PUYSEGUR ARREST

Waikato Times, Volume 130, Issue 21652, 12 February 1942, Page 6

PUYSEGUR ARREST

INCIDENT AT LIGHTHOUSE CHARGE WITHDRAWN (By Telegraph.—Press Association) INVERCARGILL, Thursday The final chapter in the Puysegur Point story closed this morning, when before Messrs C. Lange and H. Ritchie, J's.P., Senior Detective Thompson asked permission to withdraw a charge against a carpenter, aged 41, whose name was ordered to be suppressed, of committing mischief by wilfully damaging wireless apparatus valued at £3O, the property of the Government. Senior Detective Thompson said the accused was being detained in a mental institution. TJie charge was withdrawn by leave of the court. The man was arrested in the early hours of yesterday morning on Coal Island and brought back to Bluff at 3 o’clock this morning after an allnight trip from Puysegur. He was handcuffed to a constable when he appeared in the dock. Relief was felt in police circles when a telegram was received from Puysegur stating that the police party was safe and well, for it was known that the wanted man had a .303 rifle and ammunition which he had taken from the lighthouse. Coal Island, where the man was marooned, rises to a height of 850 ft. and is covered with dense bush.