MELBOURNE JEWEL THEFT

Taranaki Daily News, 25 July 1929, Page 3

MELBOURNE JEWEL THEFT

£lOOO HAUL AT PRIVATE HOUSE. A daring jewel robbery, which produced a haul of £lOOO, was carried out in a house at South Yarra, Melbourne, recently. While Mr. and Mrs. Harold O. Sleigh were at dinner, a thief entered by a side window, which wasopen at the top, and stole jewellery valued at £lOOO. The jewellery included a string of 115 pearls, valued at £500; a diamond and emerald ring, valued at £200; a diamond cluster ring, valued at £150; another diamond ring, valued at £7O; and a diamond bracelet, valued at £6O. The house is situated in Walsh Street, south of Domain Road. The front fence is of dark timbers, and the gate is of the same materials, all closely joined. Thus, no view of the house is disclosed from the footpath. The house itself is a brick one-storey structure, and the bedroom entered is at the back. The dining room is some distance away, at the other end of the house. It was not until S o'clock that Mrs. Sleigh found that her jewellery was missing. The servants and chauffeur were also in the house at the time of the robbery. It is thought that the thief waited until dinner, was being served to make his entrance through the lower half of the bedroom window, which he raised. The jewellery was stolen from a drawer in a dressing table which was within easy reach of the window. The farthest drawer of the table contained the jewellery, and it was apparently the only one interfered with. The jewellery was in cases, from which it was removed. The loss is not covered by insurance. Detectives visited the house in company with a departmental finger-print expert, but at latest advice no arrest had been made. There have been a number of similar robberies in Melbourne recently, indicating that men skilled in this kind of crime are operating. They wait until the occupants are at dinner, and then seek an easy entrance into homes in search of jewellery and other valuables.