ACCUSED TELL THEIR STORY

Chronicle (Levin), 12 April 1946, Page 8

ACCUSED TELL THEIR STORY

— - . . — ■ ARMED ROBBERY OF BANK AT BUU.S All Three Men Enter Pleas of Guilty Admissions that they had participated in the armed robbery of the Bulls branch of the Bauk of New Zealand, were made all three accused when they appcared in the Palmerston North Magistrate's Court yesterday. The men were: — Raymond Edward Mclntosh, married, aged 22, garage assistant, of Palmerston North. William Lawrence Burke, single, aged'v' 20,- labourer, of Palmerston North. .. . ( Kenneth Hardy Brandon, single, aged 20, freezing worker, of Palmerston North. They were charged that on March 25 at Bulls, beibf>' armed with offensive weapons, namely, a Sten gun and two revolvers, tfiey robbed Kenneth Hubert Allen of £2128, the property of the Bank of New Zealand. They were also charged with the conversion of j a Chevrolet car valued at £650, the property of the Health Departj ment, and a Buick car valued at £850, the property of P. A. Kusabs, I of Rotorua, at "Wellington on March 24. ' These two cars, the evidenee disclosed, had been used by the j accused in their operations, along with a third, car. a red Hudson \j in which Mclntosh had an interest.

I I Deteetivc-Sergeant O. Power conduetcd tlie Police ease. Counsel for the aecused were Mr. (t. C'rossley (Brandon;, | L. Laurenson (Burke), aiul J. A. Ongj ley (Mclntosh). At the conclusion of the evidenee and | the announeement of the pleas of guilty, I Messi's .T. T. Bosworth and W. G. Ashj worth, J.P.'s, sent the trio to ihe j iStiprome Court, Palmerston North, for | senlenee. •J. M. H. .Tnlian, of Wellington, ga^e evidenee as to the value of the ears | missed from the garage in Wellington, : of which he was serviee manager. It i i.ad eost £112 4s 5d to repair the Buick : after tlve episode and £S 11s in respect j oi' the Chevrolet. Kenneth Hubert Allen, who was tlie teller in tlie bank when the three armed j men walked in on him, said he was 50 vears of age. The doors were reopened after the luncheon interval at 1 p.m. He went to the strong room £or money with' which to transact business, | taking it in a basket to his cubicle. Two ' customers were attended to and left. Then Alr. D. W. Wilson eante in and went to the public table. Next he saw : tiiree men with hoods over their heals — long masks of grey matcrial with ludes cut for the eyes. All three "stuck up" Mr. Wilson and cftlled out "This is a hold up. " Witness said he faile.d to register tlie situation for a moment or two as it seemed so fantastic. He then moved to get his basket of money whereupon one of the trio turnod on him and lired a shot through (he grille of the cubicle in which he i was working. He threw himself on to | the floor behind a screen at the rear of ! the cubicle, and heard one of the men call out ' ' sock him! " . "I thought I was going to he shot in cold blood," continued Mr. Allen. | "However, someone hit me ori the top of the head with • something . heavy which was probahly the butt of a revolver. I was dazed fcr a moment or two bnt managed to scramhle around the corner and lie full length on the floor bleeding profusely. - | Witness said he didn't Tiear his assailant approach, he must have had iimfl'led feet. The man who hit him fiassed through into the cubicle where he was joined by one of the others. The Iwo then went to the strong room bnt lie didn't know whether they went inside or not. One man was weaving a . military overcoat with dirty brass but-tr-ns. The men left and Alr. Allen said he nished out after them- to give the alarm. Outside there was a car into which the men were getting but when they again menaced him with a revolver, he went back inside. After the car i left he rushed outside again to see if 1 it had number plates on. ! Afr. Allen said he had about £2000 j in the cubicle at the time — £750 in flfties, £430 in tens, £500 in fives, and ! £300 in £1 notes. , To Alr. Ongley witness said he did not think he had struek his head i against the wai] when he fell, thus causing tiie injurv he suffered. He had been struek by someone all right. To Arr. Laurenson witness said the shot lired could not have missed him by nmch. John Frederick Wesney, account- ! ant at the Bank of New Zealand, Pal- : mcrston Ncrt-h, said a check np at the Bulls branch revealed that there was a shorfcage of £2i23 9s Cdr - David W. Wilson, farmer, of Parewanui, tlie eustomer in the bank at the time of t.he hold-up, said one man stood at the door with a sten gun and covered witness. The other two went to a grille bf- the cubicle where Afr. Alleii was, and one fired a shot. Afr. Allen made a noise as if hurt, and after considerablc commotion, tlie three dashed out on to the street again. ' ' I watched the man at the door all fhe time," added Mr. Wilson. "He liad me coveredr." The trio were weaving hoods and he could only see their eyes. Constable J. AfcAlpine, of Bulls, produced a bullet which *he had reeovered from tlie plaster wall-at the rear of the teller 's cubicle. ft was lj'ing sideways in the plaster. To Alr. Laurenson the constable said that, standing six feet away, it would have been easy to hit Alr. Allen with a bullet. Story of Car Chaso. Constable C. Haresnape, of Palmerston North, te'mporarily at Levin, told the stdry of the chase after the wanted Buick' car along tlie Levin-Shannon highway, following the hold-up at Bulls. He had statioried himself on the main road near Levin. He had stopped an Army car driven by Major Wakefield and was talking to that officer when the Buick came along. He signalled the driver to stop. Tlie latter slowed up but- as Avitness followed on foot, tlie driver kept gaining on him. He went back to the Army car and, standing on the running board, set after the Buick. At the Queen Street- Afain' Eoad interseetion the Biiiclc turned around and came towards them slowly. However,

