Prisons, Inmates, Escapes & More
alcatraz
Alcatraz -The rock
While several well-known criminals, such as Al Capone, George "Machine-Gun" Kelly, Alvin Karpis (the first "Public Enemy #1"), and Arthur "Doc" Barker did time on Alcatraz, most of the 1,576 prisoners incarcerated there were not well-known gangsters, but prisoners who refused to conform to the rules and regulations at other Federal institutions, who were considered violent and dangerous, or who were considered escape risks. Alcatraz served as the prison system's prison - if a man did not behave at another institution, he could be sent to Alcatraz, where the highly structured, monotonous daily routine was designed to teach an inmate to follow rules and regulations.
At Alcatraz, a prisoner had four rights: food, clothing, shelter, and medical care. Everything else was a privilege that had to be earned. Some privileges a prisoner could earn included working, corresponding with and having visits from family members, access to the prison library, and recreational activities such as painting and music. Once prison officials felt a man no longer posed a threat and could follow the rules (usually after an average of 5 years on Alcatraz), he could then be transferred back to another Federal prison to finish his sentence and be released.
While several well-known criminals, such as Al Capone, George "Machine-Gun" Kelly, Alvin Karpis (the first "Public Enemy #1"), and Arthur "Doc" Barker did time on Alcatraz, most of the 1,576 prisoners incarcerated there were not well-known gangsters, but prisoners who refused to conform to the rules and regulations at other Federal institutions, who were considered violent and dangerous, or who were considered escape risks. Alcatraz served as the prison system's prison - if a man did not behave at another institution, he could be sent to Alcatraz, where the highly structured, monotonous daily routine was designed to teach an inmate to follow rules and regulations.
At Alcatraz, a prisoner had four rights: food, clothing, shelter, and medical care. Everything else was a privilege that had to be earned. Some privileges a prisoner could earn included working, corresponding with and having visits from family members, access to the prison library, and recreational activities such as painting and music. Once prison officials felt a man no longer posed a threat and could follow the rules (usually after an average of 5 years on Alcatraz), he could then be transferred back to another Federal prison to finish his sentence and be released.
alcatraz escape 1962
Located on a lonely island in the middle of San Francisco Bay, Alcatraz—aka “The Rock”—had held captives since the Civil War. But it was in 1934, the highpoint of a major war on crime, that Alcatraz was re-fortified into the world’s most secure prison. Its eventual inmates included dangerous public enemies like Al Capone, criminals who had a history of escapes, and the occasional odd character like the infamous “Birdman of Alcatraz.”
In the 1930s, Alcatraz was already a forbidding place, surrounded by the cold, rough waters of the Pacific.
The redesign included tougher iron bars, a series of strategically positioned guard towers, and strict rules, including a dozen checks a day of the prisoners. Escape seemed near impossible.
Despite the odds, from 1934 until the prison was closed in 1963, 36 men tried 14 separate escapes. Nearly all were caught or didn’t survive the attempt.
The fate of three particular inmates, however, remains a mystery to this day. Here is their story.
In the 1930s, Alcatraz was already a forbidding place, surrounded by the cold, rough waters of the Pacific.
The redesign included tougher iron bars, a series of strategically positioned guard towers, and strict rules, including a dozen checks a day of the prisoners. Escape seemed near impossible.
Despite the odds, from 1934 until the prison was closed in 1963, 36 men tried 14 separate escapes. Nearly all were caught or didn’t survive the attempt.
The fate of three particular inmates, however, remains a mystery to this day. Here is their story.
Missing. On June 12, 1962, the routine early morning bed check turned out to be anything but. Three convicts were not in their cells: John Anglin, his brother Clarence, and Frank Morris. In their beds were cleverly built dummy heads made of plaster, flesh-tone paint, and real human hair that apparently fooled the night guards. The prison went into lock down, and an intensive search began.
Gathering the Clues. We were notified immediately and asked to help. Our office in San Francisco set leads for offices nationwide to check for any records on the missing prisoners and on their previous escape attempts (all three had made them). We also interviewed relatives of the men and compiled all their identification records and asked boat operators in the Bay to be on the lookout for debris. Within two days, a packet of letters sealed in rubber and related to the men was recovered. Later, some paddle-like pieces of wood and bits of rubber inner tube were found in the water. A homemade life-vest was also discovered washed up on Cronkhite Beach, but extensive searches did not turn up any other items in the area.
Piecing together the plan. As the days went by, the FBI, the Coast Guard, Bureau of Prison authorities, and others began to find more evidence and piece together the ingenious escape plan. We were aided by a fourth plotter who didn’t make it out of his cell in time and began providing us with information. Here’s what we learned.
The group had begun laying plans the previous December when one of them came across some old saw blades.
Using crude tools—including a homemade drill made from the motor of a broken vacuum cleaner—the plotters each loosened the air vents at the back of their cells by painstakingly drilling closely spaced holes around the cover so the entire section of the wall could be removed.
Once through, they hid the holes with whatever they could—a suitcase, a piece of cardboard, etc.
Behind the cells was a common, unguarded utility corridor. They made their way down this corridor and climbed to the roof of their cell block inside the building, where they set up a secret workshop. There, taking turns keeping watch for the guards in the evening before the last count (see the crude “periscope” they constructed for the lookouts), they used a variety of stolen and donated materials to build and hide what they needed to escape.
More than 50 raincoats that they stole or gathered were turned into makeshift life preservers and a 6x14 foot rubber raft, the seams carefully stitched together and “vulcanized” by the hot steam pipes in the prison (the idea came from magazines that were found in the prisoners’ cells). They also built wooden paddles and converted a musical instrument into a tool to inflate the raft.
At the same time, they were looking for a way out of the building. The ceiling was a good 30 feet high, but using a network of pipes they climbed up and eventually pried open the ventilator at the top of the shaft. They kept it in place temporarily by fashioning a fake bolt out of soap.
The group had begun laying plans the previous December when one of them came across some old saw blades.
Using crude tools—including a homemade drill made from the motor of a broken vacuum cleaner—the plotters each loosened the air vents at the back of their cells by painstakingly drilling closely spaced holes around the cover so the entire section of the wall could be removed.
Once through, they hid the holes with whatever they could—a suitcase, a piece of cardboard, etc.
