Croydon Gold Theft

Manawatu Times, Volume 60, Issue 67, 21 March 1935, Page 7

Croydon Gold Theft

Elements of an Edgar Wallace Novel

CASE FOR PROSECUTION

United Press Association. —By Electric Telegraph.—Copyright. LONDON, March 19.

“The Croydon gold theft is as dramatic as an Edgar Wallace novel,” said the prosecutor in the Police Court proceedings against the accused, Swanland, Silvio Mazzardo and John O’Brien. ■ He added that boxes of coin and bullion collected in the afternoon were placed in the strongroom, the keys of which were handed to a clerk, Johnson. The only' other strongroom keys were locked iu a drawer in the aerodrome superintendent’s office, which was not tampered with. Johnson alone was at the aerodrome at night time and he locked the office door and slept, in accordance with custom, with the strongroom keys in his pocket until ho was awakened by an alarm at 4.15 a.m. to attend to the arrival of a German airliner, when the door was still locked and the keys were in his pocket. Johnson returned to the office at 5 a.m, and tho other officials arrived at 7 a.m. and found the strongroom unlocked and. the gold missing. Meanwhile Manson, a taxi driver living- in North London, was knocked up at 1 a.m. by a man he knew as “Little Harry” and was ordered to be at King’s Cross at 4 a.m., where lie found “Little Harry” and three others, whom ho drove to Thornton Heath, near the aerodrome, arriving at 4.40 a.m. When Johnson was attending to the German air-liner the Imperial Airways premises were unattended. The four walked from the taxi aud returned at 5 a.m. in a dilapidated small car and transferred three boxes to tho'taxi, one remarking, “This is gold.” Manson told them to take it out, but they refused. He did not protest further owing to his being outnumbered. One man, allegedly Mazzardo, drove off in the car, and tho remainder took the taxi to Swanland’s lodgings at Harringay. Swanland’s landlady', Mrs. Scholz, was awakened by the noise of the breaking up of something, after which a lire in Swanland’s grate set fire to the chimney.

Mrs. Scholz said she later saw Swanland depart carrying a heavy suitcase. The police found in Swaiiland’s room an Imperial Airways timctablo and a paper referring to the freightage of gold, also a wire key with which the strongroom could allegedly have been opened; also a child’s used plasticene outfit, although the Sivanlands have no children. Five hundred seals which Japhct and Company', ono of the consignees, used on the gold boxes were also found, also a steel band from another box and 19 nailheads similar to those used to nail up tho boxes. In addition burned nails were found. Manson, giving evidence, was unable to identify any' of the accused, but denied that he had been approached regarding the case since he identified O’Brien at the Croydon Police Court. Mrs. Scholz in evidonce said a man told her to keep her mouth shut. Accused were remanded.