when opposite witness, the drivei stepped on the juice and sped ofl' in the direction of Shannon. Major Wakefield and he followed in the Army car but by the tima they had turned around the Buick was a long way ahead. They reached 70 m.p.h. but still the Buick gained on them and they lost sight of it. On reaching the top of Potts Hill at Shakara, they niet a drover and asked him if he had seen the Buick car pass. As lie had not, they turned back and made inquiries at farm houses. While doing this the Buick turned up again but failcd once more to stop although the driver had slowed up. Constable Haresnape said he then knelt down and fired a shot at a rear tyre. Getting back into the Army car, they renewed the chase. The Buick was held up at the foot of Potts' Hill by a mob of cattle but managed to get through them just as the Army car came up. The Buick was again out of sight going up the hill but Jinally the> caught up with it, abandoned on the side of the road about two miles further on. The tyre he had shot at was com pletely torn to shreds and in addition two other tyres were flat. Away across the* paddocks he saw a liuln runliing and organised a sea'rch. Sgt. F. Af.' Fuller, of Palmerston North, recounted having found a re volver lying in the grass near where a red Hudson car had heen standing the previous dav on a side road off tlie Vfaiturere beacli roa.l. It was an lvei Johnson .38. 5 ' • '• • Arms "Expert in Bpx Senior-SgL TG.. G. Kelly, of Wellington, arms adviser to the' Police, said ac'curate shooting could not be expected with this Iver Johnson revolver owing lo defects it Md. He had seen tlie bullet taken from the wall of the Bank and it was of the same brand as had been imported by the New Zealand Government for the Air Foree. It was of Argentine make. Witness was able to say that tlie bullet had been lired from the Iver Johnson revolver. The bullet in its flight, had stfuck the metal frame ovei^the top of tlie teller 's door and then entered the wall, base first. Assuming that the teller had been standing in a central position at his desk, the bullet would have^ passed v_ery close to his head. The other revolver, tlie Colt, showed no sign of having been recently fired, but the barrel of the Sten gun was dirty. However, no ammuni'tion taken from the accused would iit the Sten gun. Brandon 's Admissions Deteetive J. G. Long, who arrested Brandon at Wanganui on Afarch 27, said the lgtter admitte^Kex-fig 'thBre and was prepared to° tell 'au about-it. Brap'don h^d them made k." straighfforwarct statenienf wlftch he signed. Brandon disclosed that he had regularly kept company with Butrke and AIcIntosh for sonie months, Two or three months ago, AFelntosli had talked about niaking easy money and plgns were made to rob the Bank of New Zealand at Bulls. Alost of tlie plaiming was done by Alclntosh. It was decided to go to Wellington to get two cars, one to do the joh ..with and the other to get away in. They went to Wellington In the Hudson and located a garage ' near the wliarves. Alclntosh went inside and opened the doors. They selected two cgrs — the Chevx-olet and Buick — and all three cars were driven bhek to Palmerston North the. same niglit. The Hudson was then left at Alclntosh 's place and they proceeded in the Chevrolet and Buick to Bulls where they had a look at the Bank and theii proceeded to Tangimoana where they had a sleep. In the niorning they droye baclt to Weightman's Eoad, a side road near the Bulls bridge, and there left the Buick. In the Chevrolet they drovc into Bulls but as Alclntosh reckoned there were too many people about, they returned to "Weighlnian 's Eoad, changed into the Buick, and set out for Marton where they hhd something to eat. Tliey decided to get back to the Bank about 1 p.m. Arriving back at Weightman's Eoad they left the Buick and taking the Chevrolet, drove into Bulls. Mclutosh was at the wheel and he and Biirke, with niasks on, were lying down in the back seat, They waited a few mjnutes until Alclntosh said all was right. Mclntosh then had a mask on. They left the cai' engine running and getting out, went into tjio Bank.r Brandon said he carried the Sten gun, but had no bullets for it. He heard a shot fired and turned rofind to" see that it was Burke, who had fired. Mclntosh was also armed with a revolver. The latter signalled him to go hehind tlie pounter where Jie stood guard whiie Mclntosh made a quick search of the till and strong- (

