DRAMATIC ESCAPE

Waikato Times, Volume 128, Issue 21368, 12 March 1941, Page 6

DRAMATIC ESCAPE

LEAP FROM MOVING TRAIN HUMPHREYS FOR SENTENCE STORY OF YACHT TRIP The story of a sensational leap from a speeding train at Ohaupo on the night of January 30 was recounted in the Hamilton Police Court to-day before Messrs G. K. Sinclair and P. B. Gavan, J.’s P., when Richard Humphreys, a 23-year-old mechanic, of Auckland, was charged with escaping from custody and stealing a yacht valued at £250 from Jocelyn Charles Dumbleton, at Mt. Maunganui four days later. Pleas of guilty were entered by accused through Mr F. A. de la Mare. Accused had been sentenced in Auckland on a charge of theft to two years’ reformative detention, said Constable Lloyd Shand, of Auckland. He was on the way to the Waikeria Borstal Institute in witness’ custody when he asked to leave the carriage. Humphreys then disappeared. The train was travelling at a very fast speed near Ohaupo. Jocelyn Charles Dumbleton, owner of the (20ft. keeler) yacht Jeannette, said he noticed on the morning of February 4 that his yacht had disappeared from its moorings in the Mt. Maunganui Harbour, Tauranga. Witness identified Humphreys as the man who had helped him to pull a dinghy up on to the beach the night previous to the yacht’s disappearance. The yacht was returned to him about a fortnight later, with the bowsprit broken, and a squab valued at £3 or £4 and some stores missing. Humphrey’s Admission Detective-Sergeant J. Thompson read two statements made by the accused at the Hamilton Police Station on February 13, in which he admitted the charges. In the statements Humphreys said that when he left the carriage he made his way down the train, dropping 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 his escape. From Auckland he went to Mt. Maunganui, arriving there on February 3. He noticed the 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 at Mayor Island the next day, 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.