ARMED THIEVES.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19699, 16 August 1929, Page 9

ARMED THIEVES.

AUSTRALIAN EPIDEMIC. REMARKABLE CRIME WAVE. (FBOM OTJB OWN CORBE3POMDENT.) SYDNEY, August 8. The operations of armed thieves continue to a remarkable degree in Sydney and Melbourne. These armed robberies began in Melbourne, and such is the psychology of the criminal, that it was not long before they spread to Sydney. Australia's criminal history is a record of crime that'has come in waves. One poisoning case has invari-> ably ied to a series of similar cases. One assault on a girl is invariably followed by a number of such assaults, and so on right through the criminal calendar. So detectives were not surprised at the turn oft events, but the public are perturbed at their inability to make a capture. The detectives say that when they do make a capture this class of crime will cease. Anyhow, the public would like to see at least one capture in order to be satisfied that the position has not got out of hand. Again, the detectives assert that it is not a gang that is operating. They say that this class of criminal prefers to work alone, for the of capture are not so great. The public would like to be convinced on this point also. It is of little satisfaction to know that the Australian criminal is not of the murderous type known to Chicago. They do not shoot to kill, according to the police, but a man who has a revolver pressed into his ribs, or held up before him, will not take any risks. So it cannot be said that the police statements on the situation are very satisfying. . Sydney had at least two cases or armed hold-ups during the week-end. In one instance" three masked men entered the home of a prominent bookmaker, and forced him to hand over all he had in the house —about £72 and they were probably disappointed that his return for the day should have been so small. The police were quickly on the scene, but they have not made any arrest. Then on Monday night, in same locality, another man was held up at the point of the revolver, and made to hand over all he had. Again the police made no arrest, and it was probably because they were so disgusted with themselves that they withheld from the Press particulars of this crime. Within an hour on Saturday night a man with a revolver held up six persons at Moonee Ponds and Ascot Vale, suburbs of Melbourne. Other cases of street robberies occurred at South Melbourne and in St. Kilda road, bourne On two occasions the thief fired shots into the air after he had threatened to shoot the persons whom he had held up. One woman with great couragn refused to give up her money and struck the man with her umbrella but a man to whom she appealed for help refused to have anything to do with the affair, and slammed the door of his house in her face. He did not want to be the hero of any shooting episode. Every available member of the Melbourne police force was engaged on the eases,, and in accordance with the policy adopted, no information was given to the Press. The woman who showed such courage was Miss Kate Raymond, of Ascot Vale. Refusing point-blank to give the man her handbag, she struck him on the head. The man pressed a revo.ver against her chest and said: "Hand over the money. I want it without any trouble." Miss Raymond noticed that his hand was not steady. "I will not

give you any money," aha said, and I at the same time she brought her umbrella down on his head. As he staggered back she screamed for help, and she opened tlie gate Of a house with the intention of entering. The man threatened that if she did not stop screaming be would shoot her, but Miss Raymond disregarded the warning. The man then fired two shots in the air, over her head, and ran away. Miss Raymond went to the door of the house, and the occupier said: "I do not want to have anything to do with this case," and slammed • the door in her face. She then rang up the police who were quickly on the scene. But they all went back to the station with the armed man still at large. Four of the other victims during the night were women, and in at leaat one other case the thief got nothing for his trouble, but fired a bullet into the air as soon as he encountered the slightest opposition. It would seem that these Melbourne robbers are not very brave nor very clever, and it is amazing that they should escape detection for so long when the whole force of is out after aided by wireless and by motor patrols. It is a bad advertisement for the Confidence in the police in Sydney was restored to some extent at least when arrests followed the latest holdup by armed men on Tuesday night. However the success of the police in this instance was due to the bravery of the old man who was chqsen for the robbery, and to the bravery of his neighbours, particularly a woman. The two masked bandits displayed amazing audacity when they entered the butcher 'a shop of Michael Briggs, of Redfern. After Mr Briggs had completed his various tasks in the shop he went upstairs to his room, and as he sat down to his tea he heard strange noises in another room. On making an investigation, with the aid of a match, he very soon found himself looking into the barrel of a revolver. "Sorry, old man," said one of the intruders, "but we want your money and we want it quick." With that they seized their elderly victim and soon bound him tightly. "Now, where is the easht" they asked, when they had made him helpless, and he replied that the only money he had was in the cash box, to which he pointed, so obligingly. The men helped themselves to the silver, but they were far from satisfied, and demanded to know where the notes were. They knew that the man had not banked that day, because it had been a bank holidav, but they did not know that he had on his person more than £l5O in notes, which he had hidden away, some in his socks and some in the lining of his coat as soon as he was aware that there were strangers in the bo* l "®- At this stage Mrs Jackson, who lived next door, heard the angry voices, and as she knew that Briggs lived by himself, she commenced to make investigations. She sldwly raised a blind and peered into the premises that adjoined hers. She at once realised what was happening. Of course, she was able to inform the police at once, and the rapidity with which the police reached the scene was one of the features of the ease. Very soon the whole neighbourhood was aroused, and it was not long before the bandits realised that their presence had been Although the men made their escape from the shop, it was not long before thev were arrested after two exciting encounters with the police. Both men are labourers—meaning that they do nothing in particular, for most of the idlers who are arrested call themselves labourers—and they are described by tne police as birds of passage.