The Sun. — 1840-05-30 (London, England)

DESPERATE ATTEMPT OF THE PRISONER GOULD AND THE CONDEMNED CONVICT BAILEY TO ESCAPE FROM NEWGATE.  However extraordinary and incredible it may appear, it is nevertheless certain that the prisoner Gould, who, it will be remembered, was recently tried for the murder of Mr. Templeman, who but a few days since was again committed from Bow-street Police-office, upon the charge of having burglariously entered the house of that deceased gentleman, together with the man Bailey, who is ordered for execution on Monday next for attempted murder oil the high seas, have made a most desperate attempt, in which they nearly succeeded, to escape from the condemned cells of Newgate. This occurrence took place on the night of Sunday last ; but so profound a secret has it been kept by the authorities of the prison, that it was by mere accident our informant happened to elicit the fact, and with difficulty succeeded in obtaining the following circumstances connected with it:— .  On Gould's recommittal to Newgate, and his arrival at the prison, Mr. Cope, the Governor, being cognizant of his desperate character, determined on placing him in the most secure portion of the gaol, namely, in one of the condemned cells. Before proceeding further, it is here necessary to state, that since the new mode of prison discipline has been introduced, the condemned cells have been removed from their old position, near the debtors' door, to the further extremity of the prison, adjacent to NeWgate.street. The inmates of those cells have in the day time the privilege of access to a spacious ward on the same floor, the basement, the windows of which, as well as the cells, look into a yard. Prior to Could's recommittal, the convict Bailey, who had received sentence at the previous Sessions, occupied one of these cells, and Gould was placed in the other. It is usual in cases when convicts condemned to death are ordered for execution, that one of the gaolers should keep a constant watch on them to prevent the commission of suicide; but in the case of Bailey, who, by the sentence, stands for execution on Monday next, no special order havir.!_, been received by the Governor, that regulation had not been adapted. In the daytime, and at their meals, Gould and Bailey bad opportunities of conversing together, and no doubt exists but the theme of their discourse was the means by which their escape could be effected, their attempt hating evidently been preconcerted. On Sunday they attended divine scrvice in the chapel of the prison, and at the usual hour, seven o'clock that evening, they were locked up in their separate cells by the turnkey who had charge of them. He saw nothing whatever in their appearance to excite suspicion. The moment,, however, he quitted the place the operations for the escfape must have been commenced on the part of Gould, who 'it will be seen was the origin' ator or principal actor in the affair. During the night of Sunday, which, from the torrents of rain that fell, was peculiarly advantageous for such a project, nothing particular was heard by the turnkeys of the prison. About a quarter be tore six o'clock on the following morning, Monday, the turnkeys in charge of the prisoners, as was usual, went to their respective cells, for the purpose of unlocking them, and on entering the yard, discovered the iron gratings of the windows of their cells removed from their position and lying on the pavement, and the windows wide open. An alarm was instantly given throughout the gaol, police were called in, and the roofs of the various portions of the building strictly searched, but no traces of the prisoners were there found, and it was generally supposed they had effected their escape. Subsequently, on the doors of the cells being opened, both Gould and Bailey were found in one of them in an exhausted condition. They were immediately aecured with double irons, and removed to separate cells, when a minute examination of the place, and the means by which the escape had been attempted to be effected, was instituted in the presence of the Sheriffa. They first commenced in the cell occupied by the convict Bailey, but saw nothing to lead them to a conclusion as to whether he effected his escape without assistance, except by the cell windows, which had been secured by bars which would defy the power of any person on the inside to remove, and which could only have been so by an extraordinary power from without. Gould's iron grating, enclosing the cell window, was forced out into the yard. By the side of the cell door, which leads to a winding staircase ascending to the roof, a quantity of brickwork, to the extent of nine inches in depth, bad been removed apparently by a piece of iron, which was subsequently found in the cell, about five inches in length ; but it was evident that Gould had relinquished this attempt, finding the wall of such uncommon thickness as to resist his further efforts. He then succeeded in removing the gratings of his window, and on getting into the yard assisted Bailey to do the same. On re-entering the yard a rope was found, which had been constructed out of the rugs and blankets of the prisoners' beds. At one end of this a piece of the iron grating was found attached, which, no doubt, had been used with a view to throw one end of the rope on to the roof ; but the heavy rain having completely saturated the blankets, it was presumed they had become so heavy as to reader the project impracticable. There can be no doubt but Gould's plan had been well matured.  A private Committee is appointed to investigate the matter at Guildhall this day.