ILLEGAL CONSPIRACY

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLI, Issue 20340, 12 February 1936, Page 9

ILLEGAL CONSPIRACY

TRIAL OF EX-DETECTIVE United Press Association— By Electric Telegraph—Copyright (Received February 11, 5.5 p.m.) SYDNEY, February 11. The hearing was resumed to-day in the Central Police Court, Sydney, of the case in which a former detective, John Ellis Findlay, aged 40, was charged with having conspired to pervert the course of justice by aiding a prisoner, William Campbell, to abscond from bail and escape to New Zealand.

Accused was further charged, together with Ernest Pierce Coombe, 40, agent, and Charles Richard Tanser, 52, agent, with conspiring with William Campbell and William Holland Makin and others to defraud several persons of large sums of money. There was a similar charge against William Campbell, 35, clerk. A Woman’s Evidence Madge Campbell, wife of one of the defendants, told of the plans which are alleged to have been made to enable her husband, William Campbell to abscond to New Zealand. On one occasion, Findlay told her to go upstairs at Hotel Australia, as Detective James might recognise her. He also told her not to go to the boat, as the water police might recognise her. As a matter of fact Findlay assisted her to accompany her husband to New Zealand, where the pair were later arrested. She was discharged on bond. On one occasion she paid £3O to Findlay. Asked whether she had seen men with Chargol mixture, Mrs Campbell said: “I could not help seeing them. They were always messing about with it. Tanser never discussed anything else but Chargol. I got sick of the song,” she added. “My husband had many aliases, and when he lived under another name I adopted it.” While Mrs Campbell was being crossexamined by her husband, Findlay made a remark upon which Campbell appealed to the Bench to protect him, declaring that Findlay had called him a very offensive name. Findlay interjected: “I never used that word. Campbell is a liar if he says I did.” The Crown Prosecutor’s assistant declared that he had heard the word. The Magistrate (Mr Shepherd) ordered that Findlay be charged with contempt of court, to be dealt with later. Fined for Contempt When Findlay was charged with contempt of court, he pleaded guilty and was fined 20/-. Mrs Campbell had not concluded her evidence when the Court adjourned.