LARGE JEWEL HAUL

Evening Star, Issue 19552, 10 May 1927, Page 10

LARGE JEWEL HAUL

GEMS WORTH £II,OOO STOLEN BIG HOLE BURNED IN SAFE AVORK OF SCIENTIFIC BURGLARS. Practically without a, siuglo clue, Scotland Yard officers were engaged recently making close investigation into the amazing achievement of up-to-date cracksmen who Were provided with the latest scientific equipment. As the result of their prowess the men concerned not only obtained access to a jewellers premises in the East End of London, but they managed—so complete and so skilful were their operations—to escape without detection, with a very valuable'haul, including packets containing diamonds worth about £II,OOO.

Once having secured an entrance, these super-burglars went to work according to an obviously prearranged plan, and with the aid of an acetylene burner speedily cut through the, £in • casing of a sale 4ft high. That the'raiders took every precaution to aid them • in 1 their • nefarious enterprise was shown by the careful way they avoided interference with the electric police warning bell, and also by the manner in which they tidied up everything before they 'left the premises with their rich booty.

The robbery is one of Ihe most daring I have investigated,'’ said Mr Sidney Balon, of Balon Brothers, assessors, of Queen Victoria street. “It is perfectly clear that the thieves knew the' run of the building, and were fully acquainted with the ingenious method in which it was wired to operate the burglar alarm.” RINGS AND DIAMONDS MISSING. That the robbery was the work of some of the cleverest cracksmen is undoubtedly beyond all question. The scene of their operations was the premises of Mr Adolf Fishberg, jeweller, of Commercial road, and those engaged in the exploit got away unobserved with seventeen packets of loosediamonds, 200 to 300 18-caral gold ladies' and men's rings, a number of stone rings set in gold and platinum, a number of ladies’ and men’s gold watches, and some gold cigarette cases.

Judging by the manner in which the crime was carried out the police-were inclined to the theory that the burglars were aware of the safe's contents. The district is patrolled by the police at frequent intervals, and in • order to avoid detection the thieves made their way to the first floor of a house in. a aide turning adjacent to the jeweller’s premises. They then used a balcony communicating with a window at the rear of the shop, and by this means entered the building. There arc several electric wires attached to the burglar alarms in the shop, but none of these was touched. By moans of an acetylene" flaredFTai’ge hole was burned by the ,craeksrpen :through rthe \ back; off- thesolid; steel--safe-p “ When; t ••entered inf- the morning," 'Mr • Fishberg said,'there . ,was no-, thing to ’ indicate .- that •' anything; vya s, amiss. The' .window’ was. barred-’ anil „ shuttered as usual, : at*d ; aH " the'silverwarewas-_' In’. its place. It-was-hot until I’ Had waited’ toVthe rear of. the promises that ’*-1 ’ discovered ',a> robbery had been committed. “The thieves had sawn their way through a door, and had then gone to the safe, a very substantial affair, burned a hole through-it,-and taken .all of ihe diamonds that wore i|iside-r£ll,ooo .worth. They did not leave any litter of any kind behind them,■ and-they even wont-to the .trouble

of putting back the portion of tho door that thoy had sawn away. I could not see tho holo in the eafo until I got close to

THIEVES DISPLAY MUCH DARING. “Tho thieves acted in a most daring way,” said a representative of tho establishment. “The place is self-contained, over tho shop being a work room. The premises were closed at A o'clock. We do not know at what time the thieves carried out their work, for the discovery was not made until 9 a.m. The burglars showed extreme skill. They carried out their work 50 quietly that they were not detected through the peephole in (ho front, door of. the shop. They entered by forcing a back window upstairs, and then took out a panel from tho door that leads to the workshop. “ By this means they were able to come down a short flight of stairs that leads to tho shop. Here there is a narrow’ door. It was locked and strongly protected by iron bars stretched across. What the thieves did was to uso a fine saw and cut the door completely in half just above the lock. Removing tho upper part in this way with tho bars that were attached, thov were able then to get into the shop. Tho safe is only a few inches away from this door, and it is a particularly heavy one, about 4ft high. “Tho back of it faces the front door, but the front is away from observation. The thieves must have been provided with the most modern equipment, for they had to tackle the breaking open of a particularly formidable safe. Had they gone about it clumsily they would inevitably have caused an alarm that is fixed to it to sound. They burned a big holo in the front. 18in by llin. ALL TRACES TIDIED UP. “Tho steel is half an inch thick, and the heat during tho burning operations must have been very great. I think that during the process they were able to take advantage of our electric supply by fitting some connection to tho wire overhead. One imagines that the task occupied Ihem for a long time, but they were certainly most thorough.

“ Directly the hole they had made was large enough they were able to extract the contents. These consisted of diamonds, both cub and uncut, and many rings. The elaborate and sure manner in which the burglars worked seems' to indicate that they were fully conversant with the premises. At the end of their task they showed considerable care in leaving everything tidy, evidently so that no poheeman looking through the peephole would become suspicious.

“The only clue that was left is a curious one. Tho men evidently worked with gloves on, and used some putty to hold in position some wires that were used for the cutting through of the safe. On this putty were found some button marks from the gloves.”