The Great New Zealand Robbery by Scott Bainbridge

Author:Scott Bainbridge
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Published: 2017-06-15T04:00:00+00:00

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Nash returned to prison frustrated and in no mood to surrender the fight. He pored over his legal textbooks and was thought to have been working on taking the matter to a still higher court—the Privy Council—but he couldn’t find any legal grounds upon which to base his appeal. However, all that time immersed in study seems to have given him an idea of how he might spend his time more wisely. He availed himself of every educational opportunity on offer; library records show that he regularly requested books and study reference material on French, studying towards School Certificate, and he ordered paints, canvases and other materials available as he applied himself with equal fervour to learning to paint in watercolour.

Nash seemed to resign himself to prison life and was a model prisoner. He was approved for work on laundry detail. Later, with a good record to date, he expressed an interest in welding and engineering. His application was looked upon with favour—no one seems to have remarked upon the fact that it had lately been supposed he was already a bit of a gun with the oxyacetylene process—and he secured a transfer to the engineering workshop, which was situated outside the walls of the main jailhouse but still within the prison compound. This job was privileged, as it gave him some degree of independence and allowed him to see the light of day, vastly different to being stuck on laundry detail inside the steamy room.

Over time, Nash won the confidence of senior guards and became a ‘trusty’ (a prisoner accorded certain duties by virtue of having been recognised as trustworthy) and, by dint of his book learning, he became a ‘cell-house lawyer’ of sorts. Prisoners approached him for assistance with their own appeals, if only to seek an opinion over an interpretation. Nash always seemed happy to take the time to explain, or to point out loopholes and flaws.

After achieving School Certificate French, Nash studied for his second-class Steam Winding Fireman’s Ticket. In a private letter to Detective Sergeant Schultz, Superintendent Haywood wrote, ‘Whilst Nash continues to feel aggrieved at the severity of the length of his sentence, he seems to be just getting on and serving out his time. Although he seems to have adapted well [to the prison system] he prefers to keep to himself. He has no time whatsoever for the young violent offenders, but prefers to keep time with the older hands.’

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