WIDESPREAD BURGLARIES

Taranaki Daily News, 1 October 1929, Page 14

WIDESPREAD BURGLARIES

14 CHARGES AGAINST SMITH THEFTS ALLEGED IN TWO TOWNS. NEW PLYMOUTH AND INGLEWOOD. HEARING OF GASES NOT FINISHED. The hearing of further charges arising out of the recent burglaries in the district occupied the New Plymouth Police Court, over which Mr. R. W. Tate, S.M., presided, all day yesterday. Leonard Edward Smith was faced with 11 charges of breaking and entering, attempted breaking and entering and theft, and attempted theft from various business premises in New Plymouth and Inglewood. The evidence for the- prosecution which, apart from the formal statements’ of business men affected, was largely that of R. J. V. Elliott, who had been with Smith on the nights ot the alleged offences and gave detailed particulars similar to those in previous cases of how the offences were committed, was not concluded when the Court rose yesterday afternoon. The hearing was adjourned until this morning. The ease for the prosecution was conducted by Detective Meiklejohn and the accused was represented by Mr. A. A. Bennett. The charges against Smith were:— Breaking and entering the shop of Newton Allen on the night of July 13 and' stealing cigarettes and chocolates valued at £1 IBs. Breaking and entering tlie shop of W. Abraham on. the night of July 17 and stealing a safe ai;d contents valued at £l9 Ils 3d. Breaking and entering the premises of the Vacuum Oil Company on the night of July 22 and stealing a cash box containing £6 12s 5<L Breaking and entering the premises of the Inglewood County Council on the night of July 23 with intent to commit a crime. ' Breaking and entering the shop of Janies McLean at Inglewood on the night of July 23 and stealing cigarettes valued at 18s. Breaking and entering the shop of D. R, Hinge at Inglewood on the night. of July 23 and stealing 7s 9d. Breaking and entering the shop of John Burnip at Inglewood on the night of July 23 and stealing 12s 6d. Attempting to break and enter the premises of Stainton and Co. at New Plymouth oh the night of July 27 with intent to commit a crime. Breaking and entering the warehouse of the New Plymouth Harbour Board on or about August 7 and stealing one detonator. Breaking and entering the warehouse of-Charles° Swanson on or about August 10 and stealing a cash box, money and stamps valued at £2 12s. . Breaking and entering the premises of-'the Vacuum Oil Company on the .night of August 11 and stealing £1 2s Id. ..... Breaking and entering the premises of L. H. Hafi on the night of August 17 and attempting to steal a safe and contents valued at £lOO. Breaking and entering the premises of R. S. Richardson on the night of August 17 and stealing a ' tyre pressure gauge valued at 7s 6d, ° Breaking and entering the warehouse of John Avery, Ltd., on the night of August 18 with intent to commit a crime. INCIDENT AT COMPANY’S OFFICE. A clerk employed by the Vacuum Oil Company, Harold D. Hunt, gave evidence that when he arrived at the office on the morning of July 23 he found the office door had been forced. In the office the drawer where the cash box was kept was open and the cash box was missing. The drawer had been left unlocked. The box had contained £4 12s 5d in cash and 30s worth of etampc perforated with,, the mark “Voco.” The marks on the door 'appeared to have been made by some blunt instrument such as a tyre lever. Evidence that he had locked the office on the night of August 11 was given by the warehouseman, John A. Barnes, who would be the last one on the premises at night. On the next morning he found the office door broken open as if with a crowbar, and cash and a packet of cigarettes were missing. The cafeh of the lock had been forced and the end of it curved outwards. A new lock and steelwork reinforcing had been put in after the previous entry to the premises. ■ • Bernard Larson, clerk for the Inglewood County Council, gave similar’evidence of signs of an entry having been made to the county office through a window during the night of July 23. A Tucker till which had contained no money had been smashed open with a lever. There were footprints in the mud in a lane between the office and McLean’s grocery shop, and muddy footprints inside indicated the thief had gone out the front door. His own conclusion from the footprints outside was that, one. person had lifted another .up to the window, which was about nine feet from the ground. The proprietor of the grocery shop, Jas.-McLean, said he was called to his shop ’by the nightwatchman at about midnight on July 23 and found one of the back windows broken and the back door open. Stock missing was a few tins of Capstan cigarettes in tins of 25. ' '

FRONT DOORS FORCED. The front doors of their shops had been forced the same night and cash stolen from the premises, said Douglas R. Hinge and John Burnip, other shopkeepers of Inglewood,- who were also roused about midnight by the watchman. In both cases a blunt instrument appeared to have been used on the doors. The story of the entry to Stainton and Co.’s premises was told by an employee, William S. Steele, who said that anyone could walk into the garage before 10.30 p.m. and approach the office, the door of which been forced. If anyone was alarmed while in the office the nearest exit was through a lavatory window from, which there was an easy drop into a spare section on Gover Street* » William Abraham told liow entry had been obtained to his premises and a safe and contents stolen. The safe and the drawer of the safe were found by him, in company with, the police, in deep water in the Waiongona stream. The safe appeared to have been, opened with a steel-cutter and the inside casina,torn out. He thought it would take two me.n at least to carry.the safe.

