CRIME IN 1933.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 308, 30 December 1933, Page 3

CRIME IN 1933.

BUSY YEAR FOR POLICE INCREASE IN MURDER CASES. NO SERIOUS EPIDEMICS. The year closing to-morrow has been a particularly busy and strenuous one for the police force of the Auckland district. The increased number of murdere during 1933 might make it appear that crime is on the increase in the Auckland Province, but this does not apply to crime generally. "Apart from the unfortunate murder cases which have added considerably to the work of the force, fortunately there have been no epidemics of any particular class of crime," said Superintendent S. Till this morning. "The extent of serioue crime has not been greater than usual, apart from one or. two isolated cases. The efficiency and keenness of the men of both the" detective and uniform branches continues to be of a high standard, and we arc pleased and satisfied with the onerous duties the men have carried out during the year. During the last twelve months a fairly large number of additional constables have been added to the Auckland force."

Murder Cases. Since January last eix murders have been committed, while at present a man is in custody awaiting trial on a charge of murder at Ruawaro. On January 17 last a woman named Bertha May Bennett was shot in her home at Tamaki, and Thomas Francis Clark was later tried and found guilty of manslaughter. In the Far North a Maori farmer, Hati Robson, was found shot, and a Maori youth named Manuel was later arrested and tried for murder, but he was acquitted. Not long afterward another Maori youth was taken into custody on a charge of murder, but the case never came to trial, the youth being placed in an institution. The next murder occurred in Grey Lynn, when, on August 16, Mrs. Christian Cunningham was found lying in her house with her throat cut and her head injured. She died a few hours later, and a man named Edwards, who was found injured in the same room, was arrested for her murder and later convicted and hanged in Mount Eden gaol. No trial followed the charge of murder brought against Mrs. Busby, who was charged with the murder of her five-year-old eon at Paeroa on September 21, the unfortunate woman being removed to an institution.

A Baffling Case. On the morning of Sunday, October 15, James Hunter Blair was found in his taxi at Three Kings with his head battered. No clues were left by the perpetrator of the crime, which has so far baffled the police. It is a most difficult crime to solve, ae both motive and clues are absent. The day following the taxi murder Mrs. Christoble Lakey was found dead, with her head immersed in the shallow water of a duck pond at her farm at Ruawaro. Her husband. Samuel Fender Lakey, disappeared and a prolonged and intensive search of the whole countryside by the largest police search party "ever assembled in the history of the New Zealand police force was carried out for his body. A man is in custody charged with the murder of Mr*. Lakey. During 1033 there were a number of other eerious criminal happenings, such as the fihooting of Jamee Pennington Bates, service station proprietor, at Mercer. Mr. Bates made a good recovery, and a young man was later arrested and sentenced. Nuree Kerr, after- three trials on a charge of administering poieon to a child, was convicted and sentenced to a long term. Thie case etood out as an interesting and important one, and involved much work by the detective etaff. Then there was the brave attempt of Constable Stewart to arrest the driver of a stolen motor car in Grey Lynn, when the constable wae seriously injured by being crushed between the runningboard of the speeding car driven by the thief and a stationary vehicle.

House Thefts. In connection with the crime of breaking and entering of dwellings and shope, many arrests were made during the year. A daring thief known to the police as "Slippery Sam" caneed them much worry at intervals in various suburbs. So far "Slippery Sam," who usually works early in tbo mornings. when the occupants are in sound sleep, and curries out his crimes in a most audacious manner, has not been caught. A noticeable feature during the year has been the decrease in drunkenness. This is probably a sign of the times. Another interceding feature of the year is that it has been quite exceptional to find that destitution due to the present economic conditions has had anything to do with the commission of crime. The smuggling of silver from Auckland to Australia wae another matter which made much extra work for the police. Shoplifting, especially among women, has increased slightly during the year, especially during the last few months, and several women have been sent to prison for short terms. In many cases those arrested for various crimes have been under 21. Large numbers have been admitted to probation, and this system of probation hae worked well during 1933, remarkably few who have been given a chance to rehabilitate themselves ever getting into trouble again.