CORSICAN BRIGANDS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21396, 20 October 1934, Page 2 (Supplement)

CORSICAN BRIGANDS

LAST LEADER IN PRISON "CLEAN-UP" COMPLETED SUBJECTION OF RUFFIANS Francois Bornoa, the last of the Corsican brigand leaders to remain at large, surrendered to the police at Levie a few weeks ago, and was later taken to Ajaccio. The police had been on his trail for many months. At last, unable to bear the strain of living constantly on the run, Bornea arranged to give himself up, using as intermediaries two priests and the Mayor of the Canton of Zicavo. , With Bornen safely under lock and key, the "clean-up" of Corsica, begun with the despatch of a punitive expedition to the island in November, 1931, and later continued with grim patience by the local gendarmerie, is complete. Bnada, the most redoubtable brigand of them all, held out until May last yoar, when the polico ran him down, a pitiable shadow of his former self; and his capture left them free to concentrate on Bornea.' Although he is only 29 years of age, Bornea has had an eventful life. A Corsican by birth, ho joined the navy at the age of 18, and after completing his engagement, returned to Corsica and joined the gendarmerie. In 1927 he was appointed a dock policeman at Toulon, but after serving for a year was dismissed for running into debt, neglecting his duties and associating with undesirable acquaintances. Bornea went back to Corsica and started business as a blacksmith at Palneca, but after forming a friendship with the notorious brigands Bartoli and Perfettini, he joined forces with them in levying blackmail on the local carrier. Their rapacity soon drove the carrier out of business, but they promptly levied toll on others, finally

extending their operations until the whole district was paying tribute in some form or other. In May, 1930, Bornea is alleged to have shot dead a young road-mender who replied to his abuse for not getting out of the way of his car quickly enough; and until November, 1931, when the Central Government was goaded into action by the excesses of the cx-gendarme and others of his kidney, Bornea and his companions had things all their own way. • Then came retribution. The arrival of the punitive expedition, the capture of many of Bornea's comrades, and, perhaps even more decisive, the breaking of their moral ascendancy over the local population, made death or captivity certain, says the correspondent of the Times. The petty outlaw, the man who takes to the maquis after settling accounts with knife or gun, may survive for some time in a country where the inhabitants are liable to take the law into their own hands. But there seems every reason to believe that with the disappearance of Bornea there vanishes for all time the race of romantic ruffians who murdered and plundered at their will and held whole districts in subjection.