MONEY MISSING FROM HOUSE

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27591, 23 February 1955, Page 7

MONEY MISSING FROM HOUSE

FIVE BOYS SAID TO BE INVOLVED MAN HIT BY SHOT FROM , AIR GUN On Saturday afternnon an 80-year-old man reported to the Christchurch police that boy* had been stealing money from hia house and that one had fired an fdr gun at him during a struggle with another man, but the other man was hit. Detective E. L. McLachlan began inquiries and by Monday night had found five boys, all under 15, who are said by the police to be directly involved in the thefts of various sums totalling at least £270. He also took from one of the boys a high-powered air gun. The old man had money hidden in various parts of his house, some notes being sewn inside a mattress and others pushed behind wallpaper. On February 4 he found that money was being stolen from his house and decided to catch the thief or thieves himself. While he was working in his garden on Saturday afternoon, two boys arrived and asked him if they could buy some plums. He was suspicious of them, but agreed to their request. One boy disappeared while the other waited for the plums but the old man pretended not to notice anything amiss. He picked up a length of rope he had kept in readiness and walked towards the house. He saw the other boy leaving the house by the front door. The boy began to run but the old man threw the rope at him, tripped him, grabbed him, and tied him up. The other boy ran away. The old man was going to take his captive to the police station, but the boy’s father arrived and accused the old man of ill-treating the boy. The two men began fighting and struggling. While this was going on, the first boy, who had run away, returned with a high-powered air gun. He fired a shot, apparently at the old man, but the lead pellet hit the other boy’s father on the right forearm and lodged in a muscle. That ended the struggle and all three went away. The old man reported the affair to the police. When Detective McLachlan was making inquiries in the neighbourhood on Monday afternoon he saw two boys together, one of them wheeling a motor-cycle. He questioned the boys and so began the series of inquiries which led - to the interviewing of all five boys allegedly directly involved In the thefts. The police allege that the boys first seen by the detective had bought the motor-cycle with some of the missing money and then had it registered under false names and ages. Inquiries are continuing, for it has been found that various sums in £l, £5, and £lO notes have been passing among boys in this suburb and thefts may have been fairly widespread.