PICKING A LOCK.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIX, Issue 228, 26 August 1929, Page 6

PICKING A LOCK.

DEMONSTRATION IN COURT. POLICE INSPECTOR PERTURBED. Although he had had a lot to say about locks In general and skeleton keys in particular, an expert locksmith witness in the Supreme Court at New Plymouth thought it was too much, of a good thing when he was asked to give a practical demonstration of picking a certain lock with housebreaking tools. It was more or less a trade secret, he said. On being pressed, the locksmith stated that he would give a demonstration before the Crown Prosecutor and counsel for the accused, in the presence of an umpire. The Chief Justice, however, was not satisfied with anything less than a- demonstration in front of the jury. The operation was entirely successful, and was performed so quickly that those who saw- it looked with astonishment at the picked lock. “It looks as though such locks are not guaranteed, then,” observed His Honour. So upset were the police about the matter that Inspector Fraser suggested to His Honour, through the Crown Prosecutor, that the Press be asked to ignore the affair. The police force had their hands full already, he said, and did not want an encouragement to make the burden heavier. His Honour replied that he did not think it mattered much, especially as the expert assured them that the manin the street could not perform a similar operation on the lock if he were given from now till Christmas to do it in. Anyway, said the Chief Justice, the Press could not show the public how to do it.