DARING EXPLOITS.
DISGUISE THAT FAILED. REMARKABLE ESCAPADES.' "You must be one of the most brazen rogues that I have come across." These words were addressed by Sherriff Orr in Edinburgh to a young man, Charles Barron Lamond, who was sent to prison for twelve months, following a most remarkable series of daring escapades, during which he duped dozens of people in different parts of Scotland. Lamond is only 26 years of age, but, thus early in life, he has succeeded in securing for himself a prominent place in the "Rogues' Gallery." Opposite his name and photograph is a string of convictions in England and Scotland. He is a native of Blackpool, but was brought, when a child, to Glasgow. He is a motor driver by trade, and is married. His wife, however, does not live with him, preferring to live apart from a man who, it is patent, is bent on a life of crime. She resides in Crail, Fifeshire, while her husband tours the country thieving and defrauding. -~ Standing over six feet in height, Lamond is of conspicuous appearance. When only sixteen years of age he joined the army, and was posted with the artillery. Shortly afterwards, however, he was discharged when,,his true age was discovered. It was following his discharge from the Army' that he deserted the straight and narrow path, and decided to live by his wits, with the result that he has found himself in the dock at Rhyl, Preston. Airdrie, Leeds, Kilmarnock, Perth, and Edinburgh. Ingenious Trick. His present series of escapades started last November, just a few days after he came out of prison, where he had served a sentence of six months imposed on him afc Perth, and it ended when he was arrested in Edinburgh, where he tried to avoid capture by adopting a clever but vain disguise. At this time the police or numerous towns held warrants for his arrest. Lamond was wanted in Glasgow, Stirlingshire, Midlothian, Forfarshire, Renfew, Kinross, and Dumfermline. The Edinburgh police got to hear that Lamond was in the capital, and there j began a comb-out of all the places where the man was likely to conceal himself. Latterly he was traced to a lodging house in the city, where he was posing as an elderly cripple. He was wearing coloured spectacles, and walked with the aid of a stick, one of his legs being ostensibly lame, and his back bent as with age. • When taken into custody he did not deny his identity—he could not very well, seeing that his photograph was in the possession of. every police force in the country—and he was locked up, with twenty-five charges preferred against him. Inquiries by a "Weekly Record special commissioner reveal the fact that Lamond was released from prison last November. Within three days of his release he was calling at houses in different districts, hawking orders for Christmas cards. He had with him a book of attractive samples, and when he was successful in getting an order he asked for a deposit. That was the last that was seen of him—when he secured the deposit. He called at a garage in Partick and expressed the desire to buy a car. He chose one and took it from the garage for a trial spin. Nothing more was seen of Lamond, but the car was found abandoned in the East of Scotland about a fortnight later.
t This craze for having a motor did nol I, cease with the abandoning of the car, foi e not long afterwards Lamond called at i ® garage in the Shawlands district of Glas gow. He wanted to hire a car for thre< '* days, he said. One was hired to him, anc t Lamond made for the east coast again. fc He arrived 'in Musselburgh without the s price of a meal, but that was no hand! '" cap to Charles Barron Lamond. H« '" stopped at a garage, put in the car, anc * then asked to see the manager. 'i "Listen,, old man," he remarked in his plausible manner. "I'm temporarily em barrassed financially. I wonder if yoi £ could lend me a fiver?" And pointed tc the car as security. The car was wortl r many "fivers," and the manager of tin £ place obliged, being told that he woulc j be repaid the following day. fc He never saw Lamond again, and after wards realised that lie had lost the fiv<
pounds, for the car was found to be stolen property. The crook in the meantime found that the want of a car hampered his style somewhat. He called, therefore, at another garage in Edinburgh, and interviewing the proprietor, said that he had been sent by a clergyman in Newington to hire a car to take an aged man to Stirling., His appearance and plausibility did not raise the slightest suspicion, and Lamond was given a saloon car, which he promptly used to resume his tour of fraud. Coming back to Edinburgh he abandoned the car in a quiet lane in the Corstorphine district, where it was ultimately found. There are some crooks for whom the police have a good word. Lamond is not oDe of them. Indeed, it would appear from the story of his frauds that he specialises in robbing poor people, men and women who can ill afford the loss which he causes them.
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Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 230, 28 September 1929, Page 3 (Supplement)
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893DARING EXPLOITS. Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 230, 28 September 1929, Page 3 (Supplement)
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