Garage Man Attacked

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31771, 30 August 1968, Page 20

Garage Man Attacked

(New Zealand Press Association)

AUCKLAND, August 29.

A Remuera service station attendant received serious injuries, including a fractured skull, when he was attacked with an axe and robbed of more than $5O early this morning. A customer was also attacked and was cut about the head with the axe.

The attendant is Janies Arthur Skott, aged 20, married. The customer was Brian Dallas, aged 37, a refinery worker, married, with two children.

Mr Skott is seriously ill in the neurosurgical unit in Auckland Hospital, where he was transferred from Green Lane Hospital. Mr Dallas was treated and discharged from Green Lane. Mr Skott, an Australian, was on duty in the service station on the comer of Remuera Road and St Vincent Avenue about 3.30 a.m. Police say he was set upon by a youthful, well-spoken intruder.

While he was lying unconscious and bleeding inside the service station building, Mr Dallas drove in for petrol. Police said he approached the robber, thinking he was the attendant and was also knocked down and stunned. N.Z. Accent The attacker was described as European, aged about 20, sft 6in tall, with a New Zealand accent. He had a tanned complexion, suggesting he might have a trace of dark blood, and was clean shaven. He was wearing a dark jacket or suit coat and dark trousers. When last seen the assailant was going along Remuera Road toward Meadowbank on foot, carrying a brown briefcase or small suitcase and the weapon—a small axe or tomahawk. Newmarket police were quickly on the scene after being called by Mr Dallas.

They found that money was missing from the till and some cigarettes had also been taken.

Detective Inspector J. F. Stevenson said “saturation" patrols involving 20 men, dogs and road blocks, were organised in an unsuccessful attempt to catch the robber. At daylight a team of constables scoured the RemueraMeadowbank area for the weapon used in the attack. A further 10 detectives con-

tinued intensive inquiries. Mr Skott had been working the midnight to 8 a.m. shift since mid-June.

Measures Sought The president of the New Zealand Service Station Proprietors’ Federation (Mr E. J. Leadley) said he was “more than concerned” about attacks on Auckland service station attendants.

Mr Leadley said he would call a meeting of members to find out their views and see what precautionary measures could be recommended. Precautions were for the individual proprietors. Personally, he felt that 24hour stations should have two attendants after darkness so that one man protected the other, but the economics of this would be difficult. Profit margins might not cover the cost of their labour. He said one of his stations employed two men at night and also had an alarm system connected to a nearby house. “Highly Concerned”

The general manager of White Glove Service Stations, Ltd, the parent company, Mr R. H. Burt, said the firm was "highly concerned” about service station robberies. “We are already working with the police crime prevention officer in an effort to evolve a plan that will ensure the safety of our employees,” he said. “We don’t know yet what the plan will be. Having two attendants on the night shifts has been suggested but this would be uneconomic.”