ALLEGED MOTOR BANDITS IN COURT

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 194, 17 August 1931, Page 6

ALLEGED MOTOR BANDITS IN COURT

Two Australians Accused of Holding-up Motorists at Miramar. Per Press Association. K’EW PLYMOUTH, August 17. THIS MORNING, before a Justice of the Peace, Jack Winstone, aged twenty-two, and Florence Winstone, aged twenty-four, were charged with being armed with a revolver and robbing a man by the name of Guthrie, at Miramar, Wellington, on August 7, of a cheque book. They were also charged with being unlawfully in possession of a revolver and a compressed-air pistol. The accused were remanded until Thursday at Wellington. The two accused, who are both Australians, were arrested on Saturday.

SUSPICIONS AROUSED. Per Press Association. NEW PLYMOUTH, Aug—t 16. The suspicious movements oi' two lodgers, a young man and woman, led to two arrests being made at the Terminus Hotel, New Plymouth, on Saturday morning. Search of accused’s room at the hotel at the time of the arrest disclosed a fully-loaded five-chambered revolver and a powerful air-pistol capable of firing lead slugs with considerable force. Included in accused’s effects was a sock containing a quantity of .3calibre bullets and two boxes of lead slugs, one size of which fitted the airpistoi, the other being too small. Hotel Staff Alarmed. Last Wednesday night a constable on his beat was accosted by a man who said he had booked in at the Arcadia Hotel, but was unable to gain admittance at that late hour. The constable suggested that he would be able to secure accommodation at the Terminus Hotel, where there was a night porter. The man acted on the suggestion and was booked in by the night porter at the Terminus. The new lodger explained that his wife would be joining him about midday on Thursday, and the woman duly arrived for lunch. The management of the hotel became suspicious, however, owing to the mysterious movements of the new lodgers. The domestic staff was instructed to keep Ja careful watch on their movements. The man seldom had his meals in the dining-room, preferring them in his bedroom. Other little incidents and the movements generally of the new

arrivals led to a suspicion on the part of the management that they might have some connection with the Wellington highway robberies. The police were accordingly notified, with the result stated. Two parties of motorists travelling along a lonely road at Miramar, Wellington, on the evening of August 7, were held up by what appeared to be two men, each of whom was armed with a revolver. In both cases the gunmen were successful in obtaining some booty from their victims. A car containing two men was proceeding along a road by the waterfront on the eastern side of Evans Bay. While the car was between the Burnham Wharf, Miramar, and Shelly Bay, a dark shape lying in the road was revealed by the glare of the headlights. This was found to be a man’s body. The driver pulled the car up and climbed out to examine the body. From hiding, a man stepped out, revolver in hand, and covered the motorist. The man lying in the road then got up and joined his companion. lie, too, had a revolver and with it he covered the other man in the car. The robbers then caused the men to reveal the contents of their pockets, from which they pitked out what articles they wished to have. They secured some personal effects, but little or no money. They then allowed the car to proceed, but not to turn back to town, for that road led to police stations and telephones. The same procedure followed when another car, containing the driver and a woman, came along within a quarter of an hour.