Behind the cells was a common, unguarded utility corridor. They made their way down this corridor and climbed to the roof of their cell block inside the building, where they set up a secret workshop. There, taking turns keeping watch for the guards in the evening before the last count (see the crude “periscope” they constructed for the lookouts), they used a variety of stolen and donated materials to build and hide what they needed to escape.
More than 50 raincoats that they stole or gathered were turned into makeshift life preservers and a 6x14 foot rubber raft, the seams carefully stitched together and “vulcanized” by the hot steam pipes in the prison (the idea came from magazines that were found in the prisoners’ cells). They also built wooden paddles and converted a musical instrument into a tool to inflate the raft.
At the same time, they were looking for a way out of the building. The ceiling was a good 30 feet high, but using a network of pipes they climbed up and eventually pried open the ventilator at the top of the shaft. They kept it in place temporarily by fashioning a fake bolt out of soap.
The escape. On the evening of June 11, they were ready to go. The prison informant, though, did not have his ventilator grill completely removed and was left behind.
The three others got into the corridor, gathered their gear, climbed up and out through the ventilator, and got on to the prison roof. Then, they shimmied down the bakery smoke stack at the rear of the cell house, climbed over the fence, and snuck to the northeast shore of the island and launched their raft.
The three others got into the corridor, gathered their gear, climbed up and out through the ventilator, and got on to the prison roof. Then, they shimmied down the bakery smoke stack at the rear of the cell house, climbed over the fence, and snuck to the northeast shore of the island and launched their raft.
What happened next remains a mystery. Did they make it across the Bay, get to Angel Island, and then cross Raccoon Strait into Marin County as planned? Or did the wind and waves get the better of them?
Solving the mystery. Plenty of people have gone to great lengths to prove that the men COULD have survived, but the question remains: did they? Our investigation at the time concluded otherwise, for the following reasons.
Crossing the Bay. Yes, youngsters have made the more than mile-long swim from Alcatraz to Angel Island. But with the strong currents and frigid Bay water, the odds were clearly against these men.
Three if by land. The plan, according to our prison informant, was to steal clothes and a car once on land. But we never uncovered any thefts like this despite the high-profile nature of the case.
Family ties. If the escapees had help, we couldn’t substantiate it. The families appeared unlikely to even have the financial means to provide any real support.
Missing in action. For the 17 years we worked on the case, no credible evidence emerged to suggest the men were still alive, either in the U.S. or overseas.
The mystery continues. We officially closed our case on December 31, 1979, and turned over responsibility to the U.S. Marshals Service, which continues to investigate in the unlikely event the trio is still alive. If you have ANY leads or information to share, please call Deputy U.S. Marshal Michael Dyke of the Northern District of California at (415) 436-7677.
It’s one mystery we’d all like to solve.
Solving the mystery. Plenty of people have gone to great lengths to prove that the men COULD have survived, but the question remains: did they? Our investigation at the time concluded otherwise, for the following reasons.
Crossing the Bay. Yes, youngsters have made the more than mile-long swim from Alcatraz to Angel Island. But with the strong currents and frigid Bay water, the odds were clearly against these men.
Three if by land. The plan, according to our prison informant, was to steal clothes and a car once on land. But we never uncovered any thefts like this despite the high-profile nature of the case.
Family ties. If the escapees had help, we couldn’t substantiate it. The families appeared unlikely to even have the financial means to provide any real support.
Missing in action. For the 17 years we worked on the case, no credible evidence emerged to suggest the men were still alive, either in the U.S. or overseas.
The mystery continues. We officially closed our case on December 31, 1979, and turned over responsibility to the U.S. Marshals Service, which continues to investigate in the unlikely event the trio is still alive. If you have ANY leads or information to share, please call Deputy U.S. Marshal Michael Dyke of the Northern District of California at (415) 436-7677.
It’s one mystery we’d all like to solve.
al capone at alcatraz
Al Capone still remains one of the most notable residents of “the Rock.” In a memoir written by Warden James Johnston, he reminisced about the intensity of public interest around Capone's imprisonment, stating that he was continually barraged with questions about “Big Al.” Each day newspapers and press flooded his office with phone calls, wanting to know everything from how Capone liked the weather on “the Rock,” to what job assignment he was currently holding.
ruth ellis & execution
On July 13, 1955, famed British hangman Albert Pierrepoint slipped the noose around the neck of Ruth Ellis.
The execution took just 12 seconds, but her body hung for an hour. Ellis’ execution marked the last time a woman was executed for murder in Britain. Her trial and execution gained national attention, not just because of her gender, but due to her unusual behavior throughout the ordeal. To observers, it seemed as if Ellis had a death wish, and she made no attempt to defend the slaying of David Blakely.
Ellis was born Ruth Nielsen in Rhyl, Wales on October 9, 1926, and reportedly suffered abuse and attempted rape at the hands of her father. She left school at 14 and worked as a waitress before her family moved to London in 1941. Three years later, Ruth became pregnant with the child of a Canadian soldier who abandoned her soon afterward.
By 1950, she worked as a hostess in nightclubs and took up prostitution. Ellis became pregnant with the child of a customer and had an abortion (illegal at the time) before going back to work as soon as possible. In November 1950, she married George Ellis; he was a violent and jealous alcoholic who beat Ruth often. She had a child by George in 1951, but he too abandoned her and the baby.
In 1953, Ellis became manager of the Little Club and fell for the man that would define her life, David Blakely. He was from a wealthy family, and he moved in with her even though he was engaged to another woman. It became an open relationship, and a violent one too. Blakely beat Ellis often, and in early 1955, he punched her in the stomach and caused a miscarriage.
Blakely was good friends with the Findlater family; they despised Ellis because they thought she was ‘common.’ Over Easter Weekend 1955, Blakely was building a race car with Art Findlater, and he refused to see Ellis as he was fed up with her constant desperate phone calls. She wrongly believed he was having an affair, although he had seen other women during their relationship. Ellis was not blameless either; she had an affair with Desmond Cullen, and on the evening of April 10, 1955, she persuaded him to drive her to Hampstead where she waited for her other lover.
Blakely emerged at 9:30 pm with his friend Clive Gunnell and ignored Ellis as she called out to him. She pulled out a Smith & Wesson and shot him before following him to his car and shooting him a second time. Blakely collapsed on the ground and Ellis emptied the remaining four bullets into him. One of the bullets was fired so close to the victim’s back that it left powder burns on his skin.
