A long-term convict who planned his prison break for several weeks, escaped from Pentridge Gaol, Coburg, before dawn today. He made a hole through his cell wall, and scaled an 18ft. inside wall and the 18ft. outer-gaol wall with a thin leather ladder and a grappling hook. It is believed that the convict made the ladder and grappling hook in the gaol and recently smuggled them into his cell. The escapee Victor Franz, 24, is a notorious and skilful house-breaker, with several convictions in New South Wales and Victoria. Franz was serving a three-year sentence for house-breaking, stealing and receiving. This sentence began on December 1, 1950. July 24, 1951.