BOY BURGLAR.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1659, 28 January 1913, Page 8

BOY BURGLAR.

I" ; ' p PRISON WALL SCALED. 1 [ ' NERVE AND AGILITY. f HOW A YOUNG AUSTRALIAN GOT AWAY. (By Telajraph,—Press Association.) Auckland,-January 27. . j. '.'On' Saturday afternoon a young Australian named. John Bandley, who had been ; arrostod for theft on Wednesday Bight, and. had admitted Leing the perpetrator of burglaries in the City Cham- \ bers Monday, made his es.capo from custody at tho Auckland Police Station. He had been kept at tho police station while on remand .on account of ihis youth, to prevent his being lodged in the company of old criminals'at the gaol.' Ho was allowed liberty of tho : ■ exorcise yard, being loeked up occasiorially by one of the constables on duty. At 3.30 o'clock on SatuTdoy afternoon

iho was in the yard,'but when tho conbtable looked in a couple of hours later • j. Bandley was gone. Ho left ample ovi•idehce behind of how ho had. made his ' bxit, most unusual ingenuity having been' ■ tehown by him - in his: v.se of tlie sqant furniture of tho cells to enable him to 1 ■ Iscale a up-and-down concrete wall 1 (16ft, high. /He 'took advantage, of tho | ■v. fact tliathis cell was near the. corner 1 of two walls of tho 'yard, and that tlio i Uoor opened outwards from one wall and j could'bo swung back-to touch tho otheri < • • .'wall,- He'piiShed tho door back to this» position, and fitted a broolh-in the doorway so as to keep the door, firmly back. Then ithe; prisoner, got three cell'buckets, which , - Ihe placed ono,abovo the other on top of . .... (the door, steadied against the angle of the two walls. This reached about 9ft. * up the wall, and as Bandley is a couple; v-bf inches under sft. in height} it did not ; ■'.- enable him to" reach, the top, of. tlie ,walL ! He'conseqiiently collected, a number of , blankets from some unoccupied cells, and added these to hi 3 improvised laddor. thus ' ■: ; A feetling it sufficiently high .to enable; him' ■ 1 . !to make. his escapo, though he must taw ; lhad to mako a spring from, a rather awk-1 . .ward take-off to get a clutch on the round-' fed top of the wall. Tho whole thing was (ingenious, but at tho same tim<j highly , Boagerous, requiring a remarkable amount : of agility,and. nerve: on the. part of . the ' performer to carry out without suffering a; very nasty fall.; Once Bandley .got to tha top oL the wall these was no difficulty in the way of his making his escape ; Unobserved. : y ... 1 • • .; -i Up : to -date nothing further has; been fceard xf'the oscapee. 'iHe-gave -his-age las fifteen.years, and though he is of small statuTo for that-age, it is" believed that . • Ihe.is in reality is small, hut Wiry and 'very active,' . ■, RECAPTURED. A ROW ACROSS THE HARBOUR. - (By Telegraph.—Press Association.)' , , " Later. ■ Tho boy burglar, John Bandley, .who :.'' "> escaped from the cells on Saturday, was ; recaptured at.Devonport at 5.30 p.m. today. It is supposed that .lie took-a dinghy from Freeman's Bay and rowed ocross the harbour to Dcvonport. He discarded the - ■ dinghy and hid in the shrubbery, in a garden., The police, searched the garden . without success.; 1 A h<- .. . Subsequently the police were informed that ho. was'-hiding m a house, and on learch/being made 110 was recaptured. '.