POLICE RUSE

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXIX, Issue 4694, 16 May 1935, Page 8

POLICE RUSE

O MAN’S EFFORTS FRUSTRATED. To frustrate a man—seated on the limb of a tree with a rope around his neck—in an attempt to hang himself, the police of Tumut, Australia, adopted a successful ruse. They concealed a boy, with a sharp knife, and as the man jumped the boy cut the rope and the man was seized by the police. Under remand for seven days for medical observation, the man was being escorted from the courthouse to the lock-up and broke away. He was pursued by a constable, who, however, lost him on the Bombowlee side of the river. Sergeant Barnes (Adelong) and Constable Derrick (Batlow) joined the Tumut police in the hunt for the fugitive, who was attired only in shirt and trousers. It was wintry weather. He visited his mountain home yesterday morning to, secure more clothing and food. His parents tried to persuade him to give himself up to the police, but lie refused. 1-Ie wanted a rifle and cartridges to protect himself, but the police had removed all firearms from the house. He then took a rope plough rein, and climbed a tree on the edge of,

the river bank, fastened one end of the rope to a limb of the tree, making a noose which he placed around his neck. He remarked to his brother, who had followed him, 'lf anyone comes near me, I will hang myself.' Three police arrived and the man exclaimed: "If you come near me, I will jump!" For nearly an hour the police tried to coax him down. The man remarked, "If you go away and leave me a rifle and bullets, I will come down. I want a rifle and bullets to protect myself." It was then that the police adopted their strategy. When in a car, proceeding to the lock-up, the man struggled violently, trying to jump out. Medical evidence was to the effect that the man was suffering from delusions and suicidal tendencies, and was a fit and proper person to be admitted to an asylum. The Bench ordered that he be conveyed to a mental hospital.