MOTOR BANDITS' WAYS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21149, 6 October 1930, Page 8

MOTOR BANDITS' WAYS.

PROBLEM FOR LONDON POLICE. GREAT BATTLE OF WITS. Motor bandits are concentrating on the 8 * London in their unending battle of wits with the police, whose methods to enmesh the criminals have had to be changed once more. The inner areas of London having bec°m®, dangerous for them, recent exploits or the bandits suggest that new plans have- been evolved by their leaders, Many centres of gaiety and entertainment have shifted to the suburbs, and the criminal gangs are following suit. New suburban kinemas, theatres, and dance clubs have sprung up everywhere (says the Daily Mail). Car parks abound, and it is in. these that the motor bandit finds his principal means of exporting the district. ■ F SF a Jr on ? car ? were “ borrowed *' ,m the West End and abandoned in the suburbs. Now cars are being abandoned within a few miles of Charing Cross, and in nearly every instance they were stolen from the suburbs by bandits who used them for raids. Undoubtedly these cars were used b\ men who worked on the carefully-pre-pared plans of Readers whp have what are called good receivers behind them. Stolen property in thpir hands is safely hidden from the eyes of the law. unless something unforeseen happens. . The .borrowing” of motor cars h.i» increased for another reason. For some cause as yet unexplained a great demand has arisen for spare parts in the undergo™- Many vehicles recently found ?£°° d ° ned h i ve bee ? Bt T i PP e d of wheels, tyres, magnetos, and other parts which, apparently, find a ready market. Some of the cars were in such condition that they had to be carted to a garage for overhaul. It is thought that .there must be dumps known only to the receivers and their gangs. Until recently missing cars were left unharmed when abandoned. The new method of stealing a car from a suburban parking-place solves the difficulty of stealing a fast car in the West End with the risk of capture before miles j busy streets have been covered. Today the bandit may find a car adjacent to the place he desires to rob.