CHILD AND SHOP THEFTS

Greymouth Evening Star, 19 December 1936, Page 9

CHILD AND SHOP THEFTS

RUNNING BEHIND COUNTER LONDON, October 31. How a five-year-old child was used by its mother as an accomplice in thefts from stores was described at Marylebone court yesterday. Phyllis Crossbett, 22, housemaid and the mother of two children, living at Blomfield-street, Maida Vale, pleaded guilty to a series of thefts of handbags and other property, including a Russian sable fur valued at £B9. She was sentenced to nine months’ hard labour. Mr. Ray Whiteway, prosecuting, said Crossbett was seen with the child in the basement of Selfridge’s stores. The child ran behind the counter and the other followed it, ostensibly to bring it back. “Our case is,” said Mr. Whiteway, “that the whole thing was prearranged to give this woman an opportunity of going round behind the counter after the child and stealing assistants’ handfbags. I “When she returned with the child she also had as assistant’s handbag under her arm, and had taken the money from it.” In her large carrier bag the shop detective found a coat, a fountain-pen that had come from another assistant’s handbag which had been stolen that day, and a £2O fur uccklet that had been stolen from the stockroom. Mr. Whiteway added that these thefts of assistants’ handbags always took place on Thursdays and Fridays when the assistants were paid their wages.

So seriously was the store perturbed that a mass meeting of all the buyers and superintendents was called in order to assist the detective staff in tracking down the thief.