TRIED TO BREAK FROM CELL

Chronicle (Levin), 29 March 1946, Page 4

TRIED TO BREAK FROM CELL

ONE OF MEN IIELD FOR BANjL ROBBERY FURTHER SEARCH FOR MONEf A persjstent rumour around the cjfy yesterday that during Wednesday nigfit one of the three young men detained jn eonnectipn xyith the bank robbery at J^ulls qn Monday had niade a detprmined eft'ort to escape from the loekqjp cells at tljp ' Palqier|ton North polifie station, was conhrnied by the Inspecfpr of Police (Alr. H. J. Joyce) last evpning.. The Ipspector said that he prefer/ed not tp giye any details. but the 'i.urrpnt r.eport' ha.d it ' that the attempf \yas niadg by yyay pf the cpll yyindoiv.'- » H"ad the prisonor been suceessful jrt breaking his way through the windqxv, . be vyoql,d havp found himself in tbe enclosed area used for exereising those held in custody. Although it wouid havp bppii difli^ult fpy t}ip Brispnpr to have sealed the waliSj escapes from the .Palmerston North iock-ups have bepu luiown, several having accomplished tjpJ feat since the present cells were cqpstriipt,ed. . Search for Money. Wifh qnly £12]J) qf • the total sto]pn moneys so far recovered Detective-Spr-i geant ,0. Pq>y.er qnfj Gqnstable WSlecth, togfsther with Mr. iveith Cl%y1 ton, of the Bank of New Zealand stbff, ! redqubled their sparcli for the remain- ! ing eache yesterday without resq|t. i Hqwever, as a result of a statemept ! made by one of the aceused, Mr. PowAr , was confident last night that the bg.1i ance of the money would be recovered j early todav. The siim of £650 was re- ' covered oh Tuesdsy hig'bt wbep the I police dug up a jar buried in the backj garden of a city residence. Yesterday ' morning a second paeke eqnhpning £560 j in notfcs, seaied in q. pickle Cottle, was | dispQveyed buried ip the parthen flopr ' of a tool-shed behind a private house in th.e ci-tv.

Vvreakness in Manhunt. . Now tjiat the excitement of the manhunt has subsided somewhat, a review bf'tlie eveuts immedjatejy following the receipt by the poliee pf notilicatjgn of the robbery on* Monday, reveals a grave vveaknpss in the pqjip.e organisatipji. 'Pjiis lies chiefly in tlxe _complete jack of radiQ equipment. Oalled uppn tp c.or.dqn oif and searcli a wide area pf brqkpn, mountainous country, the police w.ere faeejl with a mammoth ta.sk. When one of the bandits was ruxi j ground near Ihakara, the police establjsherl a "Jieadquarters in a farmhouse, and had to rely upon a telephone fpr communication. Even with 3S men in the field, it was inipossijjle tq .establish ! sound lines pf conimijnication, and cpnj tact between outposts and search parI ties conld npt be mg.intaine(i; When the search centre shifted to another area it was not possible to ibrijig impieijiately the full force of tjie attack to the new point becaqse of Jack of contpct. Evpp " q-alkj.p-t.q.lkiP " spfs, though very Jimited in range, jverp npt available to the police, yet the Ealmeysj ton North Boys' High Scliool possessed j one at their annual sports for relayj^g the resplts pf eveuts from the iinishing I post tp th.e recording van. Lesson to be Learned. The police deserve full credit for the .commendable manner in which thev carried out thpir diificult task, whiph can b,e fullv appreciated onlv when tjie e^tpnt of the territorv they were cpvering is knpwn, and consideration is given to the fact that they were searphing for armed men whose identities were not known. The end. came fortuitQiisly. In other circumstances it might pot have come as quickly, and inight haye extpnded tp a faj- wijjpr range. A lesson is to be learned frpm the experiences of this manhunt, apd the department should profit from it.