room. They then left the Bank ana drove away. On Teaching Weightman 's Eoad, they changed to the Buick and drove away. In the Bank he heard nobody. sa» anything about "clocking" the teller Burke had said something to the gii'i there about keeping quiet. They reached Anzac Park across the river from Palmerston North by way oi Bunnythorpe, Ashhurst and iCokautere, getting a puncture on the way. From Anzac Park, they went to Alclntosh > plaee to get the Hudson and. next in the direction of Shannon with the ldea o.' dumping the Buick on a side road. However, they met men who knew Alc intosh and decided they coukl not leavt the car there. This uecessitated going on further, Alclntosh leading the way in the Buick. Near Levin they saw Alclntosh coming back with another ea. following him. They realised Alclntosh was being chased so he and Burke wein on to Levin and back towards Foxton. They then took the Waitarere turn-o.i and went up a side road with the object of getting rid of the guns, masks aml clothing. However, the engine- stalled and they could not get it to go again. They liid tlie guns, masks and clothing in long grass near the car, and after being unable to get help to get the car going again, walked to Foxton where they,stole two bieycles and rode them back to Palmerston North. At Anzac-Park, Mclntosh took the money out orhis pocket and lianded out notes to each of them. Brandon said ln did not know that Burke got over £(iu0. Each was to get the same amount. The masks were made at Tangimoana out of a pair of Mclntosh' s old trousers. It had been arranged beforehand tha the firearms were to be used only to frighten the Bank people. Nobody was to be shot. Deteetive Long said Brandon at lirsi said he had thrown his share of the money into the Manawatu river, bul had suhsequently disclosed that he hau buried it in a pic.kle bottle in the earl.lt floor of a toolshed. When reeovered, there was £5(52 10s in the bottle, bul Brandon had admitted that he had bee.i using about £5 in addition. Deteetive Long proceeded to tell ot' a search of 1J miles of the A tanawa tu river bank near Rhannon where ATclntoish' said he had crossed the river, in an endeavour to locate Alc Intosh 's share of the robbery. There had also been a search of nearbv paddocks and trees with out result. Mclntosh 's Denial Detective-Bergt. 0. Powor, in evidenee, said Mclntosh 's first story about the' red Hudson found near Waitarere, was that he had hired it to two strangv men for £25. He denied having been lo Bulls. Beyond that Alclntosh would .->a\ nOthing, That was about 12.30 p.m. on the day after the robbery. - That evening witness and Deteetive Long located Burke in a Palmerston North billiard saloon and took him to the Police Station. Burke was prepared to make a statenient and did so. Burke 's Statement Burke 's statement traversed the train of events as set out by Brandon, but new details were added. According to him it was first planned to rob tlie Bank of New South Wales at Bulls, but on arriving at the township they realised it wou]d be easier to tackle the Bank of New Zeal-and as it gave a quieker get-away. As the Heller, Mr. Allen ' 'ducke'cl " down, he had'mred through the grille. Alr.1 .- Allen was then out of sight. As tlie latter was going down, he (Burke) had called out "watch that joker, " not "sock" him. Aiclntosii went over the grille after the money. He understood each was to get about £600. When Alclntosh was turned back by Constable Haresnape, he and Brandon, in the Hudson, continued on straighit past the polieeman. Burke said his share was £65(5, but all were to have got an equal share. The Detective-Sergt. said Burke had been very frank and had insisted that they had had no intention of killing the teller. He had only fired to frighten him. On March 28, they took Alclntosh to the tShannon district where accused hau said he dropped a portion of the stolen money while running away after abandoning the car. A search was made hu, no sign of the money was found. Mclntosh 'p Admissions On April 3, after seeing his solicitor, Mclntosh was prepared to make a statement regarding his parf in the rohpepy, continued the DeteetiveSeigt. He had said that the reason for taking the cars from Wellington was to make it appear Jhat Wellington ipen had dbqe the rQhbery, They took the Sten gun from tlie A.T,C. depot at Wanganui 'on the Saturday previously, but no ammunition thougli it was available. This gun the> left concealed near- the -Bulls bridge picking it up later. Alclntosh said il was he who was wearing the military greatcoat. He also said all got about £650 cach. After being stopped by Constable Haresnape. he went up a sideropd and toured back to Levin Joolcing for Brandqn and' Burke in the Hudson, but not finding them, set off back +o Palmerston North- However, he again ran into the constable. -When he abaedonefl the Buick, he went across' country, swam the Manawatu river a'nd returned home. Gojng down next mor'i ipg to get the Suds.on, he found tlie police theye. Tlte Detqctive-Sergt. said he agaip asked Mclntosh to reveal where his

