SEQUEL TO FIRE.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 260, 2 November 1928, Page 5

SEQUEL TO FIRE.

NAPIER STREET EXPLOSION-

THREE MEN ON TRLAX.

FORMER POLICEMEN INVOLVED.

CASE FOR THE CROWN

I At the Supreme Court yesterda}afternoon Thomas Francis Carroll (29), Sydney Francis Waters (33) and James Tait (33) were charged with Having set fire to Carroll's shop, in Napier Street, on August 29, and further with having conspired to defraud the British Traders' Insurance Company of £394. There was also a charge against Carroll of haying made a false declaration in regard to the insurance. Carroll and Waters were formerly in the police force. Tait .vas a taxi driver. Mr. Allan Moody appeared for Waters, Mr. J. J. Sullivan for Carroll, and Mr. R. A. Singer for Tait. Prisoners pleaded not guilty. The iloor of the court was occupied by several hundredweight of canned goods and other groceries, which it was alleged had been removed from the shop. Defending counsel freely exercised the right to challenge jurymen called. Mr. V. R. Meredith, Crown Prosecutor, in outlining the evidence, said it would be shown that Carroll had kept a grocer's shop in Napier Street. On the day mentioned in the charge a large quantity of groceries had been removed from the shop, in a taxi, and taken to the house of a relative of Waters. Afterwards the :hop was set on fire and it was out of the latter circumstance that the charge of having defrauded the insurance con.pany arose. Mr. Meredith added that when the explosion occurred men were seen to rush away from the shop and get into a waiting car that carried no lights. A little time later still, Tait was said to have arrived at the Public Hospital with Waters, who was injured. Suspicion was first raised over the explosion by the insurance company. The explosion was sufficient to indicate foul play, but an inspection of the burnt premises showed that nothfhg like the quantity of goods claimed to have been destroyed could possibly have been in the building at the time of the fire. Waters, in a statement to the police, made practically a clean breast of the affair as far as he was concerned, stating that he had helped to take the stuff away, and arranged that the place should be set on fire. As far as Waters knew it was Tait who set fire to the shop. Carroll said he knew the goods were to be removed, and the fire after their removal was to be made. He also admitted that in his insurance claim he had included items that were removed from the shop prior to the fire. The first witness was James Irwin, Remuera, trustee in the estate that owns the shop concerned in the case, who said he sold the grocery business to Carroll for £664 in October, 1927. The building was totally destroyed by fire oil August 29 last. " A few days before the fire, Mrs. Quinlan, who rented rooms in the building, moved out, Carroll saying that he wanted the rooms for his own use. Witness identified some .of the groceries produced in court as having been in Carroll's shop. After witness > sold the business it went down under Carroll's management. Carroll once sold it, but the prospective purchaser threw it back on Carroll's hands. Heard a Crash. | The hearing was contiued this morn-! ing. William Maurice Crimmins, labourei, said he was in the vicinity of the grocer's shop on the evening preceding the fire. He saw a taxi come down Napier Street and stop outside Carroll's shop. Three men got out, and went in at the side entrance of the shop. Witness heard a crash of glass, and three men came out to the car. He next saw two of the men carrying a box to the car. They returned for another box. The men kept their heads down. The car was taken away, and was brought back again about 9.30 p.m. As witness walked past the shop while the men were inside he heard one of them say: "Leave it there; I'll be shifting in to-morrow." To Mr. Singer witness said he heard one of the men say: "Mr. Carroll said leave that in there. He'll be shifting in to-morrow." If he had said in the lower Court "Leave that there. The man will be shifting in to-morrow," he must have made a mistake. What he heard was: Mr. Carroll will be shifting in." William Walter Andrew baker, said his premises. were opposite the shop. He was roused by an explosion in Carroll's shop, and heard the breaking of glass. It was a terrific explosion. The place was in flames, and in three minutes the roof partly collapsed. Syville Maud Quintall, of 8, Napier Street, about six chains from the shop, said she was at the entrance to her place when she heard the explosion. She saw three men running from the grocer's shop towards Hepburn Street. Adel Tryson, cousin of the previous witness, said they were together when the explosion occurred, and also saw the three men running down the street. They were facing towards the fire and were going backwards. Evidence that she had seen two men run to a waiting car. get in and drive away at high speed, was given by another nearby resident. no lights on the car. Groceries Stored in House. Raymond John Murphy, railway employee, of Park Road, said his wife was the sister of Waters, and he knew the other two accused. Tait and Waters were at his house when he got home at S) o'clock on the night of the explosion. Tait's car, a Chandler, was outside. The men left about 10.30. When he arrived

