Joseph Bowers attempt to climb the fence to feed a seagull. However, regardless of Bowers' initial motive, it is indisputable that Bowers ignored the guards' forceful signals to halt and he kept climbing even after the guards began firing, such that he fell on the outside of the fence. Joseph Bowers Joseph "Dutch" Bowers (December 13, 1896 – April 27, 1936) was the first man to attempt an escape from Alcatraz prison. On 27 April 1936, convict Henry Larry claims to have watched Bowers, who was feeding seagulls, stack some empty barrels and climb up next to the fence so he could
Maze Prison escape most of the blame for the escape on prison staff, and made a series of recommendations to improve security at the prison. The report also placed blame with the designers of the prison, the Northern Ireland Office and successive prison governors who had failed to improve security. Prior announced that the prison's governor had resigned, and that there would be no ministerial resignations as a result of the report's findings. Four days after the "Hennessy Report" was published, then Minister for Prisons Nicholas Scott dismissed allegations from the Prison Governors Association and the Prison Officers Association that the escape was