CONFESSED.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 66, 19 March 1931, Page 9

CONFESSED.

QUEEN STREET BURGLARY. MOST OF GOODS BURNED. ' HOW SHOP \VAS ENTERED. How an Australian criminal broke into Hallenstein Bros.' shop in Queen Street, on the night of December 6, 1030, and stole clothing valued at over £120, was told in the Police Court this morning when Arthur Martin Wellington, a seaman, aged 48, and Herman Kondrup Madsen, a kitchen hand, aged 24, appeared before Mr. F. K. Hunt, S.M. Both men were charged with breaking and entering the shop and stealing the goods, and Wellington was also charged with the theft of a frock valued at £3 19/6, the property of Samuel Schneideman, Ltd. Both pleaded guilty and were committed to the Supreme Court for trial. The summary charge against Wellington was being heard this afternoon. The manager of Hallenstein Bros., Queen Street, said that the value of the goods stolen was £126 14/. Only a small part of the goods had been recovered. Detective-Sergeant Martin said that on March 13, will Detectives Moon and Nalder, he went to a house in Day street, where he saw Wellington. Accused had said that he arrived in New Zealand on May 8, 1930. Having just been discharged from gaol on condition that he left Melbourne, he went to Sydney, and booked a passage immediately for Auckland. Dropped Into Shop.

"On Saturday, December 0, 1030, about 10 p.m., I climbed on to the top of the windows in Ilallenstcin Bros., and broke a pane of glass," read Wellington's statement to the police. "Then I dropped down into the shop. I collected together a quantity of clothing, put them into two suitcases, which I found, then left by the front door. I took the goods to the room where I was living. I kept the articles in my room for a few days, and, as I could not get rid of them, I burned them, with the exception of a few odd clothes, which were found in my possession by the police. This statement is true in every detail. No other person was connected with me in this robbery, and none of my friends knew where I got the stolen property." On the afternoon of the same day, Detective-Sergeant Martin also interviewed Madsen, who made a statement as follows: —"On the night of the robbery I met Wellington in Queen Street. He said that he was hard up and asked whether I could assist him. He said that he was going to break into Hallenstein Bros., and said that it would be a good night for the purpose. He said there was no risk, and the only thing he wanted me to do was to lift him ap on the top of the windows. I arranged to meet Wellington the next morning outside the shop at 9 o'clock. Second Visit Proposed. "I went down the next morning and saw Wellington inside the shop. There were too many people about so I signed to him that I would return later. When I came back about an hour later, he was still in the shop. LaterWellington gave me a few articles of clothing. He told mee that he proposed to go back to the shop that night and get two more suit cases, which he had ready. I told him not to do it, saying I that he got out all right the first time, j and somebody might see him the second | time. I have been friendly with Wellington since, and we have been frequently together, but I have never been associated with him in anything else."