DAYLIGHT RAID

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLIII, Issue 20928, 6 January 1938, Page 4

DAYLIGHT RAID

WEALTHY WOMAN ROBBED Wealthy Mrs Hesketh-Wright’s Park Lane flat was lately the scene of one of the most sensational London jewel robberies of recent years. Three men, masked, and armed with revolvers and pads saturated with chloroform, rang at Mrs HeskethWright’s flat at the top of Aidford House, at eight in the morning. A maid. Mrs Goodwin, opened the door, only to be threatened with the guns. She was pushed into a sittingroom where the men tore lip a sheet and bound her to a chair. Parting Threat Then, forcing their way to Mrs Hesketh-Wright’s bedroom, the men wakened her and ordered her out of beo. Throwing her a dressing-gown they compelled her to open her safe and hand them her £20,000 collection of jewellery. After pocketing the jewels, they bound her to a chair and left with the parting threat:— “Don’t speak or move for half an hour. We are leaving a man to keep you cov&ged." Mrs Hanketh-Wright, terror-stricken, obeyed. For 30 minutes she lay quivering her eyes on the clock, fearful lest ai.j involuntary move might be followed by a shot from the other side of the door. Then she struggled free and telephoned the police to pour out her story. Unfortunately, by that time, the thieves were many miles away and will be difficult to trace. All the time her maid, dumped in a chair in the sitting-room, struggled in vain to free herself. Her wrists, elbows, and ankles were bound, and her mouth gagged with a wad of cotton-wool. Locked Door “My bedroom was locked,” Mrs Hesketh-Wrlght stated later. “The mei forced the door, and I was awakened by the crash. I sat up in alarm, and saw three masked men, each carrying a revolver, rush into the room.

“I was terrified. I jumped out of bed and rushed to the door. The men said they would not hurt men if I told them where I kept my jewellery. They demanded the keys, and forced me to open the safe. “They took out all the jewellery and money. There was about £lOO in cash, and jewellery to the total value of £20,000. "It was of all types—rings, bracelets, necklaces and brooches, and the stones included rubies, pearls, diamonds and sapphires.” The men apparently arrived by car, for one was dressed as a chaffeur. They obviously had an intimate knowledge of the interior of the block of flats. Mrs Hesketh-Wright, who recently returned from a world tour, is the daughter of the late Mr Warley Pickering, shipping magnate, of Hutton Hall, Middlesbrough, Yorkshire. She married Mr John Hesketh-Wright, a company director, several years ago.