CRIMINALS AT LARGE.

Waikato Times, Volume 108, Issue 18075, 19 July 1930, Page 7

CRIMINALS AT LARGE.

BATTLE WITH POLICE. TWO KILLED; ONE WOUNDED. SENSATIONAL EPISODE. united Tress Assn.—Elec. Tel. Cupyright. ADELAIDE, July 18. A sensational escape was made today from Yatala Gaol by four dangerous criminals, William Hayes, 32; Joseph Dawson, 27; John Newchurch, 27; and Arthur Harrison, 27. It ended in two of the men being killed and a third wounded. The fourth is still at liberty. The men were working in the prison quarry, from which they escaped by cutting the barbed wire entanglements at the side. A warder named Berg was first overpowered and disarmed. A sentry named Strawson was then forced to accompany the men. who jumped into an unattended motor-car and drove rapidly away into the hills in the vicinity of Summerton, 10 miles east of Adelaide. Strawson was made to stand on the running board of the car, one of the criminals covering him with a sawn-off gun, which must have been obtained in a clandestine manner. The car sped along for nearly a mile and then Strawson was tossed off. He was not injured. , Eventually a tyre blew out and the four men left the car. They ran into a public school, alarming the children and teachers. Some traffic constables then arrived on the scene and shots were exchanged. some of the school windows being broken. ’ There was the utmost excitement on the main north road. The criminals managed to commandeer a motorlorry, in which they drove off. The police had notified all the surrounding districts of the escape and asked storekeepers and garage proprietors by telephone not to supply petrol to anybody until further notice. A party of police intercepted the four criminals at the corner of Barker Road, Enfield. They were challenged to surrender, but replied with shots. The police returned the fire and wounded Dawson, the driver of the lorry, in the head and fatally shot Newchurch —a half-caste aborigine—and Harrison. Hayes escaped. Harrison and Newchurch had previously escaped from prison, but had been re-captured.