N.Z. woman ‘one of band of anarchists’

Press, 1 October 1979, Page 15

N.Z. woman ‘one of band of anarchists’

NZPA London A New Zealand woman accused of being one of a band of anarchists on trial on robbery and arms charges, hired cars under false names for the gang, the Old Bailey was told.

Iris Mills, aged 31, formerly of Wellington, has denied charges of conspiring to rob, handling stolen firearms, and possessing explosives. She appears with three British men, all of whom have also pleaded not guilty. In the second day of the trial, which is expected to last about two months, the prosecutor, Mr Michael Wrosley, said the gang had used the same tactics repeatedly. The gang, several members of which are alleged to have fled to escape trial, plotted to rob supermarkets

and steal weapons to get money to build up an arms and explosives arsenal “for attacks upon institutions of our society,” Mr Worsley said on the first day of the trial.

Yesterday he said Mills would hire a car from a Central London firm using a driving licence in the name of Helen Oakham. Later the same day the car would be used in the robbery of a supermarket or a person who had advertised guns for sale. The car would be returned to the hire firm t'he next day. After one robbery a stolen target rifle was found in the boot of a car which had been hired under the name of Helen Oakham. The car was in a garage in London’s East End, which, the prosecution alleged, had been hired by one of Mills’s co-defendants, Ronan Bennett, aged 23. A

key to the garage lock had been found in Bennett’s flat in Bayswater which he shared with Mills. Mr Worsley told the Court that the prosecution would give the jury copies of an “Anarchist cookbook” to study over the week-end. The book allegedly shows hand-drawn maps listing key establishments that the band planned as their targets. The book, including five maps of the United Kingdom, had been recovered from the homes of some of the accused. When taken into account with the discovery of firearms and ammunition at the homes “it is clearly part of a picture of arming for terrorism.”

Mr Worsley emphasised again that the case had no connection with the Irish troubles.