A one-time courthouse escaper was almost unable to perform the crucial task of swearing an oath on the Bible to give evidence in the Napier District Court yesterday. When asked whether he wished to swear on the Bible or take an oath by affirmation, 33-year-old Thomas William Milligan turned to revealthe problem - his hands were in handcuffs behind his back. A constable unlocked the manacles, Milligan placed his right hand on the book, and proceedings resumed with the constable at his right shoulder, continuing precautions taken since Milligan kicked through a locked interview-room wall in a lunch-break escape on September 4. Having pleaded guilty to a charge of escaping from custody relating to that incident, he was back in court yesterday still denying the escape charge he was awaiting at the time he made his bid for freedom. It related to an incident in which Napier police officer Constable Brian Farquharson spotted Milligan among a crowd outside the Thirsty Whale, at West Quay, Ahuriri, about 3.30am on April 15, and realised a warrant was out for the man's arrest. Mr Farquharson told Judge Robert Spear he had been sent to the quay as a precaution against a possible confrontation between members and associates of the Mongrel Mob and a group of Taradale rugby players. The officer said he was alone in a patrol car at the time and called to Milligan, who approached the car and leaned on the door. The officer said he clasped Milligan's arm and told him he was under arrest, but Milligan wrenched himself free and left. Mr Farquharson said that as he was alone, he was advised by radio not to pursue the arrest at the time. In evidence, Milligan said he was told only that there was a warrant out for his arrest, and not that he was under arrest. But he said he fled because he was having a good night and didn't want to spend the rest of it in a cell. Milligan, still in custody on other matters, was found guilty and remanded for sentence on December 14.
