A fugitive convict burgled Cowes railway station and repeatedly gave police the slip during a dramatic 54-hour chase on this day a 100 years ago.
Victor Lester made his bid for freedom on the afternoon of Friday 5th November 1926 while working in the burial ground at Parkhurst Prison.
The 29-year-old motor mechanic, who was serving 3 years’ penal servitude, slipped away from his working party and disappeared into woods between Parkhurst and Cowes. His eventual recapture would involve a remarkable coincidence linking 2 brothers and 2 separate Parkhurst manhunts.
Still wearing prison clothing, Lester spent the night outdoors as heavy rain and bitter frosts swept across the Island. He later exchanged his prison clothes for civilian garments but, unable to find a hat, fashioned a makeshift cap from a piece of cloth.
Cold, wet and hungry, the escaped prisoner reached Cowes railway station later that evening. After the 22:35 train had departed for Newport, the station refreshment room was locked and left unattended.
Lester smashed a glass panel in the front door and forced his way inside. He devoured pies, cheese, biscuits and chocolate, drank a bottle of tonic water and fled with cherry brandy, cigarettes and further supplies.
He also tried to open the till but was thwarted by the manageress’s precaution of removing the money. The piece of cloth Lester turned into a cap was later identified as a duster stolen during the raid.
Police and prison warders launched a massive manhunt. Roads were watched, empty houses searched and yachts, stores, workshops and sheds examined. Such was the threat Lester posed that prison officers joined the hunt armed with revolvers and buckshot.
The first confirmed contact came at around 22:00 on Sunday – approximately 54 hours after Lester had vanished. Newport engine driver W. Kemp was walking beside the railway line when he spotted a man crouching near a coal chute.
Lester emerged from the darkness and claimed to be a tramp who had been sleeping rough for several nights. He asked Kemp whether he had any food, but his bedraggled appearance aroused suspicion.
When 2 railwaymen arrived, all 3 became convinced that the stranger was the missing prisoner. Kemp slipped away and raised the alarm at Fairlee Police Station, but Lester realised the danger and made another desperate dash for freedom.
He raced across Coppins Bridge and along Shide Road with police at his heels, repeatedly vanishing into the darkness. Police Sergeant Arnold and Police Constable Gamble attempted to cut him off near Shide, but Lester initially evaded them and scrambled over a wire fence beside the railway.
Gamble rapidly closed the distance and Lester, realising he was about to be caught, jumped from the fence into a field. The constable followed and overpowered him, bringing the extraordinary 54-hour hunt to an end.
Cold, muddy and soaking wet, Lester was given hot coffee and sandwiches at Newport Police Station before being driven back to Parkhurst.
The railway encounter also revealed the extraordinary family coincidence. Around 20 years earlier, W. Kemp’s brother, F. Kemp of Northwood, had helped recapture 2 other Parkhurst prisoners hiding near Thorness Cliffs.
Lester later insisted he had broken into the refreshment room only because he wanted food and cigarettes. He even claimed he had intended to repay what he took, but the jury was unimpressed – another 3 months’ hard labour were added to his sentence.
