THE WRONG TURNING.

Bush Advocate, Volume XXII, Issue 65, 18 March 1910, Page 8

THE WRONG TURNING.

Considerable public interest was manifested at Croydon Quarter Sessions the other day, in the case of Leonard Lambert (forty), who was described as of good social position and a "house agent. He pleaded guilty to three charges of burglary and one of theft. In November last, Lambert, who : was very well-known in the town, called at a jeweller's shop at West Croydon, and asked to see a number of diamonds. While they were on the counter he snatched the tray on which they were placed and bolted out of the shop with them, but he was caught and given into custody. On making a search at his lodgings the police discovered articles that connected him "with three burblaries which had been committed at local jewellers' shops some time previously. One of these occurred as far back as 1906. It was stated that the accused's method in these three cases was to smash' jewellers' windows during the night with a hammer, which was found at his residence, the face of the instrument being wrapped up in pieces of woollen garments. The value of the articles which he was accused of stealing amounted to £250. Counsel for prisoner said that this Avas a case in which a man of absolutely unblemished reputation suddenly committed a serious crime. After leaving, school Lambert joined the Navy,, but was discharged therefrom owing'to an accident. For ten years he held a position of trust with one of the largest firms of provision merchants in Croydon. Eight years later, after having served honorably with another Croydon firm, he left with savings amounting to £I6OO. This money he invested with a Piccadilly firm, but the enterprise proved a failure. In February; 1906, he was stricken with fever, and from that date Lambert was a changed man. Whatever the result of the present case, his brother had made arrangements to send him to Rhodesia. He was sentenced to nine months in the second division.