CONVICT’S COOL STORY

Greymouth Evening Star, 16 May 1925, Page 2

CONVICT’S COOL STORY

SCHEME; TOSTEAL £ 1660.' ' A - A.-k S ' r • -■ ■■

A smiling convict coolly told the Court at the Old Bailey, Eondon, re--;, cently, the story of the attempt<-nlade by himself and his associates to “craCk’ 7 a safe containing £l6OO at the Warehouse of Messrs Ewart, in Euston Road, London. A dramatic feature of the case was the evidence of the detectives who Surprised the gang at work. It was shown that but for their timely arrival this safe; which had been w|th a powerful explosive to which was attached a time fuse and detonator, W'onld have been blown open. . , - ?. Four men concerned in the affair were found guilty and dealt With as follows:—Dennis Harris, aged 61—. known as “Dare Devil Dennis”— ldbottrer, threcwyears’ penal servitude'j John Janies, aged GO—known as "Melbcfliffit! Jack”—decorator, three years' penal servitude;. Edward Wood, aged 50, -dealer,.. 15 months’hard',.labour.; John Russell,- aged JO 1 , Clerk, r.six months’ ■. in the second division. An up-to-date set of safeb’redkiiig tools, together with a quantity of gelignite). a powerful explosive, was “exhibited” on: a table in Court. n - > . In.' opening the case against Harris and Wood, .who pleaded, not guilty, Mr. Percival .Clarke, for the prosecution, said:' “if.pur case is well founded these two men form- an important part Of- a dangerous gang of. thieves, Who are experts in breaking into safes” On the morning of November 28, fie Went on, Harris, Wood, Russell and. James Were seen in earnest conversation in the Orange Tree pub-lic-house, in Euston Road. Several detectives were also there, and, as a result of what they' noticed, a force of officers, under the direction of Chief-Inspector Cornish,, was disposed In and around the neighbourhood of Messrs Ewart’s premises, which are of. a large and rambling character.. . .

About 9.45 the police saw what they were expecting. James and Russell appeared together in Euston ,/ Road, and soon afterwards Wood was also seen. Shortly after 10 o’clock Harris joined James and Russell, and it was observed that he and James each had a parcel. They were joined by Wood, to whom Janies handed his parcel, and then all four turned into the side-door of Ewart’s. It was soon evident that the men were working to a time-table, for at midnight Wood came out, and, after walking a short distance, he drew a handkerchief across his face, apparently as a signal to the men inside that all was safe. Soon after ho saw some of the officers, and at once took to his heels, but was caught. He was surprised. “How did you tumble this job?” he asked. An hour later Har- ■ ris came out of the warehouse, and he too, was arrested-. a

James and Russell were later found crouching near a bench on the roof.

James frankly admitted his. guilt. “There were five of us in it,” he said. : “Russell, a man named Williams, whose address TVlon’t know; another called Tom, one df Ewart’s employees and myself. • The ’ scheme was prepared in a billiard hall ten days before the night of the crime. We had an appointment at 12 o’clock at the Orange Tree on the day we -were arrested, to make final arrangements, and it was decided that the man from Ewart’s should let us in just after 10i o’clock. Williams and Tom got away on the roof half an hour before we were arrested. They had taken the things there, and had made the arrangements for us to be let in.” James’ frank statement | tlia’t he knew Williams had been previously convicted because they had been in prison at the same time caused a smile. He admitted that he had been in prison about 27 times, and that he had known Harris, who was formerly a trainer ■ of racehorses, for 15 years, in Johannesburg. He admitted too, that he was turned out of South Africa, and then came to England. Mr. Clarke: Nice 1 country, this?— It doesn’t look like it. (Laughter). Janies added that Williams made the plans, and invited him and Russell to join in the scheme, to which they agreed.' They knew that there would' be £l6OO in the safe. Russell, ill evidence; said that Williams was the master mind in the scheme. When they discovered that there was something wrong outside he and James hid behind the bench. “You mean something right—the police were there,” said Mr. Clarke. “Wrong from my point of view,” said prisoner, ruefully. Chief-Detective-Inspector Cornish detailed the criminal records of the men. Harris, an Australian, had been living on crime ever since he arrived in this country. Wood, although he had not been convicted since 1909, was regarded by ithe police as a promoter of crime. “We regard him as a very clever man, and I think he is the man Williams. I am satisfied he is the promoter. of crime in this case. He got to know the inner workings of this safe, went into the building, and came out, for his own safety, as an outside man. But he was the organiser and after he had assisted the other three to carry the tools into the place he came out.” Russell, too, was looked upon as a dangerous and clever thief. Harris’ career of crime began many years ago in South Africa, and he has served long sentences for robbery and housebreaking in Johannesburg. Deported, to New York as an undesirable in July, 1914, he went to Southampton, and was believed to have gone to America -with a° through ticket to Texas. But he dodged immigration officials and ,-went to London, and since then has spent practically all his .life in prison. He is still a convict on leave. James has served eight sentences in England, ranging from one month to eighteen months’ imprisonment for assaulting the police, housebreaking, and loitering with the intention of picking pockets. On one occasion he was caught by a ruse, a bell being attached to a wallet in the pocket of a coat in a place: where there had. been many thefts. He, too, was deported from South Africa as an undesirable, and he is described by the South African police as .a dangerous criminal. He has been identified as a man calling himself Wade, who was convicted in his early days in Sydney, Adelaide, and other places, and served terms of five years’ imprisonment for robbery with violence, and four years for house-breaking. Wood is married and has seven children, and his convictions date from .1895, for shop-breaking, picking pockets, and loitering with that intention. He had, however, kept out

of the hands of the police since,last sentence, in 1909.. Russell served an apprenticeship to a well-known racehorse trainer before the •, war, and has twice been bound over tvhen arrested for loitering and being a suspected person.