433 / 494
432
that Coke was still in Tivoli on 25 May when all sectors were secured.
The Intelligence on which CoP Ellington was “operating” was wholly
erroneous.
13.42
We think the truth is that no one really knew for sure
where Coke was on 24 May after the operation started, and it follows
that no one knew, when he escaped. But clearly, if Coke was not in
Tivoli Gardens or not believed to be there on 24 May, the main reason
or justification for the operation would have been nugatory. In that
context, the actions of the security forces were consistent with their
belief that Coke was in Tivoli Gardens on 24 May.
13.43.
The absence of supporting or corroborative evidence of
Coke’s presence in Java should not be taken as confirmatory evidence
of his presence elsewhere in the area of operation. But the fact that he
was not found within Tivoli Gardens is, in our opinion, evidence that
Coke may not even have been in Tivoli Gardens at the time when the
security forces first entered Tivoli Gardens.
13.44.
We are unable to make any finding as to how Coke
escaped. We listened to the theories advanced by CDS Saunders and
Maj. Williams and CoP Ellington but such evidence is speculative. In
the result, the probative value of such theoretical evidence is of little or
no assistance. Likewise, it is pure speculation that Coke may have
used the waterways and the tunnel referred to by Lt. Col. Cummings.
In the light of his evidence that, when he searched the tunnel, it was
not apparent that it had been recently used, it is our finding that Coke,
in all probability, did not use the tunnel to effect his escape.
13.45.
Finally, arguably, even if the evidence that Coke was in
Tivoli Gardens on 24 May is accepted, there were conditions which