Various people emerged from the pubs in the surrounding area, and an off-duty policeman arrested Ellis. She made no attempt to escape and appeared calm and relaxed when detained in Hampstead police station. Immediately after the shooting, she apparently asked Gunnell to call the police.
Ellis had no legal representation at the police station or at the special hearing at Hampstead Magistrates Court on April 11. Her calmness was striking; her guilt wasn’t in doubt, nor was the fact that the murder was cold and calculating. At the police station after the killing, she said: “When I put the gun in my bag, I intended to find David and shoot him.” At the Magistrates Court, she said: “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. I will hang.”
As she awaited trial, the prison guards noted that she was quiet and cooperative, and acted as if she was attending a tea party rather than sitting in a penitentiary. While in jail, her black hair roots started to show and, against her lawyer’s advice, she dyed it platinum blonde again. He was concerned that having such a striking appearance would turn the jury against her.
The trial took place at London’s Old Bailey on June 20, 1955. It was an open and shut case; not least because Ellis admitted her guilt. When asked what she intended to do when she shot Blakely at close range, she replied: “It’s obvious when I shot him that I intended to kill him.” The jury deliberated for just 20 minutes before delivering a guilty verdict. Unlike in the United States, there was no ‘degree’ of murder so, in those days, an individual convicted of murder received a death sentence.
Ellis drank a bit of brandy on the morning of her execution, July 13, 1955. She was condemned to hang at 9 a.m., and as always, hangman Albert Pierrepoint completed his duties with no trouble. When the body was taken down at 10 a.m., an autopsy was conducted, and it confirmed that the 28-year-old died almost immediately.
Attempts at a posthumous pardon were rejected, but the question remains: Did Ruth Ellis deserve to die? There is no doubt that she murdered David Blakely in cold blood, but the modern-day justice system might have seen things a little differently (even allowing for the abolition of the death penalty in the UK).
Although Ellis was deemed ‘legally sane’ in a prison examination, it seems certain that she suffered from post-traumatic stress. Remember, Ellis was abused throughout her life, and the brutality she suffered at the hands of David Blakely was probably the final straw.
Ellis didn’t help her cause; in fact, she seemed determined to die. At no stage did she present herself as a victim, she admitted her guilt and showed a calm, almost cold exterior that made it impossible to feel sympathy for her.
Her behavior in prison was especially odd; it was almost as if she had no idea what was happening. As for her execution, Pierrepoint remarked: “I have seen some brave men die, but nobody braver than her.”
If she committed the crime today, Ellis likely wouldn’t receive a life sentence because ‘diminished responsibility’ would be a plausible defense in her case. International pressure placed on Britain, along with a petition in the UK, led to the suspension of the death penalty in 1965 and its abolition in 1969.
The execution took just 12 seconds, but her body hung for an hour. Ellis’ execution marked the last time a woman was executed for murder in Britain. Her trial and execution gained national attention, not just because of her gender, but due to her unusual behavior throughout the ordeal. To observers, it seemed as if Ellis had a death wish, and she made no attempt to defend the slaying of David Blakely.
Ellis was born Ruth Nielsen in Rhyl, Wales on October 9, 1926, and reportedly suffered abuse and attempted rape at the hands of her father. She left school at 14 and worked as a waitress before her family moved to London in 1941. Three years later, Ruth became pregnant with the child of a Canadian soldier who abandoned her soon afterward.
By 1950, she worked as a hostess in nightclubs and took up prostitution. Ellis became pregnant with the child of a customer and had an abortion (illegal at the time) before going back to work as soon as possible. In November 1950, she married George Ellis; he was a violent and jealous alcoholic who beat Ruth often. She had a child by George in 1951, but he too abandoned her and the baby.
In 1953, Ellis became manager of the Little Club and fell for the man that would define her life, David Blakely. He was from a wealthy family, and he moved in with her even though he was engaged to another woman. It became an open relationship, and a violent one too. Blakely beat Ellis often, and in early 1955, he punched her in the stomach and caused a miscarriage.
Blakely was good friends with the Findlater family; they despised Ellis because they thought she was ‘common.’ Over Easter Weekend 1955, Blakely was building a race car with Art Findlater, and he refused to see Ellis as he was fed up with her constant desperate phone calls. She wrongly believed he was having an affair, although he had seen other women during their relationship. Ellis was not blameless either; she had an affair with Desmond Cullen, and on the evening of April 10, 1955, she persuaded him to drive her to Hampstead where she waited for her other lover.
Blakely emerged at 9:30 pm with his friend Clive Gunnell and ignored Ellis as she called out to him. She pulled out a Smith & Wesson and shot him before following him to his car and shooting him a second time. Blakely collapsed on the ground and Ellis emptied the remaining four bullets into him. One of the bullets was fired so close to the victim’s back that it left powder burns on his skin.
Various people emerged from the pubs in the surrounding area, and an off-duty policeman arrested Ellis. She made no attempt to escape and appeared calm and relaxed when detained in Hampstead police station. Immediately after the shooting, she apparently asked Gunnell to call the police.
Ellis had no legal representation at the police station or at the special hearing at Hampstead Magistrates Court on April 11. Her calmness was striking; her guilt wasn’t in doubt, nor was the fact that the murder was cold and calculating. At the police station after the killing, she said: “When I put the gun in my bag, I intended to find David and shoot him.” At the Magistrates Court, she said: “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. I will hang.”
As she awaited trial, the prison guards noted that she was quiet and cooperative, and acted as if she was attending a tea party rather than sitting in a penitentiary. While in jail, her black hair roots started to show and, against her lawyer’s advice, she dyed it platinum blonde again. He was concerned that having such a striking appearance would turn the jury against her.
The trial took place at London’s Old Bailey on June 20, 1955. It was an open and shut case; not least because Ellis admitted her guilt. When asked what she intended to do when she shot Blakely at close range, she replied: “It’s obvious when I shot him that I intended to kill him.” The jury deliberated for just 20 minutes before delivering a guilty verdict. Unlike in the United States, there was no ‘degree’ of murder so, in those days, an individual convicted of murder received a death sentence.
Ellis drank a bit of brandy on the morning of her execution, July 13, 1955. She was condemned to hang at 9 a.m., and as always, hangman Albert Pierrepoint completed his duties with no trouble. When the body was taken down at 10 a.m., an autopsy was conducted, and it confirmed that the 28-year-old died almost immediately.
