ESCAPED PRISONER ARRESTED

Otago Witness, Issue 3215, 27 October 1915, Page 16

ESCAPED PRISONER ARRESTED

BLACK RECAPTURED NEAR RANFURLY. SECOND ATTEMPT TO ESCAPE FAILS. After almost a month of liberty, John Daniel Black, who was lodged in the Dunedin prison awaiting trial on a serious charge, has been recaptured and returned to custody. His escape was effected on September 25, and since that time the police throughout the whole of Otago have been on the alert to discover his whereabouts. Several false scents were followed up in an exhaustive manner, only to lead to disappointment; but on Friday night Constable Coppell, of Ranfurly, located the fugitive at Pacrau, and promptly arrested him. The events following Black's recapture were of the same sensational nature as those connected with his escape. On Friday afternoon Constable Coppell was informed that a man answering Black’s description was working on a farm at Paerau. He immediately went over to make inquiries, and, on finding that the man was Black, he arrested him and detained him at the Paerau Hotel during the night. A start was made for Dunedin on the following morning, and all went well until the train was nearing Hyde, when Black pleaded an excuse to visit the lavatory. He preceded the constable along the carriage, and before the latter could prevent him he jumped clean through the glass of the window just as the train was proceeding round a curve at a moderate pace. He was practically unhurt by his fall, and set off at a good pace across country. His sensational escape had apparently been observed by those in charge of the train, which was pulled up in a short space of time, after which an exciting chase began. Constable Coppell and a passenger from the train had some amazingly fine sprinting practice in the rough country before they ran their quarry to earth, which they did in the space of a quarter of a mile or so. Black once again proved himself possessed of considerable resourcefulness, for, when discovered, he had attempted concealment in a deep hole in a creek with only his head showing. The fugitive speedily found himself again in the cluthches of the representative of the law, and a return was immediately made to the waiting train, the remainder of the journey being accomplished without incident. It is worthy of note that up to the time of his attempt to escape Black’s behaviour was excellent, and his dash for liberty seems to have been an ill-considered inspiration of the moment. Fortunately ho did not get far, and Constable Coppell is to be commended on his smart capture and effective handling of a difficult and venturesome prisoner. Black had apparently walked the whole of the way to Central Otago, and appears to have kept, for the most part, to the hilly country. He will be brought before the court in a few days’ time on a charge of unlawfully escaping from prison while awaiting trial.