witness was the first who had spoken of escaping. Several other witnesses gave evidence to a like effect. Micaiah Read, the Warder of the gaol, deposed — On Monday, the 10th, I found secreted under the lead of the sink in the lavatory tUi piece of stay-icon ; I left tlie gaol, and on my return I spoke to the prisoner Tricker, and shortly after, Donaldson came to me with this bottle, which I have since ascertained to contain aqua fortis ; I went out into the yard and saw Young and Tricker, and I said that I was quite certain that one, if not both of them, were mixed up in the affair ; Tricker said, " I know nothing about it, it is that villain Young. I then ordered Young to be locked up. Walter Tricker, under sentence of penal servitude for life for murder, deposed — On Friday night Riley said, in the cell, to me and another man, " How easy it would be to hocus the screws j" screws are turnkeys ; I said " We all drink out of the same copper ;" Riley said, " Well, it could be put in the billies ;" the billies are sent to the officers on the roads with their tea; on Wednesday week I saw Young filing his saw ; at the same time he had a small piece of iron fastened, and when the face of the turnkey was towards him he worked at the saw, and when his back was turned he worked at this piece of iron, which he was manufacturing into a skeleton key ; on the same day he was coming backwards and forwards and examining the lock of the iron door. The prisoner Riley wished to have the prisoner Gorman examined. Thomas Gorman, a prisoner under penal servitude for life for rape, sworn, and examined by Riley — I have heard you talk of " hocussing the screws," but I never heard you mention any one in particular. Riley said — I am guilty of endeavouring to escape, and I asked the discharged prisoner Rooney to get six-pennyworth of aqua-fortis, as I believed that would cut the irons. I found that the aqua-fortis would not cut the iron, and I threw it down the closet myself, so help me God. These two men are innocent. The first prisoner was the one that incited him to escape. Young said — I am innocent of all that has been brought to my charge. This ended the evidence, when the following sentences were passed : — ■ Riley — 40 lashes, 14 days solitary confinement on bread and water, 48 hours in the dark cell, and to be kept in irons. Young — the same sentence without the lashes. Angel to be kept in irons. The two first prisoners seemed to be rather astonished at the severity of the sentence which it is to be hoped will have a salutary effect upon their future conduct.