SENSATION IN COURT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13905, 12 November 1908, Page 5

SENSATION IN COURT.

I jf lIP r MgF VIOLENT PRISONER. fit- VIOLENT PRISONER. ATTEMPT TO ESCAPE. IfeiilP-' ■ I A REMARKABLE SCENE. , fc Okb 0 the most sensational criminal cases M "n the annals of Now Zealand was tried at W the Auckland Supreme Court yesterday, |§ before Mr. Justice Edwards, and the closV' ing Scenes were remarkable. The case H w as that in which a man named William 5 . Ilicharcl McLean, alias Murphy, alias Win. % Left— age. was Mated at 27 years— vas charged with having attempted to ;• murder Constable Maher at Taumarunui, : on July 20- . ! Standing 6ft lin in height, with a i 'i powerful frame, he was a. match for any tvre ordinary coustabks, and to those who * 3 him yesterday, and compared his stature with that of his victim, the wonder to them was that Maher escaped with his 6 life- The prisoner's features were of the f- most repulsive description— massive jaw, high cheekbones, a narrow forehead, a fiat, turned -up nose, and ears standing out al- ' most at right angles. Alter His Honor had summed up, the prisoner became greatly excited, and while, the jury ere retiring, turned round to ■ij , Constable Maher, who stood within a few If feet of him. and with a look of vindictive $%?■' hatred, exclaimed : "I*ll do for you, you J j|f | J®?-- Constable Maher drew back a pace or i [f, two, and then, acting under the advice of j rp; Sergeant Hansen, retired to the outer pre- ! t\ cincts of the Court. Tho prisoner then ! fc turned bis attention to Constable Murphy I ft and one of the witnesses, Lomax, calling te j hem the vilest of names. Hie warders purr- who were on guard endeavoured to pacify V- him, and they had partly succeeded in doing feii so when Mr. Poynton, the gaoler, engaged »(> - his alter, The prisoner then gave the fj'.V gaoler and his warders his version of the j encounter, and cast frequent furtive glances ] | towards the heavy piece of timber with j which Constable Maher had said in his evi- ] deace McLean had struck him. In view j A?;;.' of possible eventualities Sergeant- Hansen ' had the piece of timber removed to a safer • - distance, and it. was well he did so in view j fet; of rub sequent events. After a retirement cf 50 minutes the jury Cv. returned with .1 verdict of guilty on all counts. The prisoner, who was considerfeC' ably excited, was asked whether lie had anything to say, and in reply he made a long statement. He admitted having &j:- grabbed the constable by the throat, and ;> also baring put his lingers in the constable's - ayes but declared thai, he did not use the pp - piece of timber. f'i In reply to His Honor, McLean admitted ' having served five years for robbery at Weill' / lington, and also other sentences for numeric ore assaults and one for breaking and 01 entering. When His Honor said that be did not credit prisoner's story, and that it ' would have been madness on Maher's part to have attempted a personal conflict, McLean interrupted. "It would not," he said, "have been necessary for me to have j, - used the stick if I had wanted to kill Maher. | ' I claim to be the cateh-as-catch-can cham- & ' pion wrestler of New Zealand." ; His Honor said he could not argue the matter with the prisoner, and he then || pronounced a sentence of 20 years' hard labour. The length of the sentence came as a i'k thunderclap to the prisoner. He was unq able to realise it for some little time, and . l y f then doubting whether he had heard aright he exclaimed, "'What, 20 years, Your Honor .. Then suddenly he turned round in the py, dock, and assuming a lighting attitude, hit 5 out at the warders on either side of him. I?,* A large body of police had been stationed fci;V near the dock, and a rush was immediately made to the warders' assistance. The "prisoner, brushing trie two warders aside, pi- darted down into the centre of the :ecus y?..1 st, the back of the dock, and made a dash |£ through the opening for liberty. 'He was met, however, by a solid wall of constables, -who threw him back, and as he fell he was caught by the other con ■ ' stables, who rushed m from the other side. ■ -At first this man of Herculean strength ■j ( more than held his own. and it was not until 15 constables and warders had tiro ■' .in their grip that he -was overpowered, and th«n the victory was on t achieved by one ■ of the constables applying the "bridge"' hold— hold by which pressure is brought to bear on the eye*?. McLean, as soon eg f||| this grip was put on, cried out with pain. ifer * The man then submitted without further j trouble. Though several of the constables •we more or less bruised, nobody was j. Much th© worse for the encounter. McLean was finally 1 placed" in Mount Eden , ; jrieon.