STRUCK ON FOOTPATH.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 96, 24 April 1931, Page 3 (Supplement)

STRUCK ON FOOTPATH.

PISTOL ATTACK ON GIRL.

While walking along a footpath near the main London road at Colchester a girl of 18 was struck on the head by a man -who is said to have fired a pistol at her. As the girl, Gladys Hales, a draper's assistant, was crossing a stile at the foot of Union Meadows, the man, who was about 30, asked if she would go for a walk with him. When she refused the man, it is alleged, took a pistol from his pocket, pointed it at her and said: "Put up your hands." Her reply was, "No fear." The man repeated his demand, fired the pistol, and then seizing the weapon by the barrel, struck the girl twice on the head and threw her into a hedge. She ran away, and a Boy Scout whom she met assisted her to her mother's house. Later, she was taken to hospital, where her wounds were stitched. She was able to return home. Police scoured the neighbourhood, but the man had Add across the fields. A mackintosh and muffler left <in a hedge in Sussex Road are among the clues the police have to assist them.