ESCAPED AGAIN.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XL, Issue 1823, 7 May 1918, Page 3

ESCAPED AGAIN.

JOSEPH THOMAS CHRISTIE AT LARGE. ' Auckland Yesterday. , Joseph Thomas Christie, who has previously made several sensational escapes from custody, got through the window of a cell at, Avondale Mental Hospital on Saturday night, and is still at large. Possessed, of a cool head and undeniable nerve, Joseph Thomas Christie lias of late earned notoriety as a gaol and mental-hospitaV breaker. He has a record of several convictions. He escaped from Burnham to begin with, and- in July, 1913, escaped from gaol in Auckland. On- the voyage to Christchurch to answer charges, after having been sentenced to two years’ hard labour for theft and declared an habitual criminal in Wellington, he jumped overboard from the Maori in Lyttelton harbour, but was recaptured. On 11th December, Christie escaped from Avondale Mental Hospital, whither he had been conveyed from gaol, after being certified mentally defective. His criminal career was characterised by much skill in hoodwinking people. Christie is an expert motor-cyclist, and his speciality seems to be the fraudulent obtaining of motorcycles, his plausible manner and ef-: feetive use of a cheque-book being his stock,-in-trade in this direction. While being escorted to Auckland by train on 30th January, Christie managed .to elude his captors, and was at large for some days.