WESTFIELD BANDITS.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 37, 13 February 1929, Page 9

WESTFIELD BANDITS.

'AMATEUR HIGHWAYMEN ,

KITCHING SENTENCED TO A

YEAR.

STEWART TO 18 MONTHS

COUNSEL'S REMARKABLE

STORY

"TIIKY 'VAITKP TO RE ARRESTED."

T)r-,Tib-<l by hi.- Hniior, Mr. Justice Blair, n» ";iniii(>iir highwaymen," the tu,, ii..Ti .mil rr,i<.<l in the Westficld hold-

up, wii'i, n plctc with revolvers and niii-k-, slopped ,i oar load of jockeys and a ludy rHiiniing from To Kuiti

ram* early nun morning in December, ntnol in Ihe clock in the Supreme Court thH infilling in hoar their sentence.

David Mi'Ken/.i" Stewart, alias Stoner (27) sin<l !>'">■ Patrick Kitching, alias Xcwnuin (20). wore the men, and, Wrrserrt with infinite carp in navy blue' and jji-ny suils respectively, they' stood erect while they listened to the pleas which counsel made for them.

Both hflil pleaded guilty to attempted robbery under arms and Stewart had also admiMc<l obtaining money by false pretences.

A remarkable story of their activities from thr lime they loft Australia until they were arrested, was told hy ;\[ r> l P. Lear.v, who gave a vivid picture of how they spent two days in the open on the Ninety Mile Beach.

At 2.!"> his Honor passed sentence. Both prisoners -were sentenced to one year's reformative detei.tion on the attempted rubbery under arms charge, and Stewart was sentenced to a. further six months on the charge of obtaining money by false pretences.

Plea For Kitching. Til making his pica cm behalf of Kitching. Mr. W. U. Cocker said the offence had been made far mure serious in the public eyi> by Hie accounts in the Press, which had put the offence in a bold form. Counsel submitted that statements made to tin- [mlice by the two accused were fur more accurate than those published ill the Press.

His Honor: Evidently they are amateur highwaymen, but the difficulty is that you could not tell that on the night of the hold-up.

Passing from tho activities of the prisoners in Australia. Mr. Cocker dealt with the Westfield hold-up. "The affair had porta in Gilbcrtian touches/' he said. "Both prisoners were thoroughly frightened and they allowed several cars to pass before they had the courage to hold one up. The shooting was entirely accidental. I submit that there was no evidence which would have identified these men, and if they had brazened it out thpre would have liypn no evidence on which to convict. Instead of that, they confessed.

His Honor: I don't know about that The police have a nasty habit of remembering these things.

Continuing, Mr. Cocker said that ho liad affidavits which he would produce testifying to Kitching's good character. They were from schoolmasters, clergymen, business men and others. In October, 1927, Kitching had met with a motor smash and had received severe concussion. People who knew him said that he had not been quite normal since.

"I suggest, your Honor, that Kitching Tie allowed to go to his brother's farm in Western Australia —that he be taken away and given a fresh start. He is a young man."

A representative of Kitching's family trustees, who was brought across from Melbourne, said that if the prisoner was allowed to leave Xcw Zealand arrangements had been made for him to go to his brother's farm in Western Australia, where ho would be kept for at least six or seven years. The trustees had been advised to allow Kitching money up to £100 if he demanded it, and they were empowered to give him £1000 if it was for some reasonable venture. An Air Venture. An eloquent speech was made in defence of Stewart, the elder of the two prisoners, by Mr. L. P. Leary. "My client is not only guilty himself, tut he is also guilty of dragging into nefarious ways a younger man," said Mr. Leary. "In so far as Stewart was the older man, he accepts the blame, but at the same time I think it must be seen that the younger man was a little ■wild in a youthful sort of way. It is an indisputable fact that my client bad very little money In leaving Melbourne. Stewart and Kitching were friends. They had been away on business trips together on former occasions, and when Stewart stated that he was going away, tho younger man asked to be taken. Them him a companionship between them." said counsel, "and to a large extent the younger man was under the older man's dominion."

Mr. Leary said that if the matter had Hot «>ii(led so tragically for both, it would htivo been quite amusing. In his <Jhvs in Aniorirn, Stewart was a pilot and when ho arrived in Australia, he got a pilot's ticket, but that was by the way. Mr. Leary, in vivid style, desci'iliorl tlic actions of the prisoners from the tim« they left Melbourne, until they were arrested.

"On tho ship coming across tlie Tasman to Auckland,' , said Mr. Lcary, "my client got into very earnest conversation with a gentleninn tin the-subject of aeroplanes, and various ventures were discussed. Although no statement was made, the gentleman got the idea that Stewart was coming to New Zealand to start some air venture. When the ship arrived at Auckland., tho usual boatload °f reporters had pone aboard, and Stewart was startled to feel a hand fall on hia shoulder and a voice say: 'I want to have a talk with vou.'

Sudden Burst of Publicity. "The perspiration started to ooze from Stewart," said Mr. Leary. '"His thoughts went back to a certain transaction over a car in Australia. However, with (jr.-at relief lie found that the man Was a reporter and lie had quite a long t! 'ik, with the result that an Auckland Paper caim- out with an interview say"ig thai Stewart had come to New Zealand to start »ome, aeronautic venture. With this smlik'ii burst of publicity, influential pi-yplu began to call upon the Pair at their in.teLand Stewart til •«•- Milted mi ;u-iniig-.i. v ftoi;inlly they were presented, ~nd their jn ae r°* laiiticH wi'ie a very real matter with them. Tin; ...rial calU which were forced "I ,0 " I In-ill vvi-ri- tin- direct cause of their depletion uf fund-'," continued Mr. Leary.

