Young Man's Cunning To Commit Crime

Chronicle (Levin), 2 December 1949, Page 3

Young Man's Cunning To Commit Crime

INVERCARGILL, Dec. 1. Thirteen eharges were faced by a Borstal inmate, John Gordon Anthon Shanks, aged 21i years, when .he appeared before Mr--W. A. Harlbwy in the Magistrate'a-Court in Invercargill. Shanks pleaded guilty to 12 indietable eharges which involved theft of goods and money valued at £740 18s 5d from various Invercargill business premises between November 14 and 19 and was committed to the Supreme Court at Dunedin for sentence. Evidence was heard to the effect that of the goods and money stolen, property valued at £734 9s 6d had been recovered. This left an equivalent of only £6 8s lld unrecovered. Shanks also pleaded guilty to a eharge of escaping from Invercargill Borstal on November 14. On this charge he was convicted and discharged. Senior detective A. W. McDougall described Shanks ' method of escape as "cunning and eleverly contrived. " Accused had occupied a room in the second story of the main Borstal building. Contemplating escape, Shanks had managed to obtain a rope ladder. He had then cut through an iron bar in the window of his room, removed the glass and cut out the iron frame. Accused matched the missing iron bar. with a length of conduit piping. From the door of the room it was extremely difficult to tell any thing was wrong with the window, said Detective McDougall. Shanks left the building each night at 10.30 p.m. and returned at 3.30 a.m.