KIDNAPPING CHARGE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21118, 27 February 1932, Page 13

KIDNAPPING CHARGE.

STATION HOLDER'S STORY. STARVED AND THREATENED. SIGNING OF MONEY-ORDERS. [FKOM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.] SYDNEY, Feb. 18. Mr. E. M. Perrott, tho 68-year-old grazier, of Scone, about 200 miles north of Sydney, has given to the police the ful! story of his alleged imprisonment in fiats at King's Cross, Darlinghurst, and Bondi, while attempts were made to force him to sign orders for £SOOO and £IO,OOO respectively. Tho statement alleges that he met a man over a suggested property deal, and (hen was induced to visit a "sick friend." Two men prevented him from leaving the fiats, and kept him captive for some days, tied to a chair and without food. According to the police the ordeal might have been fatal, for Mr. Perrott suffers from a weak heart. Two men have appeared before the Court in connection with the allegations. Mr. Perrott has several big stations in tho country, besides property in the city and suburbs of Sydney. According to his statement to tho police one day last week he received a telegram in reference to ono of his houses in the suburbs. He replied by telegram making an appointment to meet a man in the city. The prospective buyer said he was a plantation manager in New Guinea, and with Mr. Perrott and his agent ho was shown over tho property. The man met Mr. Perrott the next day and then explained that a friend of his was interested in the purchase. "My friend is sick in a flat at King's Cross," tho man is alleged to have told Mr. Perrott, whereupon Mr. Perrott agreed to go and see him.

When Mr. Perrott and tho man entered the flat the second man was seated in a dark corner. A great deal of discussion followed about the house property that was for sale, and Mr. Perrott refused to agree to tho terms that were proposed. He rose to leave, but when he reached tho door he was stopped by the two men, who told him that he could not go. He protested and then struggled with them in an effort to break away. Mr. Perrott says he was thrown to the ground, but he fought back fiercely. One man flung himself on Mr. Perrott's chest and tho other tied him to a chair.

Mr. Perrott was told that tho two men wanted money—"and a lot of it." He refused to agree to their demands and he was kept without food for several days. He was ravenously hungry and very weak when after three days he was told to be quiet and was taken to another flat at Bondi. There again he was tied to a chair and kept without food. He was afraid to call out for help, as he had been threatened by the men if he did so.

It is alleged by Mr. Perrott that at Bondi fresh demands were made on him for money. He was asked to supply up to £IO,OOO. The idea was that he should give his captors an order on a local firm. Mr. Perrott realised that if he agreed and the orders were presented the manager of the firm would immediately become suspicious and inform the police. ITe signed the orders, but the firm in Question, as he anticipated, refused to have anything to do with them. Instead tlie manager informed the police and the arrest of two men followed. It is alleged that Mr. Perrott was still tied to a chair when the police visited the flat at Bondi. Revelations are expected when the case comes before the Court.