home witness saw groceries in the front room. At 11.15 the men came back with more groceries. They put these in the front room. Witness asked Waters where the groceries came from, and accused said they were his. Shortly afterwards the men left again, and got back about midnight, bringing further groceries in suitcases, and a sugar bag. They left about 0.30 a.m. Witness had told them to stop bringing the goods in, and said there , was too much already. Waters assured him it was quite all right. The next occasion on which he saw Waters was two days later, in the hospital. Waters, when discharged from the hospital, came to witness' house. The groceries displayed in Court were identified by witness as those which had been in his house. Witness had mentioned the fire to Waters in the hospital, and the accused replied he knew nothing about it. To Carroll witness had raised strong objection to the groceries being left in his house, and said whoever they belonged to they must be taken away. To Mr. Moody: Waters was intoxicated on the night of the fire, and became worse as the night advanced. "Bellicosity in Questions." Lucy E. Anderson, a sister at the Auckland Hospital, said she was on duty on the night of the fire when Waters was admitted. He had lost blood from injuries and was suffering from shock. I Waters arrived by car. and was accompanied'by Tait, whom witness recognised in the dock. Tait had denied knowing Waters. lie said he had picked him up on the side of the road. To Mr. Moody: The condition of Waters was not serious. He was admitted shortly after 2.30 a.m. The hospital records stated the patient "smells slightly of drink, but is definitely not drunk." An operation was not performed immediately because it was necessary for four hours to elapse after the last drink. Witness admitted she said in the Lower Court that Waters was ■ weak from loss of blood. ''I don't think it is necessary to use quite so much bellicosity in the questions," interposed his Honor, when counsel was engaged in a vigorous crossexamination regaiding Waters' condition. Witness considered the wound was only ! serious because of what it might involve afterwards, but the patient's condition was improving. Mr. Moody: Well, I hope it is. (Laughter.) Waters \vas instructed by counsel to show the injured arm and hand, with a scar about six inches long. To Mr. Singer witness said she was not doubtful, when she was asked to identify Tait at the identity parade, that he was the man who accompanied Waters to the hospital. She had spoken to Tait for a short time. Re-examined by Mr. Meredith, witness said she had seen Tait with his hat off. His hair was not auburn or ginger, but was more like a sunburn. "Call It Ginger." Mr. Moody: I suppose he wou'd not be annoyed if you called it ginger. ( Laughter.) A porter at the hospital said he passed Tait twice when he brought Waters iu with his injuries, but he did not identify him afterwards. Mr. Singer: You couldn't?—No, I couldn't. Mr. Singer: Thank you. I would rather have that word. Albert Vincent Page, assistant in Carroll's shop, said he arrived on the scene about t n minutes after the fire started. When Carroll was informed of the fire he said it could not be true, but he decided to go and see. Witness identified some of the groceries in court as thv/se which had been in stock at the shop. The discovery of human blood stains was attested in the evidence of Frederick L. Armitage, bacteriologist at the Auckland Hospital. Detective Sergeant Doyle gave a detailed account of his search of Murphy's house. Waters was mess caterer at the police barracks ar.d received a free mesa. (Proceeding.)