ANOTHER HOLD-UP

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 74, Issue 188, 11 August 1931, Page 8

ANOTHER HOLD-UP

ROBBERY UNDER ARMS BANDITS AT EASTBOURNE CASH FROM PETROL STATION [ Per Press Association. ] WELLINGTON, Aug. 10. Two armed men held up Mr William Piere at a petrol station at. Sunshine Bay. Eastbourne, early to-night. The bandits secured £5 18s 6d and cut th*-, telephone wires at the garage to delay alarm. Apparently they had a car waiting round one of the many curves on the road, and after collecting the loot disappeared in the darkness. Mr Piere hurried to the nearest tele phone some distance away and gave the alarm. The road on which the robbery took place is lonely and comes to an end beyond Eastbourne, only a track continuing to Pencarrow. At the Petone end the only exit from the road can be easily watched, and provided the police were there in time would be able to intercept the robbers 1 ear. It is feared, however, that by the time the alarm was given and the police arrived the robbers would have passed this point and got away into rhe maze of streets at Petone, thence returning to the city.

MIRAMAR HOLD-UP

MAN WITHOUT A MASK WELLINGTON, Aug. 10. Extensive inquiries are being made by the Police Department to discover the identity of the two bandits who robbed motorists proceeding along the road from Miramar Wharf to Shelly Bar on Friday evening. The first car stopped by the bandits was driven by Mr Charles McDermot, of Wellington, who had with him Mr Maurice Guthrie, a former resident of Wellington, now living at the Bay of Islands. In their opinion the bandits were quite young—probablv about 18 and 21 years of age respectively. They ▼ere both desperate, however, and ■wing to their state of nervousness vould probably have used their weapons to effect if any attempt had oeen made to interfere with them. Unmasked Face. Mr Guthrie told a Post reporter today that his first impression on seeing a body lying at the side of the road was that someone had been knocked down by a 4 ‘hit and run” motorist. When the car pulled up Mr Guthrie secured a torch and walked •ver to the “body,” which came to life and called out. ‘‘Come on, Bill.” Another man then appeared from the shadows and covered Mr McDermot with his gun. Mr Guthrie, who had seen the unmasked face of the man who was lying on the ground, then turned his light on ‘‘Bill,” who had a black handkerchief across the lower part of his face. Realising that their only chance was to gain time, the motorists talked with the bandits and managed to them until the car driven by Mr Vaney arrived on the scene. Mr Guthrie again used his torch, and as he stepped forward towards one of the bandits he was rewarded with a shot which just missed his leg. One of the bandits made a rough search of Mr McDermot*s clothing, but all he secured was a cheque book. Nothing was taken from Mr Guthrie, as he was not searched. Not a New Experience The hold-up was not a new experience for either Mr Guthrie or Mr MeDermot. While vistng Canada recently Mr Guthrie was held up by a gunman on the outskirts of Vancouver, and was relieved of a few dollars in cash. On this occasion the car —as not stopped. When the car was slowing up to turn a corner a masked man jumped on the running board, produced an automatic, and after collecting the money jumped off again. The incident was reported to the police authorities, and nothing more was heard of it. “Although such hold-ups do not occur actually every day. they are so common that very little notice is taken of them over there.” said Mr Guthrie. Mr McDermot has had more experence than Mr Guthrie in the armed robbery business. While he was tn Dublin during the Sinn Fein trouble, he was held up on two or throe occasions and robbed by gunmen.