KhJ fi Ar eq, i e f ° r * 23 at the hotel." ' o t ued M L .. He had cabkd to be h a he hol ' ed that monev would •Mul v> l ° T et iL Jt did n °t arrive and the pair held a 'committee' to dw--we wav s and means. In conclave thev r,f ! *f i, 1 ! 1 , 41 jou " hu ' w «y with the idea t a hold-up. The idea soon took conln!i s T a ' ,d the y oun ß man bou such implements as he thought neceih'/"- .1 V, roccdurc vvas the weakest te?« 11 e " • Tlu ' y blocked the roit( i dt W estfield with a 'Stop, look our for the engine sign, and a hurricane lamp This "as not a total obstruction and several -noon. ts a . lid maledictions •Managed to , ass it. One lorry driver, with, further lurid comment in which he oven mentioned the name of the city engineer, threw the obstruction from tie road and the pair had to move from their place of hiding to avoid bein? sll liC'K.

i lightened in the first place, courage now began to ooze out of their boots" f ald Mr. Leary. '-Their nerve was broken. They held a council of war to see whether they would go on with the hold-up or not, and they decided to trv one more ear. However, your HonoV knows the circumstances of the hold-up winch followed. My client had at no time presented a revolver. The physical appearance of the pair was far "from intimidating." Mr Leary said that they had endeavoured to get the addresses of all the people in the car and intended to send the money back when the American dollars arrived. The first object was to get money to meet the cheque The offence had slowly brought its own punishment. ~ 1 "You Did a Hold-up." The morning following the hold-up continued Mr. Leary, the pair went down town and saw the headlines on a newspaper board indicating that there had been a hold-up. One of them had hazarded that somebody else had been at the same game. When going up in a Mt the operator had said to Stewart: I see you did a hold-up last nio-ht " fetewart switched round and said: "What do you mean?" "Of course," added Mr. J.eary, "that was purely a shot in the dark." "Well, the pair thought thev would be better out of Auckland for a time," said Mr. Leafy, "and they started off tor the North. In Whangarei a policeman had asked them if they had seen two highwaymen— he thought they were Americans. With his best Oxford accent btewart had replied: 'No, we didn't see any Americans. , (Mr. Leary adopted a heavy \ankee accent in imitation of Stewart's Oxford drawl.) Lived on Fish and Rabbits.

"They next went to the Ninety Mile Beach," Mr. Leary continued, "and according to a road maj> they found a stream was navigable, but their car got stuck, and for two days they tried to get it out. They had very little food, and every possible effort was made to extricate the car. With the engine full of water, trouble of course began, and their battery was done. Eventually they got the car going by jacking up the back wheels and revolving them while the engine wa« in top gear. It was at this stage that Stewart realised an attack of a dread disease was coming on. Hs head began to swim, and he became aware of the return of an old trouble—malaria. So Kitching was left with the full responsibility of the car, and Stewart realised the only chance of saving his life was to return to civilisation. They had been living on such rabbits and fish as they were able to get. With Stewart helpless, Kitching decided the only thing to do was to get some help. Then the car ran out of benzine. They saw a light in the distance, stopped the car, and decided to make for it," Mr. Leary went on. Waited to be Arrested. "They thought it was only a short way off, but actually the distance was twelve miles. So Stewart had dragged himself this distance, in spite of the fact that he was suffering badly from malaria. Then they went to Kaikohe and simply waited in the hotel to be arrested. Stewart recovered., and although he was offered a loan of money by a man, he refused assistance."

Mr. Leary said that Stewart had cabled to his mother for 500 dollars, for lie said he was in desperate trouble. Th-: only reply he got was "Love and sympathy. Trust in God.—Mother."

Detective Sergeant Doyle was then put in the box. He said, in reply to Mr. Leary, neither of the prisoners struck him as criminal types. They were too frank for that. Stewart had said he was the older of the two, and wanted to accept all the responsibility.

Mr. Leary (in conclusion): Well, your Honor, if there was an epidemic of offences of this kind I know it would be your duty to crush it at the outset. But this is a very rare offence. The last of its kind was eight years ago, and the circumstances of that were very different. I think, if I dare to use the word, the offence was really a very foolish prank.

Mr. Meredith (Crown Solicitor): It is desirable in the interests of the country that this sort of crime should not start in New Zealand. Cases such as this ara not to be treated lightly. Whether the technique of the prisoners, as Mr. Leary puts it, was perfect is beside the point. People who come to this country must be aware of the serious consequences which follow offences of this kind. There is no doubt that it is a very serious act, and although Mr. Leary says both accused were frightened that very fact may have ended in more serious results, especially when they were holding revolvers. Sharp Lesson Required. '■[ have very carefully considered the representations of counsel," said hi« Honor. "The case is not one in which I can grant probation. I think that both men were amateurs in crime, and did it more or less on the spur of the moment. But from the i>oint of view of the people held up it was a premeditated attempt at highway robbery. I propose to give you both terms of reformative detention, but even then 1 have some doubt as to whether I am not too lenient. You both require a sharp lesson, and I would be failing in my duty if I did not give it to you. You will both be sentenced to one year"; reformative detention, and Stewart will serve an extra, six months on the other count to which he pleaded guilty."