CHAOTIC TRAIL

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 24, 29 January 1938, Page 7

CHAOTIC TRAIL

YOUNG BOYS'^GANG". WRECKAGE IN WAKE. ELEVEN HOMES ENTERED. 121,4-YE AR-OLB LEADER. (By Telegraph.— Press Association.) OHRTSTCHURCH. this day. The extraordinary activities of a gang of four boys, led by the youngest of i their number—aged onlv 12V years between January 12 and January 18, when they broke into eleven houses, leaving a trail of wreckage behind them, and stole, jewellery and property of a total value of t>ll. were revealed at a. s.ttmg of the Children's Court thfc 111 or n ing. The four boys, three of whom were brothers, and who pleaded guilty to all the thefts, were aged 12A. I.'!, 14* and 15. Ihree of them were committed to the care of the Superintendent of Child Welfare, thw course having been adopted with -the fourth boy at a previous sitting on January ir>, when he appeared on other charges. Detective Sinclair, who prosecuted, said that property valued at £211 was stoleii. £192 of this being the value of jewellery. He added that jewellery to the value of £177 bad been recovered. Total restitution, including damage to houses, came to about £r>3, and there seemed no hope of recovery. No order for restitution was made. Damage in one bouse alone was estimated at £2:? 15/, said Detective Sinclair. The boys had ransacked the pantry, throwing flour and sugar and other provisions on the floor. A bottle of brandy had been poured all over a bed. Bath salts, perfumes and matches -were strewn about, while bedding had been cut and sliced into small pieces. A brand new mattress was out open and its contents thrown about.