KILLED BY BANDIT

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 10 January 1925, Page 7

KILLED BY BANDIT

DRAMA IN BUSY STREET. PURSUIT IN GREY FOUR-SEATER BIRMINGHAM, Nov. 21. A trio- of motor bandits raided the jeweller’s sho,p of Messrs Blights, Ltd., New Street, Birmingham, this evening, and made off with, a diamond .star brooch valued at £BO9 and a number oi diamond rings, the total value being estimated a.t £IOOO. fn their .flight they ran over and killed a young woman .and injured a man. The shop is situated in the centre of the street, opposite the New Street Galleries, and scores of people were passing to ami fro at the time t

The thieves drove along the street shortly before live o’clock in a grey four-seater car, bearing, it is said, a London registration number, and drew up near the shop. 'Two of the men jumped out with a mallet. One smashed the window and the other grabbed the jewellery from a tray. A woman who was looking into the window was struck violently on the shoulder as one of the thieves rushed to the shop, and she saw the thief snatch the artic !e from the window. The whole affair was a matter of .a- few seconds. The men jumped, into the waiting car and drove off. A man named George Collins, commissionaire at a picture house, attempted to board it. but another car got into his way and he was prevented. The ear containing the thieves turned into Bennett’s bill at a rapid pace, knocking down and running over a young woman named Gertrude Smith. She was severely injured about the head and chest, and died at the General Hospital two hours later. At the top of the hill the car made in the . direction ,of Victoria square, knocking down another man, though lie was not seriously injured. The ear was .subsequently found abandoned in Bridge street, of Broad street, a few minutes walk from the scene of the robbery. The thieves got clear away. The man who smashed the window is described as about 23 years of age. clean shaven, oft. Klin, in height, and dressed in a grey suit with a cap. The dliver was about 25 or 2d, and wore a blue suit and cap, and the third man ,wa.s similarly dressed.