The padlock of the door to Jtlii promisea was iniHidng, mild Cluirles Hwanson, when ho vlnltod thorn on the nioi'iv ing of Angiint 11, find. litlor In Ilin day ho found part of (he look, whleh np’ peared to hnvo been (’fit with some such luslruirn’tit fts e bolt (HilleiS Inside the btilldhig eft offiee door rtiid tivO cupboard doors lliid booii ihihmt iilid the cash box tind euolniitg note inhsitig. A cash box prodnoed by Deieetlve lUeiklejohn was, he paid, (•xaell.r the satne ftfl his, Evidence of the flnilitig of the Ortsh box In the 'l'o lloiltti sifeaiit iieitf the Ltlnch Street bridge, wits giil-tt by J'illifl Richards, « boy; He went to the Mikottihi iiingnzliie with the nlghtwnti'hintin on Aiigiisl th said (IcortJi! \V, Uhlldoistiiiio, Hit clip ployoo of lhe Now I’lynitnilh Jhifbotir Board, nod foiinil n look nilssiiig. Noth--ing had been missing from tl>e interior of the magazine at. the hist time he had visited it, The discovery of entry liHVjiig been made to (heir premises on (ho nights mentioned In the charges and properly having boon stolon or tin attempt htiv* ing boon mndo to nloitl it was rolaled. by Richard H, Richardson, Lawrence IL Hull, Frederick A, Avery and A, Newt ■ Allen. A tyro pressure gauge prodmnw by the proaoculloti was sold liy Blehardhoii to bo the same ns that which be had lent. FOUND THE GATE (WEN. The Open gate of Avery’s premises on the night of August 18 led him to inspect the place, raid Richard Inch, watchman in New Plymouth. Ho wool into the yard and saw there were no padlocks on the door, and next morning ho reported the occurrence to the proprietor. He had seen Smith join .Elliott outside Elliott’s garage on August 13. Witness, last statement was objected to by Mr. Bennett ami the objection was noted. Proceeding towjWdn Fitzroy about 9.30 p.m. on July 17 he overtook nml passed .Elliott's car, said Conntuble Mitchell. Smith was in the car also. The following morning, as the result of a telephone message, he visited Abraham’s premises and found the safe had been removed. He saw Elliott’s car at Fitzroy on the night of Aiiguut 17 and saw Smith standing under Harlow’s store. About a quarter of an hour after seeing Smith he saw both him and Elliott driving back towards the town. In . company with Sergeant McGregor he saw Smith arid Elliott talking together outside the A.M.P. billiard saloon in Egmont Street at about 5 o’clock on August 17 arid saw them drive away towards the seafront. He was in Sergeant McGregor’s car which was parked outside the Grand Central Hotel. Smith and Elliott were standing close together and. seemed to be having a very intimate conversation. The conversation lasted about five minutes, said the constable to Mr. Bennett. On July 17 Elliott’s car was just past Watson Street when he saw it and was travelling at about 15 to 20 miles per hour. The story of his association with the accused for some months past in the offences alleged was told by Raymond J. V. Elliott. On the night of July 13 he met Smith ’ in town and they and Eileen Brosnahan drove in. his car, at the suggestion of Smith, tp Westown, where Smith said .he knew of a- likely place. Smith and he took a tyre lever from the car and went to the shop of Newton Allen, which Smith broke into and entered while he returned to the car. Smith took 50’s tins of cigarettes, from the shop and witness drove his car away. ‘•SOMETHING FOR THE GIRL ” / Smith told him to pull the car up not quite at the corner of Belt Road as he wanted to get something for the girl and Smith went back to the door of Alien’s shop' which had already been opened. There was a street light there and he could see Smith go across'the street and into the shop, returning with a big box of chocolates. He drove Smith back to town, where he received some of the cigarettes. The chocolates, which Smith said were for the girl, were thrown by him into the Huatoki stream on the way home. After describing how Smith allegedly broke into Abraham’s premises and he helped to carry the safe out to the car, Elliott said they drove, to the. Waiongo-. na stream and there tipped the safe out and rolled it. into A hammer and a crowbar were used to open the safe, the money and rings from which were taken by Smith. The books were replaced in the safe and the piece which had been opened bent back into position. It took about two hours, to open the safe. On the way back to town the money and the rings were shared. He could not remember where he met Smith on the night of July 22, but he usually met him at the billiard saloon -in the A.M.P. buildings, , Elliott continued with detailed evidence of hie meetings with Smith on the nights of the alleged offences and of the manner in which the.offences had been committed, the methods being similar in all cases. A visit to Waitara was paid a few days after the theft of Abraham’s safe and a hacksaw and a hacksaw blade that had been used to open the safe and left on the Devon Road were recovered. Smith was .disturbed during his visit to Stainton and Cd.’s garage and left through the lavatory window, falling and hurting himself in an attempt to climb down a drain pipe. A woollen glove produced by the police after being found in his room was, said Elliott, one of Smith’s which had been left in the car. He had seen Smith use it when handling anything that would take fingerprints. The occasions he remembered were . those in which Abraham’s and Hall’s safes had been concerned. Smith told him he was going to plant some of the property as Tie would not keep it at home.