BURGLARS BROUGHT TO BOOK

Evening Star, Issue 14308, 5 March 1910, Page 7

BURGLARS BROUGHT TO BOOK

BY DETECTIVES WARD AND LILLEY. EXTENSIVE JEWEL ROBBERIES. TWELVE HOUSES ENTERED. Since December last, when people began x> take their holidays, no lees than twenty houses in Dunedin and the suburbs have been broken into and depleted of jewellery and clothing. The arrest of Martha Basaii some weeks ago cleared up come of the mysteries, and partially allayed tho uneasiness which householders felt at leaving their homes even for a. few hours. But the thefts continued, and it became evict on. that a gang were cleverly working the town. Detectives Ward and Lillcy, who have been prosecuting exhaustive inquiries, ran their men—or rather youths to earth List night, effecting a smart capture which explains the breaking of twelve houses am. accounts for tho loss of about £l7O. worth of jewellery. By a process of elimination the detectives "sorted out” Anthony ]Terbert Anderson, a lad who states that .it is just under sixteen years of ago, ami Reginald Lawson, who is just twenty-om. rears old. The detectives went to the latter’s room in a boarding-house in Moray place at three o’clock yesterday afternoon, and waited for him there. He turned up at soven o'clock, and a charge ot buij,< was immediately put to him. Fie denied at first, but when a search had hiought to light many articles missed from houses tie faced tho inevitable. Tho detectives nex* •went out and picked up Anderson in t l ® street. They took him to the house - Melville street where he lives uith hif» sister—a highly respected citizen—ami there conducted a similar search. «dh la-, results. Both youths were locked up. -- largo portion of the stolen proper \ '• -. been recovered some in the prisonc s rooms, some fiom pawnbrokers, t rom instatements made it seems that they rule u to plead guilty, and are assisting the !« ■ to recover the balance ot the gooes. K went in exclusively for jewellery and cho.e with care houses from winch the,', kne . overv occupant to he temporally ahsen.. A record of the wmk atmlnit-.d to loom shows how systematically they went üboiu it. Here are the chargts to be prciened against them : That between December 27 and January 1 thev did break and enter tho dwelling oi‘Margaret M’Keown at A ornington," and steal a bottle of smelling salts valued at £1 ami other article* o. jewellery and of the toilet table of a totalvalue of £7 14s. ■'* , , That between December 2o and ,lannarv 29 thev did break and enter the dwelling of Robert Percy WmL Nevada'. Kaslyn. and sled an stone mounkd m gold, valued at £4 am. other jewellery of a total value ot w2o. ( That on Jamiarv 26 they did hieak am. enter the house oi W. J. Morrell (rector of the Bovs' High School) and steal a gold bangle valued at £2 10s. That on February 2o thc\ did ente. the dormitory of the Bovs’ Hig i j-e ooand steal IC© m money, a F»tal note for 15s, a steamer ticket between V 1 lington and Lyttelton, ami other gotuL JJ That between February 23 and 24 they did enter the bouse of Inter ; the Town Belt, and stead a lady --, go d watch valued at £lB, a chain valued -u £5, and other articles oi a total value . £32 7s 6d. FiUvird That they did enter Edw a < Withers’s house, in Loml°n s treel, and steal jewellery valued at £4 , and tm bouse of James Newburgh Lawson, in SU David street, between 7 and March 1, and take jewellery valued “That they did similarly enter the bouse of Alex. Burns, in bnum street, between March 1 ai;d dU^ h 2, antl steal a watch valued at £l2 and other articles of a total value of £lB lU.s. That on March 3 they did enter the house or George Joseph S undos street, ami steal jewellery valued at £45 12s 6d- vr,,-,.), That between February 26 and M.iu-h 4 they did enter the house ot Arthur Giffonl Williams, in Hondas street, and steal jewellery 'mined at £Lu. Lastly, thev will be charged with having bul’glarbu-ly entered the house o XL. Alfred Thomson. Nouung was taken from there, however. Both Lids _ wire , brought. before M>_ Widdowson. S.-n., tni-> uenmn 0 . -> • of them looks the trionm-h ° Chief -deter,live Herbert said that some of the properly MUged - Urn (only one charge' l-'oiuhi ing) had been touud and travel to he -m----cuscds’ possession. In mbhtiou H l -”. 1 > .' l lot of other goods had been stolen m » - lar circumstanees. whit !x vyoukl re nil. m like charges, to tho number tmi « eleven. For the purpose ot mqony.> m to prepare the cases, he would uk k .i remand for eight days. tH m, e ~L ’ goods were pawned. and he would lua sav that if some of the pawnbrokers bar acted as ordinary <it were supposed to net, some of the charges vyoukl never have been preferred, because the accused would have been a-rested before their commission. , , . Mr Widdowsou ; 1 should have thought that the recent case would have been enough. _ „ Mr Herbert : Some ot them seem to* think that their licenses arc granted for their own benefit alone, and not at all in the interests of tho general public. The chief-detective com tinned that, on the question of bail, which he understood Air Macdonald (who repiesented accused) would raise, he might say that the accused were helping to recover some of the property. Air D. D. Alacdonald said that accused Anderson lived with his sister, and he would engage, if bail were allowed, that the boy reported himself to tho police every morning. Air Gumming said that Anderson s sister, with whom ho lived, was a very respecter! woman. Air Widdowsou said that if the hoy alleged that he was under sixteen it had better bo proved whether he was. as it would then bo a case to bo hoard before the Juvenile Court, so far as the younger was concerned. Chief-detective Herbert said that the difference in tho ages might suggest that the elder led the younger, but as against that the younger had committed one offence by himself. Mr Widowson : Which at tho same time may have been in collusion with the other. Both accused were remanded till Atom day week. In Anderson’s case hail was fixed, self in £SO and two sureties of £25, or one approved surety of £SO, on the condition that ho reports himself everyday.