When questioned by the police, Finch made no attempt to disguise his crimes. He admitted to over one hundred and thirty boat-break-ins - his incredible memory simply astonished them – where the boat was, how he got in, and what he stole, even the brand names of red wines he drank there and then. In this, he admitted to every break-in at Braunston Marina in the last two and half years bar one. That I remembered thinking at the time did not have his hallmark – there was malicious damage, and Finch never did that. He also made a casual remark to the police that he did not go to that part of the marina because it was well lit and there were always people about. He was sentenced to three years imprisonment, and with his usual exemplary behaviour in jail, he was out in half of that.

Within days, he had fled his hostel accommodation and was back on the canals and breaking into boats. In the time he was away, we had picked up his comment, and had well-lit the rest of the marina, with trip-on lights at main entry points. On this spree, he left us alone, bar one break-in in the middle of a winter. His rampages elsewhere went on for nearly two years, during which he broke into hundreds of boats. All efforts by the police and the canal community to catch him failed. Ironically, it was only the Foot & Mouth epidemic in the spring of 2001 that persuaded him to give himself up. With the towpaths closed, he stuck out like sore thumb, and with the boats unused there was no food or drink when he broke into them.

Towards the end of April, he walked into Daventry Police Station and gave himself up. In so doing, he made a remark to the effect that he thought he could be of considerable assistance to the police in clearing up their unresolved crime records in the previous year. He also said that the final straw was finding a copy of Endeavour the bulletin of the Northampton Branch of the Inland Waterways Association (IWA), on the saloon table of a narrowboat he had broken into. There on the front cover was his picture and story and instructions on what to do if he were spotted. He even presented that copy to the police.

We had all hoped that this time, the Law would see sense and lock him away for a long time, but we were to be disappointed. Once again he had given himself in and confessed to one count of house-breaking in the Hemel Hempstead area, and 2 break-ins to narrowboats. He also asked for one hundred other offences to be taken into consideration, and promised to reform and give up his alcohol. The judge was sympathetic and gave him a mere two years jail sentence, to which he added the remainder of his previous sentence on which Finch had been given remission and as usual almost immediately broken his conditions of parole.
This time we were assured it would be different. But right on cue, on the 17th June, 2002, fifteen months to the day after he had given himself in, our ivory tower penal system released him back into the community. He was to be given hostel accommodation and dollops of that modern panacea of all our troubles – counseling… However he ran away almost immediately, and within days of his release, we received a warning call from the local British Waterways office that he had broken into 13 boats in the Crick area, and could be heading our way.

However Finch's luck was running out. His last rampage had resulted in 'wanted' posters being everywhere. His face, dress and his vagabond ways had become too well known. And he was becoming careless. He began openly travelling by day, and he was spotted a couple of times examining moored boats toward twilight to see if lights were on, with a view to returning later. Responding to the latest outbreak of break-ins, our local IWA branch was quick to remind those who might have forgotten. They ran a campaign in every way they could - regardless of the gentleman's human rights. A stalwart member, who had had his boat broken into three times before – he had even attended Finch's Northampton trial for the pleasure of seeing him sentenced – was quickly round the boat yards with the news and copies of Finch's photograph.

The IWA's gallant action was long before the police considered they had enough evidence to issue a warrant for his arrest. The gentleman had learnt from prosecution statements made at his last trial, to avoid leaving fingerprints or DNA samples on the boats he broke into. Any evidence he might have left when forcing hatches, was washed away by the heavy autumnal rain. It left the police without the proof they needed, although his signature was on every boat he broke into.

The IWA campaign resulted in a boater spotting Finch on the weekend of 9th November on the South Oxford at Enslow. A quick discreet mobile call to the police, and they waited for him at Lower Heyford, in which direction he was heading. They arrived in sufficient force to ensure that this time he did not get away. In their mind was his famous narrow escape a few years before when arrested at Braunston Turn, and when in a sudden moment he managed to run away – removing his clothes as he fled.

When caught, Finch gave his name as Harold Summers with a 1944 date of birth, but the police were not taken in by his cunning attempt at deception. He was put first into Banbury Jail and then back in the very prison he left a mere four months before – and which he had no doubt intended to see the back of for a year or two. For Finch it was third time unlucky. He had never been arrested like that before, and always enjoyed a few years on the run, causing havoc to the boaters and wasting vast amounts of police time.

On the 16th December, he appeared before Banbury Magistrates Court, where he was charged with two counts of breaking into narrowboats on the 28th August and 2nd September. One was a narrowboat called Sally Annie, lying at Thrupp where he stole food to the value of five pounds. He immediately pleaded guilty, and his case was passed on to Oxford Crown Court for tougher sentencing. This was heard in January, when he again pleaded guilty and asked for 19 other burglaries to be taken into consideration. (They were only the break-ins he had carried out on the South Oxford Canal in Oxfordshire. Other police forces felt there was already enough evidence there and that it was a waste of police time to add their tally, which must have been sixty or more.) Before passing sentence the judge called for a pre-sentencing report. With that in mind the Court would adjourn until February. To date, I had followed events from afar, but this time I intended to be there, to see the man for myself and witness our fine justice system in action.