Attempts at a posthumous pardon were rejected, but the question remains: Did Ruth Ellis deserve to die? There is no doubt that she murdered David Blakely in cold blood, but the modern-day justice system might have seen things a little differently (even allowing for the abolition of the death penalty in the UK).
Although Ellis was deemed ‘legally sane’ in a prison examination, it seems certain that she suffered from post-traumatic stress. Remember, Ellis was abused throughout her life, and the brutality she suffered at the hands of David Blakely was probably the final straw.
Ellis didn’t help her cause; in fact, she seemed determined to die. At no stage did she present herself as a victim, she admitted her guilt and showed a calm, almost cold exterior that made it impossible to feel sympathy for her.
Her behavior in prison was especially odd; it was almost as if she had no idea what was happening. As for her execution, Pierrepoint remarked: “I have seen some brave men die, but nobody braver than her.”
If she committed the crime today, Ellis likely wouldn’t receive a life sentence because ‘diminished responsibility’ would be a plausible defense in her case. International pressure placed on Britain, along with a petition in the UK, led to the suspension of the death penalty in 1965 and its abolition in 1969.
strangeways prison riot 1990
The 1990 Strangeways Prison riot was a 25-day prison riot and rooftop protest at Strangeways Prison in Manchester, England. The riot began on 1 April 1990 when prisoners took control of the prison chapel, and the riot quickly spread throughout most of the prison. The riot and rooftop protest ended on 25 April when the final five prisoners were removed from the rooftop, making it the longest prison riot in British penal history. One prisoner was killed during the riot, and 147 prison officers and 47 prisoners were injured. Much of the prison was damaged or destroyed with the cost of repairs coming to £90 million.
The riot sparked a series of disturbances in prisons across England, Scotland and Wales, resulting in the British government announcing a public inquiry into the riots headed by Lord Woolf. The resulting Woolf Report concluded that conditions in the prison had been intolerable, and recommended major reform of the prison system. The Guardian newspaper described the report as a blueprint for the restoration of "decency and justice into jails where conditions had become intolerable".
The riot sparked a series of disturbances in prisons across England, Scotland and Wales, resulting in the British government announcing a public inquiry into the riots headed by Lord Woolf. The resulting Woolf Report concluded that conditions in the prison had been intolerable, and recommended major reform of the prison system. The Guardian newspaper described the report as a blueprint for the restoration of "decency and justice into jails where conditions had become intolerable".
the maze prison escape
Maze Prison , one of the highest security facilities in Britain, became in 1983 under attack from the organized mob of prisoners that forever marked the prison history of that country. During the ensuing struggle, rioters that consisted mostly from the members of paramilitary IRA soldiers managed to kill and wound several prison guards, hijack prison meals lorry and escape to the freedom in the largest prison break that England ever saw. In the following few weeks 18 of them were recaptured by English officials, but other 18 managed to successfully escape to freedom.
Maze Prison (also known as Long Kesh) was located in the former Royal Air Force station of Long Kesh, in the outskirts of the Northern Ireland town Lisburn, some 9 miles southwest of Belfast. During its active years between 1971 and 2000, this prison became prominent role in recent Irish history, most notably 1981 inmate hunger strike that resulted in death of Bobby Sands, famous Officer Commanding of the Provisional IRA prisoners. His death from malnourishment became one of the most publicized moments in the IRA history, with over 100.000 people attending his funeral in Belfast.
As the tensions inside the prison intensified over the years, IRA prisoners (most of them imprisoned for murder or bombing that killed innocent civilians) finally executed their escape plan on 25 September 1983.
Over the previous months they slowly identified weak security points in what many believed was the most secure prison in Europe. With the help of 6 smuggled handguns, they took control of the H72:30 pm, managing to prevent the raising of the alarm my injuring several guards. Twenty minutes later, entire prison block was under the command of the prisoners, without alarm being activated. To maintain their plan, prisoners took the guard uniforms and remained in prison until 3:25 pm when the unsuspecting food truck entered the H7 block. After they have secured the vehicle, 38 prisoners and truck driver that was held in gunpoint started their way to the main gate. 10 prisoners dressed in uniforms exited the truck and managed to take control of the main prison gatehouse, but this time guards managed to sound alarm. In the following 20 minutes prisoners became under attack from the guards, which produces several casualties on both sides. In the following gun battle total of 35 prisoners managed to escape through the gates of Maze Prison, thus making it the biggest prison escape in British history and biggest in Europe since the end of World War II.
Picture Of HM Prison Maze Escape Route
During the escape 19 prison officers were injured (13 beaten, four stabber, two shot) and James Ferris after suffering a heart attack.
Prisoners that managed to escape the prison were welcomed by the IRA members that helped them to hide from authorities. In the following media coverage, IRA celebrated this event as "The Great Escape" that heavily boosted their moral. On the other side, English government greatly increased their security measures on all prisons that held IRA members.
Maze Prison (also known as Long Kesh) was located in the former Royal Air Force station of Long Kesh, in the outskirts of the Northern Ireland town Lisburn, some 9 miles southwest of Belfast. During its active years between 1971 and 2000, this prison became prominent role in recent Irish history, most notably 1981 inmate hunger strike that resulted in death of Bobby Sands, famous Officer Commanding of the Provisional IRA prisoners. His death from malnourishment became one of the most publicized moments in the IRA history, with over 100.000 people attending his funeral in Belfast.
As the tensions inside the prison intensified over the years, IRA prisoners (most of them imprisoned for murder or bombing that killed innocent civilians) finally executed their escape plan on 25 September 1983.
Over the previous months they slowly identified weak security points in what many believed was the most secure prison in Europe. With the help of 6 smuggled handguns, they took control of the H72:30 pm, managing to prevent the raising of the alarm my injuring several guards. Twenty minutes later, entire prison block was under the command of the prisoners, without alarm being activated. To maintain their plan, prisoners took the guard uniforms and remained in prison until 3:25 pm when the unsuspecting food truck entered the H7 block. After they have secured the vehicle, 38 prisoners and truck driver that was held in gunpoint started their way to the main gate. 10 prisoners dressed in uniforms exited the truck and managed to take control of the main prison gatehouse, but this time guards managed to sound alarm. In the following 20 minutes prisoners became under attack from the guards, which produces several casualties on both sides. In the following gun battle total of 35 prisoners managed to escape through the gates of Maze Prison, thus making it the biggest prison escape in British history and biggest in Europe since the end of World War II.
