ARMED ROBBERY

Taranaki Daily News, 27 August 1931, Page 9

ARMED ROBBERY

.WOMAN AND MAN GUILTY HOLDING-UP OF MOTORISTS ARREST AT NEW PLYMOUTH SERVICE STATION ROBBED STORY OF DAY'S BAY CRIME By Telegraph.—Press Association. Wellington, Aug. 26. Jack Morton, alias Jack Winstone, alias George Morton, a seaman aged 22, and Florence Cooper, alias Florence Winstone, appeared before Mr. E. Page, S.M., to-day charged in connection with the recent highway robberies. They admitted their guilt and were committed for sentence.

Florence Cooper was charged with robbing Clifford Thomas Organ at Wanganui of £1 10s and at the same time wounding him by shooting him in the leg. Jointly they were, charged with being in possession of a. revolver and of having robbed William Alexander Pirie at Day’s Bay on Argust 10 of £5 18s (id, also with two offences of robbery under arms at Shelly Bay Road, Miramar, on the night of- -August 7. Morton was charged with failing to comply with the terms of a probation order, unlawfully deserting from the steamer Cambridge on which he was a duly articled seaman, and theft of goods and money, the property of the New Zealand Shipping Company and members of the crew. >

The first witness for the prosecution was Maurice 0. Guthrie. He gave evidence similar to his previous accounts of the method by which MacDermott’s car was held up on the night of August 7. He said the revolver produced resembled -the one fired, and the clothing produced resembled that worn by the two bandits. He identified Morton. SECOND CAR HELD UP. Mrs. Zealandia Beatrice Vaney, married woman living at Miramar, detailed how she and her husband, who were in the, second car, were- held up behind MaeDermott’s car. Just as - she was getting out. of her ear, which was driven by her husband, a shot was fired, and then the smaller of the bandits asked her to pass over her handbag, which she did. He then extracted £4 in notes and left a little silver. After her husband had been searched the bandits told them to drive on, which they did.

'William Alexander Pirie, manager of the Sunshine Service Station, Day’s Bay, detailed the circumstances by which he was relieved of £5 18s 6d by armed bandits on the evening of August 10. Two men outside forced an entry into his office, the taller of the two pushing a gun into his stomach and the smaller asking where the money was. Both were armed and both had masks. The smaller carried a bright revolver like the one produced in court, and the one which the taller carried was black with a long, thin barrel like the air pistol produced. Detective A. B. Meiklejohn, New Plymouth, said that on August 15 he went to the Terminus Hotel, New Plymouth, where the two accused were booked as “Mr. and Mrs. Winstone.” The female accused said she had recently arrived from Sydney with her husband.

The detective said he went to the bedroom where the male accused gave his name as “Jack Winstone,” aged 20, and said that he was a recent arrival from Sydney. With Sergeant McGregor he made a search of the room and in a suitcase under the bed he found twentynine .32 cartridges. He also found, the revolver produced, fully loaded, under the pillow of the bed. He later found the air pistol with two boxes of shiga in a wardrobe.

MORTON’S ADMISSIONS.

At the police station the detective

interviewed Alorton- as to his move

ments during the previous week. In his statement Morton said he had arrived in New Zealand some time ago with his wife on the Aorangi, but had

not been able to obtain work. Two pistols were given them by a man in the country soon after he arrived in the Dominion. He told the man that he wanted a revolver for pig-hunting. He said he was concerned in two hold-ups with a man whose name he would not disclose. After the hold-ups the masks and clothes were thrown into the sea. Alorton "had a revolver and his mate,

who lay on the road, had a compressed air pistol. He described the Miramar hold-up, also the firing of the shot, after which he had said the motorist “had better hop out, as' if there was any more trouble from him he would get one a bit higher.” After the robbery, the statement con-

tinued, they changed their clothes and in Miramar they were met by a constable who asked them whether they had seen any “harem scarcms” about and that they “had better look out.” After the Day’s Bay affair he came into the town by bus and slept out, and the' next night his wife and himself stayed at the New Zealander Hotel. Later they went to Wanganui and to New Plymouth.

Detective Meiklejohn said that after making the statement Alorton told the female accused that he had admitted the two hold-ups in Wellington, but she ‘was not in it.”

Detective Meiklejohn then read a statement he had taken from Florence Cooper on August 8. She said that she was staying at the Pier Hotel, Wellington, with her husband and they had no money. Therefore she suggested that they should go out and “stick up” some cars. They bought some old clothes and in the Miramar instance changed into them in an old bach. She lay on the road and when a car came along she presented the air pistol while her husband held up the men with a revolver. “The ear driver had a torch and flashed it in my face,” the statement continued. “He said, ‘lt is not a real one,’ to which I replied, ‘You will soon know whether it is a real one.’ I stuck up the other car which came up and told the man and woman to get out. Aly husband left the other two men and came over-to me and then took the woman’s purse. A man from the first ear came and flashed a torch in his

face and then my husband fired a shot. The woman said, ‘Be a sport as you have got the money.’ ” After they had changed their clothesand were walking in Miramar, the accused said; they met a man whom they knew was a dete’etive. He asked them if they had seen any men. “He told us that we had better look out as there were two desperate characters about,” she added'. They then came back to the town and had supper at a cafe about 9 o’clock.

Before the Day’s Bay hold-up they climbed the hill behind the road and were- there all the afternoon, the statement continued. They had planned to hold up a bus after dark, but when they saw the service station they decided at once to rob it instead of hold-

ing up a bus. They went on the hill anil changed and then went down to the service station. After putting - masks over their faces they forced a way in. After telling the proprietor there was a man outside, whic.V was not true, and taking the- contents of the till they walked back towards Wellington and caught a bus at Petone. “I wish to say that I am as much to blame as my husband in the two holdups,” the statement concluded. Detective W. McLennan, stationed at Petone, described how, acting on advice from New Plymouth, he searched the gorse along,ide the service station and J ’ound a suitcase (produced) containing various articles o x old clothing. Detective Kane described how he interviewed' Alorton in regard to his deserting his ship, the Cambridge, on March 1, and the theit of certain articles from the ship. Alorton then made a statement admitting the theft of a camera, a pair of binoculars valued at £2 18s, and articles of clothing. Witness had tested the compressed air pistol and found it to be capable of killing or disabling a man. After pleading guilty both accused I were committed to the Supreme Court for sentence. The magistrate remand- j ed Cooper to appear at Wanganui on August 31 on the charge of robbing Organ at Wanganui and wounding him. The magistrate intimated that he would deal with the remainder of the charges, which were summary, after the najor ones had been disposed of in the supreme Court. , i