CHARGE OF THEFT

Evening Post, Volume CXXI, Issue 31, 6 February 1936, Page 5

CHARGE OF THEFT

MISSING MONEY .FOUND

IN NAPIER EXPRESS

RAILWAY GANG EPISODE

The finding of a roll of paper money wedged between a water filter and the wall of the lavatory of a first-class carriage attached to the Napier express was one of the links in the chain of evidence advanced in the Magistrate's Court yesterday, when, before Mr. J. G. L. Hewitt, S.M., Samuel Allen, a i labourer, employed by the Railway I Department, pleaded not guilty to a charge of theft of a pocket book containing £12 in notes from a fellowemployee. Allen was committed for trial to the Supreme Court. Joseph Henry Hill, a fitter, employed by the New Zealand Railways, stated that on the week ending November 30, 1935, he was working at the Pahiatua Railway Station, and was living alone in a whare in the station yard. There was a workshop attached to the whare. ■ • On the morning of Friday, November 29, he had tidied up the whare, and had left his wallet underneath the mattress of the bed. The wallet contained, among other things, seven £1 notes and one £5 note. He had left the whare about 8 o'clock. The accused was living in another whare about 50ft lower down, being employed in the same gang. From 8 to 9 that morning he was away attending to a new water-vat at the north end of the station yard, about four or five hundred feet from the whare. WORKING IN SAME GANG. •For part of.the time the accused was working with him, but left at very frequent intervals. The accused went down to his whare, to get to which he would have to pass witness's whare. From 9 till 11.30 a.m. witness was engaged most of the time in the workshop adjoining the whare, and was satisfied that no one had entered his whare. Afterwards he washed and changed in the whare, and about 11.40 looked for his wallet under the mattress. He did not find it. The rest of the whare appeared to be the same as he had left it. Five of the £1 notes were in rather dirty condition, and two were clean. The £5 note was rather dirty with grease and lubricant. He had had the majority of the notes in his possession from twelve to sixteen months, it being necessary in his employment to keep money in his possession against being sent away to another district. Detective-Sergeant Jarrold produced some notes, which the witness said did not appear to be as dirty as his, but he recognised the greasy marks on three of the pound notes and on a £5 note, and said they were his. In reply to Mr. E. D. Blundell. who appeared for the accused, the witness said he suspected the accused of talcing the notes and informed the police when he discovered they were missing. There were five in the gang and one or two of them knew he carried the money about with him, but as far as he knew none of the others left the job at the time the money was taken. James Ashley, a labourer employed by the Department, corroborated Hill's evidence. All members of the gang were living in huts in the yard, and all had arranged that they would be returning- to Wellington that afternoon. HAPPENINGS ON THE TRAIN. At the station he saw Allen, and remarked that he had thought Allen was going the other way. Both caught the Wairarapa train, and sat in opposite seats. At Masterton, when they went for a cup of tea, the accused was accosted, and did not return until just before the train left. Witness gave an account of the accused's movements on the train. They were the only two out of the gang who travelled on that train. ■ Cross-examined by Mr. Blundell, witness said that the accused had left the gang several times that morning, and had gone towards the huts. Edward ijisth, guard employed by New Zealand ifcSiivays, said that he was the guard in chSsie of the Wairarapa express on the day the money was missed. On the arrival of the train at Masterton, he was asked by the police if there were any railway carpenters in the train. On leaving Masterton he went through the train, starting at the front, to check all tickets. He found the accused with Ashby, and asked the accused what the police wanted him for. Allen replied that Hill had lost money, that the detectives had searched him, and that they had searched the others as well, but did not state where. ACCUSED APPROACHES GUARD. On leaving Featherston, witness had checked the train again. Allen had come into the van, and a general conversation about the loss of the money ensued. After witness had conducted ■ shunting operations at Cross Creek, Ihe went back through the train, check-

ing it again and lighting the carnages. The accused had been left in the van at Cross Creek. When witness was washing in the carriage adjacent to ' the van, the accused came through again. A conversation ensued in the van, the accused being in a very agitated condition. A used seal wire lay on the seat, and the accused asked if he could have it. He had been in the van then over half an hour. At the Summit, witness went through the train again, to put out the lights. The accused had just completed washing his hands in a first-class lavatory when he returned, and later asked witness exactly where the carriages were taken at night. A few minutes later he went through into the first-class car lavatory where,he had previously washed his hands. Immediately the witness followed, and watched for the reflection of the far door being opened. He went into the lavatory and made a search, which resulted in his finding the seal wire, now* broken, in the electric light box. A second search revealed a bundle of notes, with a £5 note on the outside, tied with twine, pushed behind the water filter. Witness had to use the wire to get the notes out. He had subsequently counted the money in the presence of another railway employee, and it had been made up of a £5 note and six £1 notes. Later, he had wired the police at Masterton that he had recovered the money. Cross-examined by Mr. Blundell, Blyth stated that seven or eight passengers got on the train at Pahiatua. The accused did not enter the van until Featherston was reached. In reply to a question by the Magistrate, witness stated that the wire had not been in the switchbox when he had turned the lights on, and he had not seen it when he turned them off. It may have been there, but if it was he probably would have touched it. There were passengers in the first-class carriage. Constable N. A. Prussen, of Pahiatua, said he had narrowed the suspects down to the accused,' and subsequently had notified the Masterton police. The following Tuesday he had searched the accused's whare, and had found a quantity of binder twine similar to that tied around the notes found. Cross-examined by Mr. Blundell, witness stated that the wallet and the rest of its contents were still missing. Constable M. Roach, of Masterton, said he had received a message from Woodville to search Allen on the Napier-Wellington express. He had found him in the refreshment room, and had searched him in the stationmaster's office without result. The accused appeared very white and nervous during the search. Cross-examined by Mr. Blundell, the witness stated that the search had of necessity been made in a hurry,-and that the accused's effects, if any, in the train had not been examined. . OTHER NOTE RECOVERED. Detective, T. Brpsnan stated that he had met the express, and escorted the accused to the detective office, after the latter had collected his wages. He was then wearing an overcoat and carrying a fibre suitcase. Allen admitted that he had used the first-class lavatory, and that he had taken a piece of seal wire from the guard's van, but denied having put- the wire in the switch-box. A further search revealed a £1 note under the lining in the right-hand side of his vest. There was a hole in the vest pocket, through which witness extracted the note, which was stained with grease. Before the search, the accused had placed his pay on the table, and had stated that he had no more money on him. Detective-Sergeant Jarrold then produced a report on the note from the Government Analyst, in which it was stated that mineral oil had been extracted from the note. Norman Richards, a teller at the Reserve Bank, testified to having examined the note found by Detective Brosnan, and that the note had been in circulation since August or September, 1934. A note in similar condition received at the bank would be cancelled. On November 15, 1935, he had paid out the railway salaries, all in new notes. Cross-examined by Mr. Blundell, he said that the note found on the accused was one of the first series to be issued in Wellington. John William Fergie, chief clerk at Lambton Station, said that he attended to the payment of certain railway employees, and that he had paid the accused on November 15. The notes he received were all new. It would be most improbable that a note in the condition of that shown would be issued, and, if so, would have escaped witness's attention. Mr. Blundell said that the case was based1 entirely on circumstantial evidence, which had* to be complete if a conviction was to be entered. No evidence had been brought that the accused had entered Hill's hut, and nothing incriminating had been found when he was searched at Masterton. That he had retained £1 for expenditure in Wellington was rendered nebulous by the fact that he knew he was going to be paid when he reached there. It was admitted that he had probably been paid, with a £5 note, so that it was quite possible that he could have changed it. •