Arrested On Christmas Day

NZ Truth, Issue 1103, 20 January 1927, Page 5

Arrested On Christmas Day

Skins That Disappeared

(From "N.Z. Truth's" Special Dunedin Representative.) " "You can consider yourself extremely fortunate that you are not standing m the dock on the present charge."

fC^f O commented Magistrate j y"**?rv Bundle to Thomas James at. __JP a Outram, one of the prin- i rallnnl cipal witnesses m a case B§ flßfjfflf ■ m which Albert Harris | tmEtmt&a was charged at the Dun- j . edin Police Court with ' stealing skins and goods to the value of "£lll/8/-, the property of Turner Bros., wool and skin merchants, of Dunedin. v Harris, Outram and : another man, Arthur Henderson, were originally charged with the theft. ' ; The rare procedure of withdrawingthe charge against Outram and Henderson and calling them as King's evidence was adopted by the police m prosecuting. . - - .... According to Magistrate Bundle, Outran, must have known that he was, accepting goods believing them to be stolen. _ Outram had admitted himself that lie had ' been suspicious about" where Phe skins had come from. ■ On December 6, 1926, the warehouse ■ f Turner Bros, was broken Into. Rabpit skins, 1 brown opossum Bkln rug, ' 49 tanned opossum skins and one silver manicure set, totalling £111/8/- m -ralue, were stolen. , On Deoember 22, Henderson, a carrier by trdde, called at the store of Michael Thomas Kennelly, wool and skin merchants, and left some skins for sale. Kennelly examined the skins, which he found corresponded with the description of the skins stolen from. Turner's. - t ' .■ . -, MIDNIGHT VISITOR He promptly informed Turner, and the skins were subsequently handed over to detective: Russell. On Christmas Day, Harris was arrested m a crib at Purakunui. 7 Outram and Harris worked together on the waterfront and apparently were mates. - Outram's story was that on December 6, he was working from' 6 to it) p.m. The- accused was not working that night. \ At 10.45 p.m. Harris came to his house and asked if he could leave some stuff there. He inquired what it was, and Harris

replied: "Skins," and brought two or three sacks into the kitchen, and then went away. ,- About 1.45 a.m., he returned, saying he had some more stuff. "I said: all right, shove it m the kitchen.' Four of the men were there,, two of whom I knew as 'Curly' Smith ' and Earnest Edwards." Outram detailed, that he had seen the. sacks contained some opossum skins and a rug, and asked the accused where he had got them. The latter had replied: "Oh, they'll be all right!" The following day he saw Harris ' at the wharf and asked him when he intended taking the stuff away. The latter replied: "Oh, that will be all right." On reading m the paper later that Turner Bros', premises had been bro- j ken into, he told. Harris to get the 1 stuff away. , If the police found it m his place, he said, he would "go up for the term of his natural life." However, Harris did . not move the stuff until December 22. On that day the accused engaged Henderson to cart the sacks of skins to Kennelly* b store. "■ - POLICE IN AMBUSH Outram stated that "on a later occasion Harris had said to . him that i"the police were waiting for the bloke to call at Kennelly's to collect the money." The sequel to this episode was that on December 25, Detective Farquharson, m company with Detectives Dean and N Russell, arrested Harris m a crib at Purakunui. The latter . replied to the charge: "I don't know anythink about it." He became vicious when placed under arrest. One of the men In the crib said: "It's no use taking it that way, Bill; thes men have got to do their 'duty." Harris had retaliated hotly: "It's not them I'm going off at; it's those gaffblowing, "squealing — !" One of his mates advised him to be quiet. "Mum's the word," he said.. • Harris pleaded not guilty, and was committed to the Supreme Court for trial.