SENSATIONAL LEAP

Wairarapa Times-Age, 13 March 1941, Page 9

SENSATIONAL LEAP

FROM A MOVING TRAIN I STORY TOLD IN COURT. YACHT STOLEN BY PRISONER. (By Telegraph—Press Association J HAMILTON. March 12. The story of a sensational leap from a speeding train at Ohaupo on the night of January 30 was recounted in lhe Magistrates' Court, Hamilton, today when Richard Humphreys. 23-year-old mechanic, Auckland, was charged with escaping from custody and stealing a yacht, valued at £250 at Mount. Maunganui four days later. Pleas of guilty were entered. Accused had been sentenced in Auckland on a charge of theft to two years' reformative detention, said Constable Lloyd Shand. Auckland. He was on his way to the Waikeria Borstal Institute in witness’s custody when he asked to leave the carriage. Humphreys then disappeared. The train was travelling very fast near Ohaupo. In statements to the police, Humphreys said that when he left the carriage he made his way down the train, jumped off the guard's van as the train slowed down near Te Awamutu. He then returned to Cornwall Park. Auckland, where he had hidden some clothes and money in preparation for escape. From Auckland he went to Mt. Maunganui, arriving there on February 3. He noticed a yacht at its moorings and decided to steal, it. An old oil drum was filled with water and he bought a gallon of petrol and a pint of oil, as well as enough provisions to last him two months. That night Humphreys slipped off the mooring rope from the yacht and made out to sea. He arrived next day at Mayor Island, where he stayed for about two hours. He made another break in his voyage at White Island, remaining there several hours before he sailed on to Cape Runaway. He intended to get away from New Zealand when he ran into rough weather, which broke the bowsprit and forced him to shelter at Ruatoria, on the East Coast, where he was surprised by the police. Humphreys was committed to the Supreme Court. Auckland, for sentence.