Picture Of HM Prison Maze Escape Route
During the escape 19 prison officers were injured (13 beaten, four stabber, two shot) and James Ferris after suffering a heart attack.
Prisoners that managed to escape the prison were welcomed by the IRA members that helped them to hide from authorities. In the following media coverage, IRA celebrated this event as "The Great Escape" that heavily boosted their moral. On the other side, English government greatly increased their security measures on all prisons that held IRA members.
Libby Prison Escape
Libby PrisonThe Libby Prison Escape was one of the most famous (and successful) prison breaks during the American Civil War.
Overnight between February 9 and 10, 1864, more than 100 imprisoned Union soldiers broke out of their prisoner of war building at Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia. Of the 109 escapees, 59 succeeded in reaching Union lines, 48 were recaptured, and 2 drowned in the nearby James River.
Libby Prison encompassed an entire city block in Richmond. To the north lay Carey Street, connecting the prison area to the rest of the city. On the south side ran the James River.The prison itself stood three stories above ground with a basement exposed on the river side. Living conditions were extremely bad; the food, sometimes lacking altogether, was poor and sanitation practically nonexistent. Thousands died there.
The prisoners managed to break in to the basement area known as “rat hell” which was no longer used due to rat infestations, and dig a tunnel. After 17 days of digging, they succeeded in breaking through to a 50-foot vacant lot on the eastern side of the prison, resurfacing beneath a tobacco shed inside the grounds of the nearby Kerr’s Warehouse. When Col. Rose finally broke through to the other side, he told his men that the “Underground Railroad to God’s Country was open!”The officers escaped the prison in groups of two and three on the night of February 9, 1864.
Once within the tobacco shed, the men collected inside the walled warehouse yard and simply strolled out the front gate. The tunnel provided enough distance from the prison to stealthily subvert those jurisdictional lines and allow prisoners to slip into the dark streets unchallenged.
Overnight between February 9 and 10, 1864, more than 100 imprisoned Union soldiers broke out of their prisoner of war building at Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia. Of the 109 escapees, 59 succeeded in reaching Union lines, 48 were recaptured, and 2 drowned in the nearby James River.
Libby Prison encompassed an entire city block in Richmond. To the north lay Carey Street, connecting the prison area to the rest of the city. On the south side ran the James River.The prison itself stood three stories above ground with a basement exposed on the river side. Living conditions were extremely bad; the food, sometimes lacking altogether, was poor and sanitation practically nonexistent. Thousands died there.
The prisoners managed to break in to the basement area known as “rat hell” which was no longer used due to rat infestations, and dig a tunnel. After 17 days of digging, they succeeded in breaking through to a 50-foot vacant lot on the eastern side of the prison, resurfacing beneath a tobacco shed inside the grounds of the nearby Kerr’s Warehouse. When Col. Rose finally broke through to the other side, he told his men that the “Underground Railroad to God’s Country was open!”The officers escaped the prison in groups of two and three on the night of February 9, 1864.
Once within the tobacco shed, the men collected inside the walled warehouse yard and simply strolled out the front gate. The tunnel provided enough distance from the prison to stealthily subvert those jurisdictional lines and allow prisoners to slip into the dark streets unchallenged.
the great escape
Stalag Luft III was a German Air Force prisoner-of-war camp during World War II that housed captured air force personnel.
In January 1943, Roger Bushell led a plot for a major escape from the camp. The plan was to dig three deep tunnels, codenamed “Tom,” “Dick,” and “Harry.” Each of the tunnel entrances was carefully selected to ensure they were undetectable by the camp guards. In order to keep the tunnels from being detected by the perimeter microphones, they were very deep — about 9 metres (30 ft) below the surface.
The tunnels were very small, only two feet square (about 0.37 m²), though larger chambers were dug to house the air pump, a workshop, and staging posts along each tunnel.
The sandy walls of the tunnels were shored up with pieces of wood scavenged from all over the camp.
As the tunnels grew longer, a number of technical innovations made the job easier and safer. One important issue was ensuring that the person digging had enough oxygen to breathe and keep his lamps lit. A pump was built to push fresh air along the ducting into the tunnels.
Later, electric lighting was installed and hooked into the camp’s electrical grid. The tunnellers also installed small rail car systems for moving sand more quickly, much like the systems used in old mining operations. The rails were key to moving 130 tons of material in a five-month period; they also reduced the time taken for tunnellers to reach the digging faces.
“Harry” was finally ready in March 1944, but by that time the American prisoners, some of whom had worked extremely hard in all the effort to dig the tunnels, were moved to another compound.
The prisoners had to wait about a week for a moonless night so that they could leave under the cover of complete darkness. Finally, on Friday, March 24, the escape attempt began. Unfortunately for the prisoners, the tunnel had come up short. It had been planned that the tunnel would reach into a nearby forest, but the first man out emerged just short of the tree line. Despite this, 76 men crawled through the tunnel to initial freedom, even through an air raid during which the camp’s (and the tunnel’s) electric lights were shut off.
Finally, at 5 AM on March 25, the 77th man was seen emerging from the tunnel by one of the guards.
Out of the 76 men only 3 evaded capture. Fifty men were killed and the rest were captured and sent back.
In January 1943, Roger Bushell led a plot for a major escape from the camp. The plan was to dig three deep tunnels, codenamed “Tom,” “Dick,” and “Harry.” Each of the tunnel entrances was carefully selected to ensure they were undetectable by the camp guards. In order to keep the tunnels from being detected by the perimeter microphones, they were very deep — about 9 metres (30 ft) below the surface.
The tunnels were very small, only two feet square (about 0.37 m²), though larger chambers were dug to house the air pump, a workshop, and staging posts along each tunnel.
The sandy walls of the tunnels were shored up with pieces of wood scavenged from all over the camp.
As the tunnels grew longer, a number of technical innovations made the job easier and safer. One important issue was ensuring that the person digging had enough oxygen to breathe and keep his lamps lit. A pump was built to push fresh air along the ducting into the tunnels.
Later, electric lighting was installed and hooked into the camp’s electrical grid. The tunnellers also installed small rail car systems for moving sand more quickly, much like the systems used in old mining operations. The rails were key to moving 130 tons of material in a five-month period; they also reduced the time taken for tunnellers to reach the digging faces.
“Harry” was finally ready in March 1944, but by that time the American prisoners, some of whom had worked extremely hard in all the effort to dig the tunnels, were moved to another compound.
