DARING ROBBERY

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 75, 21 December 1929, Page 12

DARING ROBBERY

THEFT DURING LUNCH HOUR PAY ENVELOPES STOLEN LOSS ABOUT £270 Dominion Special Service. Christchurch, December 20. A daring and well-planned robbery took place at the office of Hathherley Bros., situated at 58 Salisbury Street, Christchurch, between noon and 1 p.m. to-day. The firm, which Is one of the biggest plastering businesses in Christchurch, lost roughly £270 in cash through the theft, most of which had been made up into pay envelopes for their employees. From the circumstances attending the crime, it appears that the person responsible was well acquainted with the lay-out of the building and the habits of those who frequent it. The office itself is a building of two fairly large rooms, one of which is used by Mr. O. 8. Pennicuick, whose fitting shop and joinery works are nearby, and the other is occupied by Hatherley Bros. A right-of-way leads from Salisbury street, a distance of about fifty yards, to heavy Wooden gates which are directly opposite the door and window of Messrs. Hatherley’s room. The thief apparently broke through a portion of the window and reached inside for the latch. The lower portion of the window cannot be raised and the entry was made after pulling down the upper half. An Easy Matter. Once inside the thief went straight through the office past the roll-top desk, and took down the key of the desk from above the door connecting the two rooms. This was oh Air. Pennicuick’s side of the door. Returning to the desk it was an easy matter to open it and collect all the cash which had been left there at noon by the clerk, Mr. R. AlcDowell, wlio'liad been making up the pay envelopes. The desk was then relocked, the key was put back again in its place, and the thief'left by the door, which fie locked behind him. Several odd silver coins were found on the floor at the rear of the office, and by the door. These must have been dropped on the way out. The firm employs forty or fifty men, including apprentices, and the regular custom is for the senior partner, Air. E. J. Hatherley, to call in at the office early on Friday morning and to write a cheque for the wages which are to be paid later in the day. This was done yesterday, and the cheque was cashed subsequently by Air. AlcDowell. The amount of money was larger than usual, as several of the men had been on country jobs and had a certain amount of overtime coming to them. Two of them had been working at Menzies Bay and two had been working at Greymouth. These men were to received sums upward of £3O. One of the men from Greymouth had applied for early payment, on Thursday and had received £3O in cash. Discovery of Loss. Mr. Hatherley usually calls in at 12 o’clock and collects the pay envelopes which have been made up by the clerk, so that he can deliver them to the men at the jobs in the afternoon; If any of them are missed they return to the office when' they have finished work for the day and receive their wages from the clerk instead. Through’ pressing business. Air. Hatherley did not return at the usual time to collect the wages to-day, and it was at 1 p.m. that Mr. McDowell communicated with him by telephone informing him of the theft. Mr. AlcDowell had cashed the cheque at the Bank of New Zealand in the morning and had received the amount, mainly in' £lO notes. He returned to the office and began making up the envelopes. - These were almost completed, although none were sealed, when he left for lunch at noon, leaving the cash in his locked desk and locking the premises after him. The key was put in its place above the door in Afr. Pennicuick’s office. The amount which was drawn from the bank yesterday is much more than the £l5O which is normally drawn each week. This in itself could be regarded as evidence that the crime is the work of someone with a knowledge of the business. Added to this, however, is the fact that Air. Pennicuick’s staff at the joinery works—usually quite a number of men—consisted to-day of the foreman and a single apprentice. Detectives are investigating the circumstances of the theft.