LONDON POLICE HOAXED

Southland Times, Issue 19501, 16 March 1925, Page 5

LONDON POLICE HOAXED

DETECTIVES EVADED. . THIEF GETS CLEAR AWAY. What is believed to be a daring hoax has been played on the London police as a result of which, while detectives were drawn from their ordinary duties to keep watch on a big residence in East Finchley (where a big burglary was expected to be committed), thieves actually ransacked another large house some distance away and got clear with their booty. A few days earlier an anonymous communication was received by Scotland Yard. It purported to be a letter written by a man who was anxious to demonstrate his gratitude to Sir Herbert Neild, the deputy Chairman of the Middlesex Magistrates, for the lenient manner in which he had dealt with the writer when convicted of a felony. ANONYMOUS LETTER. The anonymous communication gave details of an alleged plot to rob the residence of Sir Herbert Neild in East Finchley. The whole plot was supposed to be laid bare to the police. A motor car containing four men, one of whom was to be disguised as a fashion-ably-dressed woman, would be driven up to Bishop’s Mead. These were the men who intended to burgle the house. Scotland Yard was warned that the burglars were desperate criminals, that they would be armed, and that they would not hesitate to shoot if cornered. So genuine did the communication appear that it was at once forwarded to the detective officer in charge of the “Y” Division, which Includes Highgate, the police district in which Sir Herbert Neild’s house Is situated. Bishop’s Mead is a large residence standing in well-wooded grounds with the open heath stretching all round it. Detectives were placed on watch in Sir Herbert’s gardens. Some were hidden in the bushes. The warning of the intended burglary was received two days earlier and the watch on the house was not relaxed. But nothing happened there. THE OTHER SIDE. Now comes the other side of the story. While the police were concentrating their efforts on Bishop’s Mead a daring burglary was carried out at another lonely house in the same police division, only three-quarters of a mile away! The house broken into was St. Oswald’s the residence of Mr John Wallace, formerly M.P.. Dunfermline. This house is actually within sight of Bishop’s Mead, from which it is separated by golf links. Jewellery to the extent of between £4OO and £5OO was stolen from St. Oswald’s, and the whole place was ransacked, apparently by a “cat” burglar, who climbed up a stackpipe leading to Mi- Wallace’s dressing room. Within what must have been a very few minutes he carefully surveyed every drawer and possible hiding place and selected jewels and a small amount of money—about 1000 francs. German marks kept by Mrs Wallace in the same drawer were scorned by the raider.

Detectives searched for finger prints but failed to discover any. At the time of the robbery, Mr Wallace, his family, and the maid were out.