ROBBERIES AT TIMARU.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XCIX, Issue 11557, 19 April 1898, Page 6

ROBBERIES AT TIMARU.

On Friday night the theft of a cashbox, containing about £7O, was reported to the police at Timaru, by the wife of the licensee of the Commercial Hotel, the robbery having taken place between 8 and 9 p.ra. Suspicion was directed towards a railway fireman named Henry Gough, a young married man who. had been employed on the local railways for some years, and who was in the hotel that night. Detective Livingstone was engaged before the Police Commission next day, but at night he visited Gough’s house, and previous suspicions were confirmed by the presence in the house of certain of the property reported to have been stolen from another house about a month ago. On Sunday morning the detective found the cash-box, broken open, secreted among some mbbisb. at the rear of the hotel, and in the afternoon, accompanied by Constable Crawford, he again went to Gough’s house, and arrested him on the charge of stealing the other property referred to. He was then told to consider himself,under arrest for the theft of the cash-box, and he admitted this, as ho had admitted the other charge, but he' refused to say where he had hidden the money. It w r as, however, soon found, planted under the house in two parcels totalling £65, and accused said he had given £5 to, his wife, and that was spent. Gough was yesterday charged before the Stipendiary Magistrate with stealing a table cover, case of wax fruit, teapot, vases and lady’s basket, value £4 Bs, from the house of Mrs Chapman, Wool combo Street, on or about March 7, and was on this charge remanded till Friday. Other stolen property was also found in accused’s house.' The accused is a smart-looking young man, married, with one child, and has been employed on the railways as fireman and acting-driver for some years.