share of the money was, hut he insisted that he had lost- it curing the chase. This concluded the Police ease. All three accused pleaded guilty and they were committed to the Buprcnie Court, Palmerston North, for sentence, on April 29. On a eharge of breaking and entering the warehouse of the Air-* Training Corps at Wanganui on Alarch 23, and stealing therefrom a Bten gun valued at £7 10s, the three accused were remandei to appear at Wanganui on April 18. The three admitted a charge of being in possession of a Sten gun and two Tevolvenr vvithout lawful and sufiiGieut purpose. For this olt'ence, tlie Justices Ale'ssrs J. T. Bosworth and W. G. Ashworth, sentenced each to two months' imprisonment. The main object of the charge, Detective-Sergt. Power infonn ed the Court, was to secure the forfeiture of the revolvers. Theft of Eevolver The Court scene elosed with , the ap pearance of Mclntosh alone on a chargof breaking and entering gt Bulls on November 11, 1945, the garage of J. B Robins and stealing therefrom a Col revolver and liolster, 400 rounds of am munition, wallet, knife, cigarettes, to bacco, mntches, and two cheque book^, of a tdtal value of £15 2s T|d. * Alr, Robins said the revolver belonged to Dr. Watson, of Bulls, and was in witness 's possession for Home Guard purposes. * . In a statement to"the Police, Mcln tosh said he was on his own when ht broke into the irarage. He had given n wicket door a kick aud it had opened, p Mclntosh pleaded guilty arid was committed to the Supreme Court for sentence. , *