LAW'S LONG ARM.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 18678, 29 April 1926, Page 5

LAW'S LONG ARM.

ALLEGED INSURANGE FRAtfl). BACK TO ENGLAND FOR TRIAL. ■ In 1922, a woman named Susannah Bevan went to bathe at Ilfracorabe,in Devon* One morning she went out, seating her intention of going for ft bathe, and was not seen again. Her clothes were found on the beach, and jt was presumed that tho woman had boen carried out to sea and drowned. She left a wiii, which was proved, and .which revealed her estate with assets £BSO, debts £3lO, and two life insurance policies, on® for '£2ooo in tho JJagle, Star and British Dominions Cowpaay, atid tho other for £2BBI in tho Prudential Insurance Company* The former company refused to pay, •but the Prudential Company paid the full sum of £2BBI to tho ' woman's legatees. Later it was discovered that a woman named Trixi© Finch had ■ entered tho servico of Major Sfcuddy, at Broadclyst, as a cook. On February 12th, 14)25, she left for New Zealand, being granted a free passage under tho New Zealand Domestic Service scheme. Evidence fromßngland. j

1 After- several remands, the case in which Susann&h BeVtth, alias Tfixie Finch, was charged with conspiring on 'or about June 24th, 1922, to defraud 'tho Prudential Insurance Company of London, of tho sua of £2BBI 13s Gd, was again brought before Mr H. 1AViddowson, S.AI., ye&terday morning dt the Megißtrate'u Court. , A -statement relating the movements of tho.accnsed, as made out by tlve-lnspector Cornelius, was read. It showed that in June, 1024, the accused was at the Girls' friendly Society 6 Lodge, and registered ab Trisio Finch. On Juno aoth instructions were given by D&vld Bevait, accused's ton, nnd David Boxveil, etecutor under tho will of accused, that a search be made for her. That was done, but without result. The accused was in the service of several people, 4nd she told one that she had lost her clothes travelling about. She told a Kathleen Thorp about some financial trouble a wonjan friend of hers was in. This woman had a little boy with her, .whose mother wan believed to have been drowned. Accused left for New Zealand on February 12th, 1925. Sho obtained ft free passage, and gave her agfe as thirtysix, although she must have been fiftysix. Free passages for domestics were not given to anyone over forty. Letters had been received from New Zealand, and the signatures compared with those on accused's policies. They were alike, and there was reason to believe that they were those of accused.A clerk in the Insurance Co., giv* ing evidence In London, stated. that the Company had been informed in July, 1022, that Susannah Bevan had disappeared, nnd was supposed to have been drowned while .bathing at Ilfr.icombe, Devonshire. ■ Under an order of .the Probate Court, David &. Bqwen solicitor, the executor under the will, was permitted to swear that the death of-Susannah Bevan, took plate on or since June 2flth, J022. Probate of the will had been granted, and the sum of £2BBI 13a 0d was paid to the executor. A sum of £3l 10s had also been paid to David M. H. Bevan, son Of tho accused, in respect of the remaining policies on her Ufei

Life in New Zealand. Mary Moata Maedonald, 103 Bcaley avenue, Christchurch, stated that while she had been in England In 1D24, she had made arrangements for a C66k to bo sent out. Accused had arrived in April, 1925, and had remained in her service until December of the same year. . Aetlng-Detectivo Allan stated that, in company with Chief Detective Gibson, ho had arrested the woman, Trixlo Finch, at Hayling Station, North Can* terbury. Ho had taken a list of property in her possession. He had also U)ad6 a list of the clothing in her residence at Bieoarton." Accused had at first denied ownership of some of tho clothing, including a fur coat. Didn't Mean to Defraud.

Chief Detective Gibson, for the prosecution, Said that ho interviewed tho AOcused nt Hayling Station, Glenltl, on February 19th, whore she was then employed as a domestic. When asked if she Were Triple Fincli, she replied in the affirmative. Witness had a provisional warrant for lmr arrest on a charge Of cOttßpiriitg to defraud. She said: tell them in the house—l did not mean to defraud anyone; I have been nearly out of 'my mind.'' At the police station she made a statement in which sho denied intention to defraud anyone. She had not received the money and did not know who did. In the accused's possession witness found ft quantity of documents, including a letter from B. Origg, a blank cheque Ofl Lloyd's Bank, Ltd., a receipt for two sums of £lO, received from somebody, a waxed seal of a bank, a cutting from a newspaper giving the report of Court proceedings referring to the death of accused, an envelope containing receipts for registered letters, and n number of envelopes containing letters and documents with reference tb insurance, witness produced the original warrant ißsued in London, which read: "Did unlawfully conspire with David Maid* wyn Hughes Bevan and others by divers false pretences, and subtle devices, to obtain from the prudential Insurance Company, Ltd., £2BBI 33s 6d." The warrant commanded that the woman be brought before the Bow street Polico Court, and attached were the depositions of witnesses taken in England. The Chief Detective asked for an order •to be made by tho Court that the accused should be returned to England to stand her trial. The Magistrate accordingly remanded tho accused to the United Kingdom for trl»l, ordering that she be detained In the Wellington prison until her departure.