The prisoners had to wait about a week for a moonless night so that they could leave under the cover of complete darkness. Finally, on Friday, March 24, the escape attempt began. Unfortunately for the prisoners, the tunnel had come up short. It had been planned that the tunnel would reach into a nearby forest, but the first man out emerged just short of the tree line. Despite this, 76 men crawled through the tunnel to initial freedom, even through an air raid during which the camp’s (and the tunnel’s) electric lights were shut off.
Finally, at 5 AM on March 25, the 77th man was seen emerging from the tunnel by one of the guards.
Out of the 76 men only 3 evaded capture. Fifty men were killed and the rest were captured and sent back.
gary gilmore executioN
Gary Gilmore was born in Texas in 1940. His father was an abusive alcoholic and a con man whose violence and contempt for the law was passed on to his son. After committing a series of escalating petty crimes in Oregon during his teens, Gilmore was sent to reform school and later served his first stretch in prison. By the age of 35, he had spent half his life incarcerated. After receiving a conditional release in May 1976, Gilmore moved in with a cousin in Provo, Utah, and briefly led a normal life. However, two months later he killed two men in cold blood during separate robberies and was arrested shortly thereafter. Found guilty of first-degree murder in his October 1976 trial, Gilmore chose not to appeal his death sentence. His case became a rallying point for opponents of the death penalty, and his execution was delayed for a time. He was executed by a firing squad in January 1977.
Born Into Trouble
Gary Mark Gilmore was born on December 4, 1940, in Stonewall, Texas. One of four children born to petty con man Frank and his wife Bessie, Gilmore endured a troubled childhood. The family moved constantly about the country while Frank plied his criminal trade, creating an unstable environment exacerbated by his alcoholism and physically abusive rages.
By the time Gary was 10, they were living in Portland, Oregon, and Gary was beginning to show signs of trouble. Having absorbed his father’s disregard for the law, and deeply scarred by his explosions of violence, Gary himself set off down a criminal path, committing various petty crimes that increased in seriousness over time. When he was in his teens he was arrested for auto theft and spent time at the MacLaren Reform School for Boys, eventually being held at the Oregon State Correctional Institution as an adult.
A Life of Crime
But Gilmore’s punishment did nothing to deter him from future offenses. On the contrary, his crimes only grew more serious in nature, escalating to armed robbery and assault, and he was soon spending as much time in prison as out of it. Yet despite his propensity for violence, Gilmore was also extremely intelligent and devoted many hours of his incarceration to writing poetry and creating artwork. In 1972 these talents earned Gilmore a conditional release so he could attend art classes at a community college, but he quickly committed another robbery and was sentenced to nine more years.
While serving his time in a maximum-security facility in Illinois, Gilmore began a correspondence with his cousin Brenda Nicol, who became convinced that Gilmore deserved a second chance. In 1976, he was again conditionally released, this time to live with Nicol in Provo, where she would help find him work and give him the support he needed to reform. However, after a brief attempt at a life on the straight and narrow, Gilmore fell back into his old habits and began a downward descent that would spiral out of control.
Two Murders
While living in Provo, the 35-year-old Gilmore began a relationship with 19-year-old Nicole Baker Barrett, but when his behavior became increasingly threatening, she left him a few months later. Their split only served to underscore Gilmore’s inability to adjust to life on the outside.
On July 19, 1976, Gilmore robbed gas station attendant Max Jensen at gunpoint in Orem, Utah. Despite that fact that Jensen complied with his demands, Gilmore shot him in the head twice and killed him. The very next day in Provo, Gilmore robbed motel manager Ben Bushnell, who, like Jensen, complied with Gilmore’s demands but was shot and killed nonetheless. Gilmore accidentally shot his hand during the incident, and when the mechanic who was repairing Gilmore’s truck noticed the fresh wound, he notified the police. Seeking help with his injury, Gilmore contacted his cousin, but she called the police as well. Gilmore was arrested on the edge of town shortly thereafter.
Execution by Firing Squad
Though he admitted killing both Jensen and Bushnell, due to the lack of evidence in Jensen’s murder Gilmore was only tried for the murder of Bushnell. The case went to trial on October 5, 1976, and lasted just two days. After a brief deliberation, the jury found Gilmore guilty of first-degree murder, and he was sentenced to death. Given a choice in the mode of his execution—firing squad or hanging—Gilmore opted to be shot. The sentence was to be carried out the following month.
When Gilmore’s lawyers subsequently attempted to appeal his case, Gilmore fired them, choosing instead to accept his fate. However, his refusal to appeal galvanized the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to make strenuous attempts to stop the execution, on behalf of the many prisoners on death row throughout the United States.
During the ensuing legal wrangling, Gilmore twice attempted suicide, and then went on a hunger strike in protest of the delay. When his mother tried to intervene on his behalf, he also had a letter published in the press to ask her to stop. On January 17, 1977, Gilmore was executed by a volunteer firing squad in the Utah State Prison in Draper.
Impact
Gilmore was the first man to be executed in the United States in 10 years, and the first after the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty. Since 1977, there have been more than 1,400 executions carried out in the United States. Gilmore’s story and the events surrounding his execution served as the subject of Norman Mailer’s Pulitzer Prize–winning book The Executioner's Song, published in 1979. A TV-movie adaption of the book starring Tommy Lee Jones as Gilmore and Rosanna Arquette as Barrett was released in 1982.
Born Into Trouble
Gary Mark Gilmore was born on December 4, 1940, in Stonewall, Texas. One of four children born to petty con man Frank and his wife Bessie, Gilmore endured a troubled childhood. The family moved constantly about the country while Frank plied his criminal trade, creating an unstable environment exacerbated by his alcoholism and physically abusive rages.
By the time Gary was 10, they were living in Portland, Oregon, and Gary was beginning to show signs of trouble. Having absorbed his father’s disregard for the law, and deeply scarred by his explosions of violence, Gary himself set off down a criminal path, committing various petty crimes that increased in seriousness over time. When he was in his teens he was arrested for auto theft and spent time at the MacLaren Reform School for Boys, eventually being held at the Oregon State Correctional Institution as an adult.
