BETRAYED BY FINGERPRINTS

Hawera Star, Volume LIII, 2 August 1933, Page 6

BETRAYED BY FINGERPRINTS

BURGLARY CHARGE COAVJCTIO-N

A'ERDICX OF CITY JURY

(By Telegraph—Press Association., AUCKLAND, Aug. 1. A verdict of guilty was returned by the jury iu the Supreme Court when Leonard Otto Hardy was charged with breaking and entering tlie warehouse of Tylers Limited with intent to commit a crime On a second charge of wilfully placing explosives in the warehouse with intent to damage the safe accused was found not guilty.

All*. Hubble, for the Crown, said the evidence would be almost entirely that of fingerprints found on the window by which someone had entered the building. On June 21 accused was in Mount Eden prison in connection with another matter. His fingerprints were then taken. Tyler’s warehouse had been entered a mouth earlier and fingerprints had been obtained on pieces of glass. When accused’s fingerprints had been sent from prison they were found to tally with those on the glass. Senior-Sergeant Dinny, fingerprint expert in charge of the criminal registration branch in "Wellington, said that fingerprints laid been used in criminal investigations in New Zealand since 1903, and over 50,000 people had been fingerprinted. All fingerprints were classified, and never in his experience had two fingerprints been found alike either in New Zealand or anywhere else in the world. Mr. Justice Smith said there could be no doubt that the fingerprints found on the window were those of the accused. It would be an extraordinary thing for the jury to discard the evidence of experts. The chances against error were billions to one, and there were only 1,500,000 people in New Zealand. Accused was remanded for sentence.'