JEWEL THIEVES’ HAUL

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 19785, 8 March 1927, Page 12

JEWEL THIEVES’ HAUL

LONDON PREMISES ROBBED INTRUDERS LEAVE NO CLUE. Two great jewel robberies took place in London one day recently, involving the stores of Messrs Harrods, where gems to the value of £lO,OOO were stolen, and the shop of Messrs Hancocks and Co., jewellers and silversmiths. The robbery at Messrs Harrods, which was carried out at an early hour, was cunningly planned and skilfully executed. It is 20 years since burglars last broke into the stores. Three men, it is estimated, worked their way through the rear departments of the store, manipulating or smashing seven pairs of iron fire-proof doors, breaking padlocks like piecrusts, forcing and stripping .15 showcases, and removing the valuables in £2O crocodile suitcases by way of a disused door which had been barred by a counter and concealed by bales of cloth, for so many years that no member of the firm’s staff could be found who knew of its existence. Work at Lightning Speed. As they worked, the intrduors evaded the patrols of watchmen and firemen, who make a round of the large premises on an average once every two hours. Officials of the firm think the men occupied less than an hour, executing their plans at lightning speed and with automatic precision. Even then they left on chics and dropped no tools. A trail of shavings and broken locks is practically all the trace they left of their intrusion. A policeman in the vicinity was surprised to see a taxicab with dimmed lights driving away from the stores at about 5 a.m. He informed the timekeepers and detectives, and a search revealed that the showcases had been ransacked. There was no evidence of a forced entry into the building, and it is assumed that the intruders mingled with the shopping crowds and secreted themselves in the drapery stores or in. the net-work of corridors. “They must have been experts,’’ said an official of the firm, ‘ ‘ and they must either have spent some months studying the ramifications of the stores or have brought an accomplice who had an intimate knowledge of the building. “Almost every pair of doors presented a different problem. Some of them arc folding doors, and others slide to the side. One set of doors, heavy enough to sever a man’s foot, slides downward and falls freely for the last two feet. They evidently knew this for they propped the doors up with a box. “When the burglars came to the steel doors which guard the jewellery store they burst the padlock and entered. Then, presumably, one of them drilled four-inch holes in each of the showcases near the locks, while a second prised up the lids, levering through tho holes against the stout plate glass lids, which are hardly cracked. A third probably followed scooping the jewellery into stolen suitcases.

“Then they broke the locks on the door which was unknown tb us and left. “There are stains on a Chesterfield which would suggest that they had coolly refreshed themselves with wine and fruit, but none of our provisions seem to bo missing.” Other Treasure Overlooked.. Costlier jewellery to the value of £75,000 or £lOO,OOO is lockexl up at night in the strong-room, and no attempt was made to reach this treasure. Each of the damaged cases is of carved mahogany and valued at £2OO. Tho loss is covered by insurance. The other jewel robbery was carried out in the day time. Two young men entered Messrs Hancock’s shop, and asked the assistant to show them some good diamond rings. The assistant did so, but the men left without purchasing anything. Some minutes later it was discovered that a single-stone diamond ring valued at £5OO and a bracelet worth £2OO were missing. The robbery was effected, it is believed, by a sleight-of-hand trick by one of the men, who stole the jewellery while the assistant was engaged in conversation by the other.