A Life of Crime
But Gilmore’s punishment did nothing to deter him from future offenses. On the contrary, his crimes only grew more serious in nature, escalating to armed robbery and assault, and he was soon spending as much time in prison as out of it. Yet despite his propensity for violence, Gilmore was also extremely intelligent and devoted many hours of his incarceration to writing poetry and creating artwork. In 1972 these talents earned Gilmore a conditional release so he could attend art classes at a community college, but he quickly committed another robbery and was sentenced to nine more years.
While serving his time in a maximum-security facility in Illinois, Gilmore began a correspondence with his cousin Brenda Nicol, who became convinced that Gilmore deserved a second chance. In 1976, he was again conditionally released, this time to live with Nicol in Provo, where she would help find him work and give him the support he needed to reform. However, after a brief attempt at a life on the straight and narrow, Gilmore fell back into his old habits and began a downward descent that would spiral out of control.
Two Murders
While living in Provo, the 35-year-old Gilmore began a relationship with 19-year-old Nicole Baker Barrett, but when his behavior became increasingly threatening, she left him a few months later. Their split only served to underscore Gilmore’s inability to adjust to life on the outside.
On July 19, 1976, Gilmore robbed gas station attendant Max Jensen at gunpoint in Orem, Utah. Despite that fact that Jensen complied with his demands, Gilmore shot him in the head twice and killed him. The very next day in Provo, Gilmore robbed motel manager Ben Bushnell, who, like Jensen, complied with Gilmore’s demands but was shot and killed nonetheless. Gilmore accidentally shot his hand during the incident, and when the mechanic who was repairing Gilmore’s truck noticed the fresh wound, he notified the police. Seeking help with his injury, Gilmore contacted his cousin, but she called the police as well. Gilmore was arrested on the edge of town shortly thereafter.
Execution by Firing Squad
Though he admitted killing both Jensen and Bushnell, due to the lack of evidence in Jensen’s murder Gilmore was only tried for the murder of Bushnell. The case went to trial on October 5, 1976, and lasted just two days. After a brief deliberation, the jury found Gilmore guilty of first-degree murder, and he was sentenced to death. Given a choice in the mode of his execution—firing squad or hanging—Gilmore opted to be shot. The sentence was to be carried out the following month.
When Gilmore’s lawyers subsequently attempted to appeal his case, Gilmore fired them, choosing instead to accept his fate. However, his refusal to appeal galvanized the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to make strenuous attempts to stop the execution, on behalf of the many prisoners on death row throughout the United States.
During the ensuing legal wrangling, Gilmore twice attempted suicide, and then went on a hunger strike in protest of the delay. When his mother tried to intervene on his behalf, he also had a letter published in the press to ask her to stop. On January 17, 1977, Gilmore was executed by a volunteer firing squad in the Utah State Prison in Draper.
Impact
Gilmore was the first man to be executed in the United States in 10 years, and the first after the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty. Since 1977, there have been more than 1,400 executions carried out in the United States. Gilmore’s story and the events surrounding his execution served as the subject of Norman Mailer’s Pulitzer Prize–winning book The Executioner's Song, published in 1979. A TV-movie adaption of the book starring Tommy Lee Jones as Gilmore and Rosanna Arquette as Barrett was released in 1982.
Mcvicar
The man who escaped Durham’s E-Wing
PRISON escapes were once a much more common occurrence than they are today - and in the 1950s and 1960s they were a constant problem.
Durham Prison was seen as one of the most secure, but even it let a few prisoners slip through its fingers.
The old Durham Jail, a fortified gateway in Saddler Street, was a formidable prison, with notorious conditions, but not such a formidable reputation when it came to preventing jailbreaks.
One of the first occurred in February 1737 when two prisoners - John Dodsworth and John Penman - "viciously knocked down" the underkeeper of the jail. In March 1787, two smugglers escaped from the same jail by means of a rope.
When the new prison opened at Elvet in 1820, it proved just as hard to break. There were occasional escapes, but it was considered one of the strongest in Britain for many decades. In October 1961, The Northern Echo noted that Durham's escape record was second to none and that there had only been two escapes in the previous six years.
One of these escapes occurred earlier in 1961 on March 14, when Ronnie Heslop, otherwise known as "Rubberbones" or "Houdini" Heslop, broke out of the prison.
Heslop, a native of Page Bank, lived at Ushaw Moor and excavated his way free from the prison over a period of four days using a teaspoon and kitchen knife after removing a ventilation grill from the cell floor.
Heslop, a serving soldier, was awaiting trial at the Quarter sessions of the Assize Court (now Crown Court) and jumped down from the roof of this very court during his escape. He swam the river twice as he made his getaway, in a feat emulated by Durham's famous escapee John McVicar seven years later.
Heslop had been charged with stealing £262 from a Spennymoor lemonade factory and attempting to blow a safe at the Ministry of Labour in the same town. He was on the run for six weeks before recapture.
Heslop's escape made the front page of the Northern Echo, but the paper's main story focused on political events in South Africa.
Escapes were seemingly not that significant an event. In fact, the night after Heslop's escape, there were escapes from Thorp Arch Prison, in Yorkshire, and at Wandsworth, which experienced a further escape on March 20.
With such frequent escapes, it is no wonder Durham's six-year record was seen as impressive.
In October 1961, the Government started to take action against prison escapes and decided Durham would hold some of the country's most difficult prisoners and particularly those prone to escape.
A specially-prepared wing, described as "a prison within a prison" was developed. It would become the famous E-Wing and was thought to be escape-proof.
One man proved otherwise. His name was John McVicar.
McVicar, a Londoner once considered the most dangerous man in Britain, was an armed robber who escaped from a coach taking him to Parkhurst Prison in 1966. He was on the run for four months and on recapture was taken to Durham Prison. He wasn't in for long as, on October 29, 1968, he achieved the unthinkable, an escape from E-Wing.
McVicar chipped his way through the brick wall of a shower room, replacing bricks with papier mache replicas.
After working his way into a ventilation shaft he entered the exercise yard and made his escape over the roof. Two convicts who attempted to leave with him were captured immediately.
After jumping the prison wall, McVicar found himself in unfamiliar surroundings, but in his autobiography, McVicar by Himself, he gives a heart-racing description of the streets and features that he encountered during his night-time escape.
With its winding river, numerous bridges and narrow streets, Durham can be disorientating to the stranger, so we cannot be certain of McVicar's route, but he certainly ran past the police station close to to the prison.
