"HUMAN FLY" FALLS AGAIN

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23381, 24 June 1939, Page 2 (Supplement)

"HUMAN FLY" FALLS AGAIN

Fantastic Career of Burglar Who Could

BRITAIN'S most daring cat burglar, George William Enright, now 45 years of age, is back in Parkhurst to serve a sentence of four years' penal servitude passed on him at the Old Bailey, London, where he was found guilty of receiving two suitcases and £377. Enright's proud boast was that he could climb any building. In Britain and on the Continent his fantastic exploits gained him the title, "The Human Fly."

ENRIGHT was the first of the cat burglars and far and away the most expert of them all, yet this time he has gone to prison for an offence, which, for him, is entirely out of character. This was no sensational account of a daredevil climb followed by a desperate escape, but the humdrum story of a criminal found in possession of goods and money which did not belong to him. The explanation may 'be—as the police suspect—that his climbing days came to an end when, in an attempt to evade the police, 112 injured himself seriously by leaping from a train travelling at 60 miles an hour. Former Stunt Actor Th.e son of a wealthy Tasmanian cattle dealer, Enright was at one time a stunt actor on the films, where he performed fearsome jumps while acting as a " double." Many people still believe that, but for the queer criminal striain in him, Enright would to-day have been a star, with his name emblazoned in electric lights, instead of merely a number in A prison cell. Once, when ho was arrested in Chicago, lie jumped ' from a police station window. On another occasion, while being " third degreed " in San Francisco, he made an jveu more sensational escape. - •With scores of detectives ft his heels, he suddenly dashed from the room, ran through an office crowded with policemen, and, gaining "he street, flung himself on to a passing tram. He got clean away. •Enright, who specialised in jewel robberies, is believed to have escaped with nearly £250,000 worth of plunder during his criminal career. Once, in attempting to burgle a house at Kensington, Enright fell ,'so feet into an area, and broke a le<:;. He was captured and sent to hospital.. Although police officers kept a .day and night guard by his bed, Enright determined to escape. And he almost -.'succeeded. |

A coat, trousers, and a cap were smuggled into the ward to him. A friend who happened to be convalescent in the same ward arranged for .a car to be at the hospital' gates at a certain. time. Then, under cover of tho bedclothes, Enright removed the splint from his leg, donned trousers and coat, and, white the policeman's attention was momentarily diverted, jumped out of bed. But he had not reckoned 011 his weakstate. and instead of making his wild dash for freedom, he fell moaning to the floor. His most sensational adventure, however. was in 1928, when he tried to escape from the train. Enright had taken part in one of the most daring robbery attempts of modern times. There was known to be thousands of pounds' worth of gems in the safe of a Newcastle jeweller. The raid was carefully planned, but a " squeaker " warned the police, and when the raiders entered the jeweller's premises they were surprised by .'SO officers. In the fight to avoid arrest which followed, policemen were knocked unconscious, and Enright escaped. Later he was arrested in Maida Yale, London, and was sent under escort to Newcastle. Leap From Train > Although handcuffed, Enright suddenly dived through the window of the train at almost the same place where, many years before, Charlie Peace had made a similar attempt. Enright huddled himself into a ball to break the- force of his fall, but lie underestimated the speed of the train —OO miles an hour —and was gravely injured. The escort who had stopped the train found him unconscious 011 tho permanent way. For months Enright, who had been sentenced to four years' penal servitude, fought a grim battle with death in Durham Prison. Eventually, he won through, and was sent to Parkhurst, where he was a " red-inked " prisoner —that is, one who is specially watched day and night. He was placed in a special cell, searched at intervals during the day, his clothing taken away from him every

| evening, and a light kept burning in his coll all night. Even then the authorities were not satisfied, and a warder was specially detailed to vi.sit him overv half hour. In the underworld, Enright is regarded as " the soul of honour," as a mail who would never " double cross " another crook, and as one ready to give a helping hand to anyone in trouble. His ambition was to he known as " The Gentleman Crook," and lie used to dress the part. Most evenings of his life, when not in prison, he donned evening dress. Me was once arrested in the West End of London, and hidden in his immaculate suit of " tails," was a complete burglar's outfit. He was last released from prison in April, .1938. " From my own knowledge," said Department-Inspector Slvfield, at the Old Bailev, " 1 can say this man is regarded as one of the cleverest housebreakers in this country. He is a violent man, who will resort to any violence to evade arrest." In passing sentence, the Recorder, j Sir Gerald Dodson. remarked, " It must be a dreary life, this perpetual conflict with the law. You are bound to lose every time—certainly in the long run."