BURGLARIES IN CITY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15519, 29 January 1914, Page 5

BURGLARIES IN CITY.

THE HOLIDAY/ SERIES.

SIXTEEN CHARGES LAID.

DOUGLAS PLEADS GUILTY.

COMMITTED FOR SENTENCE.

The culmination of a long series of burglaries in Auckland and suburbs during the Christmas and New Year holidays was the appearance of Arthur Douglas, alias Bennett, 35 years of age, before Mr. E. C. Cutten, S.M., at the Police Court yesterday, to answer to 16 charges of breaking and entering, and theft of jewellery and other goods of the total value of £194 9s 6d. Accused, who was not represented by counsel, pleaded guilty, and was committed to the Supreme Court for sentence. Several of the offences were committed at Whangarei, but the details of the formidable list preferred against Douglas are as follows:—

Between December 30 and January 1,1 entered the dwelling of John Fleming, 142, j Grafton Road, and stole a quantity of. silverware and other articles, valued at £35.- ' January 4, entered? the dwelling of Henry R. Hesketh, and stole a silver watch, valued at £1 10s. " January 4, entered the dwelling of Caleb Olliff, Auckland, with intent to commit a crime. January 5, entered the dwelling of James William Davidson, Auckland, and stole jewellery and a number of coins, valued at £30. t _ January 5, entered the dwelling of William Frederick Sinclair and stole a case of _ silver ' fruit knives and forks, a . dress suit, a dinner jacket, and a kit bag. of the value of £14 10s. January 6, at Auckland, entered the dwelling of Alexander McGowen and stole a gold watch and chain, valued at £4 10s, the property of Mary Jones. January 6, at Auckland, entered the dwelling of William Archer Reid and stole jewellery, two 'five-shilling pieces, a Chilian dollar piece, and a number of foreign coins, of the value of £6. January 7, at Auckland, entered the dwelling of John Brown and stole various articles, including a gold chain and bracelet, five five-shilling pieces, and about £4 in money, the total value being £21, the property of Amelia Emma Smith and another. January 9, at Whangarei, he stole from the dwelling of William McKinstry, a 2A dollar gold piece, two gold rings, a gold watch, two gold chains, a bracelet, and a brooch, of the value, of £517 10s. January 9, at Whangarei, he stole from the dwelling of Andrew Alexander Wilson various articles of jewellery, valued at £14 18s. January 11, at Auckland entered the dwelling of John Spinleyand stole a number of gold arid-silver articles and coins valued at £18. January 12, entered the dwelling of Alfred Hegnan, Market Road, and stole a silver watch, a pair of opera glasses, two suits of pyjamas, and a German coin, of the value of £6.

January 13, at Onehunga, he broke and" entered the residence of William Thomas Court, with intent to oomniit a crime. About January 13, at Onehunga, he stole from the dwelling of James A. Thomson, a. clock, a suit of clothes, and a panama hat, of the total value of £13 10s. About . January, 14, he stole from the dwelling of Charles Humphrey Ralph, Disraeli Street, ; Auckland, a ring, a brooch, and one shilling, of a total value of £2 lis 6d, the property of Becky Ralphs * January 14, at Auckland, entered the dwelling of John William James and stole a brooch, ' dressing-case, a'pair of boots, five shirts, and 20s, of a total value of £9 10s. - - :;'V . '•

Accused's Admission o! Guilt. ' Chief-Detective. McMahon, who,.prose-, cubed, stated that when interviewed by the police, accused admitted Having com mitted the whole of the burglaries. Accused . had given every facility in recovering the stolen goods. A considerable amount of the property was sent by accused to Cambridge; Evidently the man had intended to take, or forward it, to some other country. Accused had made a statement explaining the truth about the whole matter, and he had stated that he would plead guilty. i Accused : That is so. •

Evidence in the case was given for the prosecution by. William Frederick Sinclair, she'epfarmer, Lady's Mile, Remuera; John Fleming, settler, Grafton Road; Ellen May Townsend, * sister of Caleb Olliff. Remuera Road; PricOla Rogers Davidson, wife, of James Wilson Davidson. Stanley Bay; Margaret Louisa Reid, wife of William Archer Reid, Heme Bay; Mary H. Jones, of Gisborne, who has been staying with Mr. and Mrs. Mc-; Gowen, Coronation Road. Epsom: Amelia E. Smith, wife of John Smith, upholsterer, North cote; Clara P. C- McKinstry, wife of William McKinstry, land agent, WhaUgarei; Andrew Alexander Wilson, auctioneer, Whangarei; John Spinley, boot; importer, Symonds : Street; Alfred Hegman. piano importer, Market Road, Remuera; William Thomas Court, settler, Onehunga; James Alfred Thomson, set-, tler. School Road. Onehunga; Becky Ralnh, wife of C. H. Ralph, Government clerk. Disraeli Street, Mount Eden; Ethel Savoury, employed by Mrs. James, Milton Road. Ponsonby; Edith May. James, wife of Edward Roy James, Milton Road. Ponsonby; Samuel Hesketh, solicitor, Gillies Avenue; and Mrs. Edith H. Wilson, Whangaxei. <• Offences Committed in Daytime. The evidence of these 18 witnesses, all of whom identified some portion of the property recovered, showed' that Douglas had perpetrated the crimes when the occupiers were absent from their dwellings. The majority of the offences were committed in the daytime* and accused's method was to force open windows in the houses. In one or .two instances he managed to gain ingress by a back door. All the places were thoroughly ransacked. Some of the property stolen had not yet been recovered. ■

What the Police Found. Constable P. J. McCarthy, of Cambridge, stated that he found accused had been in Cambridge during Christmas week, and that he left there on December 30. The constable took possession of three leather bags and two registered parcels which accused had had. _ He found they contained .a large quantity of the; stolen jewellery. This was identified by - various witnesses. The bags were addressed to accused himself "care of P. Watt, Wai'noni, Cambridge." Detective A. Hammond said that on January 14, in company with Detectives Quartermain and Torrance, he arrested Douglas in the city. He found on the accused some of the stolen jewellery. In addition he discovered a "left luggage ticket," taken out in the name of " Bennett." Witness obtained a bag from the railway station with the ticket, and found in it more of the stolen property. On the same day, in accused's lodgings in Beresford Street, he came across more goods. Accused was in possession of a glazier's diamond, a fftiir of rubber shoes, and a chisel, which corresponded with the marks on several of the places broken into. When charged with the offences accused admitted his guilt. He said he had arrived in Auckland from the Waikato on December 23, 1913. He had pawned a good deal of the jewellery. Douglas, who has only been in the Australasian colonies for about 15 months, pleaded guilty, had nothing to say, and was committed for sentence to Wellington. Chief-Detective McMahon stated that another series of charges was to be preferred against Douglas at Wellington, and that was the reason why it was desired that he should be committed there.