STREET ROBBERY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 138, 13 June 1932, Page 8

STREET ROBBERY.

SUSPECTS CHARGED.

ACCOUNTANT'S EVIDENCE.

THREATS BY TELEPHONE

"MAKE IT PRETTY HOT FOR ME. ,

The statement that he had been threatened twice last week by- person* who spoke to him over the telephone was made in the Police Court this morning by Mr. Richard T. Dias, who on May 27° was assaulted in the street and robbed of £100.

After he had given evidence Mr. Diaa asked leave to make a statement, and on this being given he eaid: "Last Thursday and Friday at approximately the same time, 12.30 p.m., I received two messages on the telephone. The speakers said that if I did not deai lightly with the accused in Court they would make it pretty hot for me. They asked me if I would meet them, but I took no notice."

Mr. Dias had given evidence against two men who were arrested a. few hours after the sensational city hold-up in Victoria Street about midday on Friday, May 27. They were Francis John Peckham, aged 30, a Fijian, ship's fireman, and William Keough, 29, native of Ireland, a seaman, and they were charged with being idlij and disorderly and also that on May 27 they robbed Richard Thomas Dias of £100, tho property of Parkinson and Co., Limited, and used personal violence. Accused were represented by counsel. Detective Sergeant Kelly conducted the case for the police The case, in which 17 witnesses will be called, is being taken before Messrs. H. T. King and L. S. Kickerby, J.P.'s. Custom for 15 Years. Richard Thomas Dias ; accountant, said that for the past 15 years it had been his custom to go to a. city bank on Fridays and cash wages cheques drawn by Mr. Parkinson. On Friday, May 27 last, he left Parkinsons to go to the bank to cash a cheque for £140. When he left the office and reached the street he noticed three men on the opposite side of tho street. He recognised one of the men as the accused Keough. He had met Keough about six weeks previously in Nelson Street, when Keough followed him and asked for a shilling for a drink, saying he had been drinking heavily. Witness did not give him the shilling.

"Tho two accused are two of the three men I noticed standing in Victoria Street almost opposite where the assault took place," said the witness. "The third man was wearing a blue suit and a grey cap. I went to the bank in Queen Street, cashed the cheque, receiving 124 £1 notes, £10 in 10/ notes, the notes being on the Commercial Bank of Australia, and £12 in silver."

Struck Down. Witness said he placed the pound notcri in an inside pocket of his coat, the 10/ notes in a trousers pocket, and the silver in an outside coat pocket. When returning to Parkinson's witness saw the two accused a/id the third man standing near a 6&eoad : ;ha.nd.; shop irr Victoria Street, the next shop being an empty one. "L-WPjreached the shop Peckham hit me under the ear and knocked me down," ■Said'witness, "and my head was held down on the footpath. I was practically in the doorway of the empty shop. I felt hands going through my pockets. The robbery did not take more than a minute. They stopped feeling my pockets, and I knew they were running away. I saw a dark blue Buick car, and saw Keough standing on the running board. I did not see Peckham. After giving one look at the car, which moved off, I ran down to my employer's office, about 00yds or 70yds away, and reported the robbery. Peckham Identified. Witness said that next morning at the police station he identified Peckham in an identification parade as one of the men who had assaulted and robbed him. On Monday morning. May 30, at a parade at the police station he identified both Peckham and Keough as two ,of the men who assaulted and robbed him. They were not wearing the same clothes as at the time of the assault. The handkerchief (produced) was one belonging to witness. The brown paper bag (produced) was the bag which contained the silver witness was carrying on the morning of May 27. He identified the car on which he saw Keough standing on the running-board on May 27 as the one he saw this morning in a city garage. Counsel: Have you ever lived in Vincent Street?— No. Did you take the number of the car at the time of the robbery?— No. The police showed you a car at a garacre this morning, and asked you to identify it? —No, the place was full of cars, and they asked me if I could see the car which I saw in Victoria Street. Were there any other blue cars there? —I couldn't say. Were there any other three-seaters?— I couldn't say. On the day of tho robbery your photograph appeared in the "Star"?— Yes, but I didn't want it in. Handkerchief Over Face. Why did you have a handkerchief over the greater part of your face?— Because Mr. Parkinson asked me. Was it not because you had been known under the name of Wilson?—lt was not. • Have you ever been known as Wilson ?—No. Have you ever lived with a man named Kirkman ? —No. You cannot swear who it was that robbed you?— Yes, 1 can, it was those two men (the accused). Three Parades. How many identification parades did you attend at the police station ? —Three. When was the first?—On the afternoon of the assault. How many men were in it?— Six; there were no white men. And you identified no one?— No. Detective Sergeant Kelly: The right man wasn't in it. Counsel (to witness): How many were in the second parade on the Saturday morning?— About seven, all coloured men. And you identified Peckham ? —Yes. And in the Monday parade how many men of Keouglvs type were there?— There was another tall man like him. Have you ever lived with a man named Dixon ?—No. Re-examined by Detective Sergeant Kelly, the witness said he did not notice more than the three men in connection with the assault. Tho amount of money taken from him was £10U. A bundle of twenty £1 notes was left in hie inside coat pocket, also the 10/ notes in hie. troiuser pocket.

Walter Murray Thomas, bank officer at the Commercial Bank of Australia gave evidence regarding the cashing of a cheque for £14(5 for Dias. Saw the Assault. Janice McAndiew, watersider, said that at 11.35 a.m. on May 27, he came out of a hotel in Victoria Street. There were two or three cars parked in the street, and behind one car lie saw three men standing. Keough was one of the men, but though Peckham resembled one of the other men, witness would not identify him positively. Witness went to the back of the hotel for a few seconds and on returning to the strict saw a man in a blue suit and grey cap standing by a ear. On the other side of the street were Keough and a dark man. Keough walked to the corner of Victoria and llobson Streets, looked up and down the street and hurried back to the dark man. The two .then crossed the road towards where the third man was standing bv a two-eeater dark blue car. "I walked to the corner of Hobson and Victoria Streets and as I did so I heard a scream," said witness. "I turned round and saw the dark man liit a man in a blue suit on the footpath outside a shop doorway. The dark man rrrabbed the other's arms, and pinned them behind his back. Keough, rushed forward, and put hie hands in the assaulted man's pockets. Keough was taking something from the man's pockets and putting it into his own, but I could not see what it was. Silver was strewn all over the footpath. The whole incident occupied less than a minute. "The two men then ran to a> small threc-seater tourer ear standing not far away. The dark man got inside, but Keough stood on the running board a.* the car moved off across Hobson Street and down Victoria Street."

Knew Keough by Sight. Continuing, witness said that at a parade at the police station he identified Keough. Witness had a clear view of the robbery and only two men took part in the actual assault. Counsel: You knew Keough previously ?—Not by name. Didn't you meet him in Queen Street on the night of the riot?—No, I did not. Didn't you ask him to throw a stone through a shop window? —No, I wasn't in Queen Street. Have you a grudge against Keough?— Not at all. In your evidence you said you identified one man specially?—Ye«, I knew Keough by sight previously. You couldn't miss his beautiful teeth. Were there two cars standing in Victoria Street at the time of the robbery? —Yes, one alongside the other. Which did the men get away in?— The one that was standing on the outside.