BANK THIEVES' HAUL.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLII, Issue 110, 11 May 1908, Page 6

BANK THIEVES' HAUL.

DARING ROBBERY AT SOUTH-

AMPTON

A sensational bank robbery, cleverly conceived and daringly executed, resulted in the thieves securing notes and gold to the value of £1400 and fetting clear aw,ay with their booty, 'he scene of the robbery is the docks branch of Lloyd's Bank, which is situate in the busiest part of Southampton. It is only a small branch, although transacting a lot of business with snipping firms, and at the time of,the robbery, it is understood, only one clerk was in charge. The theft was carefully worked up to. It appears that a couple of days before the robbery a well-dressed man, looking like a responsible merchant, called on. the cashier in charge of the branch and informed him that he was acting for a friend of his in regard to a draft. His friend, who. he said was an invalid, had not kept an appointment he had made, but he would probably call on the cashier the next morning. Accordingly, next' morning, between 10 and 11, the cashier was hot surprised when a cabman came into the bank and, presenting a visiting card, •on which was printed "Dr. Collins," told him that a gentleman wjio was unable to leave the cab wished to see him. The cashier, who was the sole official^ on duty, at once went out, believing that the message Mad relation to the call of the day before. In the cab he saw a well-dressed man, who stated that he was lame, and could not walk into the bank. The cashier discussed the draft with the occupant of the cab, who looked the part he had assumed of a responsible business man, and then returned to the bank. When he got in he noticed that a shelf over his desk was swinging slightly. There was no apparent cause for this, and his ' , , .

SUSPICIONS WERE AT ONCE ' AROUSED.

i He turned-hurriedly to his desk, and discovered that the sum of £1400, the greater part of it in gold, was missing. The cashier is sure that no one entered the bank during the time he was engaged with the man in the cab. The theory is that a confederate concealed himself on the premises the previous ; evening, presumably in the lavatory, ; and slipped out with the gold during , the momentary absence of the cashier. : The branch is merely a lock-up office, i and it would be quite easy for any- < one to secret himself in the manner i described.' The police were communi- } cated with at once, but so far there is mo clue to the identity of the rob- : bers. It is evident, however, that the icoup had been planned long beforejhand, and that its perpetrators had ! studied the lie of the laid .for some | time. They mus& have made them- : selves intimately acquainted with the -movements of the officials, and have been perfectly well aware of the fact that it was the practice for two clerks .to take bags of notes and gold from the High ' Street branch to the Dock branch of the bank for use during the y' r^iThu lime seated was when very little had been laid out, and the money was still in bags in a convenient form for removal. The man who nrst called at the bank is described as or medium heigh t and rather stout build, wearing a blue serge suit. He engaged a cab from the rank near the free library >to drive him by a circuitous, route to the bank. After his chat with the cashier, he drove back to a hotel The man who saw the cashier on the day of the roboery was also driven to the bankV a circuitous route, and was then conveyed to the •ft™ 8, hotel It is believed that after thVJLfI *t tS ieT6S (four men Sif t *° have been concerned) drove For °t through the New