MAILVAN DRIVER SENTENCED

Greymouth Evening Star, 28 October 1931, Page 9

MAILVAN DRIVER SENTENCED

ROBBERY FIVE YEARS AGO. LONDON, September 15. Sentence of three years’ penal servitude for a mailbag robbery which created a sensation five years ago was passed at the Old Bailey yesterday on John Emmanuel Hutt, 27, otherwise known as John Hamilton, and William Lane ,a bookmaker, of Cautley-avenue, Clapham-common. He was charged with stealing three registered mailbags, the property of the Postmaster-General, on Sept. 25, 1926, and-also with bigamously marrying Dorothy Violet Bruty, of Cuparroad, BatteTsea Park-road. Hutt pleaded guilty to both charges, and he was sentenced to twelve months’ hard labour for bigamy, this sentence to run concurrently with his term of penal servitude. Sir Percival Clarke, prosecuting, said that the mail-van was driven away from the Smithfield Post Office and was later found, but three registered bags, containing packages of the value of £7OOO, were missing. The driver had disappeared. The bigamous marriage took place at Clapham Junction Register Office in 1927, when Hutt used the name of Joseph Peter Wilson. Later he told Miss Bruty that he could not use his real name of Hamilton as he was wanted for a mailbag robbery at Hatton Garden. Detective-sergeant Greenberg said that Hutt had been in trouble in Minneapolis in 1920, and at Minnesota Reformatory he was described as “a tough man.” He made an attempt to escape from the reformatory by sawing through the bars of the hospital ward windows. He was deported to England in February, 1923. Accused had been employed as a van driver in London and as a “tic-tac” man on dog-racing tracks. His lawful wife remarried last year, not having seen him for seven years.