He does not seem to have crossed a bridge at any point but worked his way along a street, reaching a church and graveyard. From here he swam across the river, reaching gardens at the rear of what seemed to be a college. The church would seem to have been St Oswald's Church. He says he walked along a landscaped riverside walk for perhaps half-a-mile until his path was blocked by a factory area.
The riverside area near Framwellgate Bridge would have fitted this description in the 1960s. At this point, McVicar swam along the river, in the direction of the current, briefly encountering a rat sitting on an exposed pipe. The pipe and occasional rat can still be seen here today.
McVicar slept the night hiding on some derelict land perhaps at Framwellgate Waterside or maybe across the river near the Sands.
From here, he recalls observing the time on a cinema clock that was probably the Essoldo in North Road.
In the morning, McVicar climbed through some building works and entered a narrow cobbled street.
He mentions what he thought to be a bowling alley with crowds of youngsters (perhaps what was then the ice rink).
Whatever his course, within halfa- mile he was in open countryside to the east and it was heading in this direction that the police last reported seeing him. Roadblocks were set up that caused tailbacks stretching towards Sunderland but McVicar was wellaway from the roads.
McVicar worked his way through the open countryside around Plawsworth and finally arrived in Chester-le-Street where he contacted friends in London from a call box. A number of locals had spotted him in the area and the police set up a search headquarters at Chester Moor, but he was never found in County Durham.
He had slept the night in a car parked in a suburban garage before he was picked up in another car by friends who took him back to London. He remained on the run until captured in 1970.
McVicar was finally released from prison in 1978. Two years later his life and escape from Durham became the subject of a film starring Roger Daltrey. It was simply entitled McVicar.
PRISON escapes were once a much more common occurrence than they are today - and in the 1950s and 1960s they were a constant problem.
Durham Prison was seen as one of the most secure, but even it let a few prisoners slip through its fingers.
The old Durham Jail, a fortified gateway in Saddler Street, was a formidable prison, with notorious conditions, but not such a formidable reputation when it came to preventing jailbreaks.
One of the first occurred in February 1737 when two prisoners - John Dodsworth and John Penman - "viciously knocked down" the underkeeper of the jail. In March 1787, two smugglers escaped from the same jail by means of a rope.
When the new prison opened at Elvet in 1820, it proved just as hard to break. There were occasional escapes, but it was considered one of the strongest in Britain for many decades. In October 1961, The Northern Echo noted that Durham's escape record was second to none and that there had only been two escapes in the previous six years.
One of these escapes occurred earlier in 1961 on March 14, when Ronnie Heslop, otherwise known as "Rubberbones" or "Houdini" Heslop, broke out of the prison.
Heslop, a native of Page Bank, lived at Ushaw Moor and excavated his way free from the prison over a period of four days using a teaspoon and kitchen knife after removing a ventilation grill from the cell floor.
Heslop, a serving soldier, was awaiting trial at the Quarter sessions of the Assize Court (now Crown Court) and jumped down from the roof of this very court during his escape. He swam the river twice as he made his getaway, in a feat emulated by Durham's famous escapee John McVicar seven years later.
Heslop had been charged with stealing £262 from a Spennymoor lemonade factory and attempting to blow a safe at the Ministry of Labour in the same town. He was on the run for six weeks before recapture.
Heslop's escape made the front page of the Northern Echo, but the paper's main story focused on political events in South Africa.
Escapes were seemingly not that significant an event. In fact, the night after Heslop's escape, there were escapes from Thorp Arch Prison, in Yorkshire, and at Wandsworth, which experienced a further escape on March 20.
With such frequent escapes, it is no wonder Durham's six-year record was seen as impressive.
In October 1961, the Government started to take action against prison escapes and decided Durham would hold some of the country's most difficult prisoners and particularly those prone to escape.
A specially-prepared wing, described as "a prison within a prison" was developed. It would become the famous E-Wing and was thought to be escape-proof.
One man proved otherwise. His name was John McVicar.
McVicar, a Londoner once considered the most dangerous man in Britain, was an armed robber who escaped from a coach taking him to Parkhurst Prison in 1966. He was on the run for four months and on recapture was taken to Durham Prison. He wasn't in for long as, on October 29, 1968, he achieved the unthinkable, an escape from E-Wing.
McVicar chipped his way through the brick wall of a shower room, replacing bricks with papier mache replicas.
After working his way into a ventilation shaft he entered the exercise yard and made his escape over the roof. Two convicts who attempted to leave with him were captured immediately.
After jumping the prison wall, McVicar found himself in unfamiliar surroundings, but in his autobiography, McVicar by Himself, he gives a heart-racing description of the streets and features that he encountered during his night-time escape.
With its winding river, numerous bridges and narrow streets, Durham can be disorientating to the stranger, so we cannot be certain of McVicar's route, but he certainly ran past the police station close to to the prison.
He does not seem to have crossed a bridge at any point but worked his way along a street, reaching a church and graveyard. From here he swam across the river, reaching gardens at the rear of what seemed to be a college. The church would seem to have been St Oswald's Church. He says he walked along a landscaped riverside walk for perhaps half-a-mile until his path was blocked by a factory area.
The riverside area near Framwellgate Bridge would have fitted this description in the 1960s. At this point, McVicar swam along the river, in the direction of the current, briefly encountering a rat sitting on an exposed pipe. The pipe and occasional rat can still be seen here today.
McVicar slept the night hiding on some derelict land perhaps at Framwellgate Waterside or maybe across the river near the Sands.
From here, he recalls observing the time on a cinema clock that was probably the Essoldo in North Road.
In the morning, McVicar climbed through some building works and entered a narrow cobbled street.
He mentions what he thought to be a bowling alley with crowds of youngsters (perhaps what was then the ice rink).
Whatever his course, within halfa- mile he was in open countryside to the east and it was heading in this direction that the police last reported seeing him. Roadblocks were set up that caused tailbacks stretching towards Sunderland but McVicar was wellaway from the roads.
McVicar worked his way through the open countryside around Plawsworth and finally arrived in Chester-le-Street where he contacted friends in London from a call box. A number of locals had spotted him in the area and the police set up a search headquarters at Chester Moor, but he was never found in County Durham.
He had slept the night in a car parked in a suburban garage before he was picked up in another car by friends who took him back to London. He remained on the run until captured in 1970.
McVicar was finally released from prison in 1978. Two years later his life and escape from Durham became the subject of a film starring Roger Daltrey. It was simply entitled McVicar.
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