PRACTISED CRIMINAL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 18965, 12 March 1925, Page 9

PRACTISED CRIMINAL.

CAREER OF W. 0. HOBBS. NEWSPAPER'S REVELATIONS. A. rind N.Z. LONDON. Mar. 10. The Daily Express reveals the fact that William (,'ooper Hobhs, the solicitor's clerk who was sentenced yesterday to two years' imprisonment for receiving a cheque for £150,000 stolen from Sir Hari Singh, has had an amazing career in the underworld of crime. Scotland Yard had known Hobhs for 30 years as legal adviser to international criminals. He is the son of a bargeman, He never qualified for I lie legal profession, Imt it is believed he ultimately amassed a fortune of £250,000. Hobhs is alleged to have originated an audacious system of accident claims, backed up by a system of informers. This made him the terror of the insurance companies. He became a money-lender under an alias, and was closely associated with Mr. Peter Robinson's son Teddy, whose reckless extravagance became the talk of London. When young Robinson met Hobbs, he was one of the wealthiest men in London. Within four years he had spent £420,000 It. is stated that Hobhs and another of his associates (Stevens) introduced the young man to every gaming den in Loudon, where dupes were robbed by arrangement with the proprietors to the extent I of liiousands of pounds. ! When young Robinson married a bari maid Hobbs and Stevens becaimC'trustees „f the marriage settlement, which amounted to £200,000. Finally, Hobbs was the chief creditor when Robinson became a bankrupt. Hobbs and his associates are also alleged to have brought Frank Smith, a wealthy youth from Ontario, to bankruptcy. Then ihcv carried out. an audacious fraud. They managed to have themselves appointed as an inspection committee to verify the claims of the creditors of whom Hobbs was the principal one. Later. Hobbs is said to have financed burglaries, instituted a passport office for criminals, and under the shelter of an antique shop to have become a notorious receiver.