MAIL ROBBERY

Hokitika Guardian, 7 February 1929, Page 2

MAIL ROBBERY

LO&i OF £I<).OU(J. LONDON, Doc. Id. A gang of London tiiiovos is 1.-.*!icv-od to have l)oon responsible for :i>i ingeniously planned robbery of a mailbag, containing rogistorod packets to tlie. value of several thousands of pounds, between Paddington Slalion and the (lonoral Post Oflico on Tuesday afternoon. Scotland Yard was last night asked to investigate the matter. It is understood that the hulk of the contents of the registered pacnoi.s consisted of Treasury notes sent by three Cardiff banks to their liead(|iiarters in London. There were also several hundred bank-notes of varying denominations. The total value of the stolen notes is said to be about £IO,OOO, The despatch is a daily one made by the hanks in Cardiff. It was heavier than usual owing to the fact that large numbers of Treasury notes are being calk’d in for substitution by Dank of England notes. FOUND ON A MUD FLAT. The stolen bag was the most valuable in the whole consignment carried horn Cardiff by the 3.15 p.m. train, which arrived at Paddington at 6.10. There were about 100 bags 'n the mail, only a few of which contained registered packages. The bngs were loaded into a Royal Mail van at Paddington. Twenty-four hours later one of them was found on the Thames mud flats behind Cannon-street Pailway Station. All tile registered packages had been extracted. The top of the bag bad been cutaway and only a few ordinary Peers remained in it. It was taken to '.be police and handed over to the (amoral Post Office, who bad already instituted inquiries. BAG NEARLY DRY. Post Office detectives know the numbers of some of the notes. ' The hag when found was scaeivly wet. Detectives believe it was thrown on the mud by the thieves shortly before it was cli s covered. The tide was then low. 'lhe oag would have been completely submerged bad it la■ i i there an houror so longer. A perplexing feature of the robbery is the means by umeli the thieves obtained possession of their booty. A railway official said to a Daily Mail reporter last night: Our inquiries tend to show that the bags weiv not tampered with in any way from the time they were put into die guard's van at Cardiff until they were unloaded and checked ov the posta 1 officials who took delivery at Paddington. It is our belief that the bag was stolen after the mail-van had driven away about 6.30. ONLY ONE' STOP. Widespread inquiries are being made by the detective staff of '.lie General Post Office, the railway police, and the Cardiff police. The driver and attendant of the vrn have both made statements eonem-n----ing tlioir journey between Paddington and the General Post Office. Only cue stop was made at another railway station between these two points to collect other mails, and it is there that the investigations arc now being made. As far as the statements go the bags were not left unwatched for a single minute. By careful scheming, however the thieves were able to steal ('this particular one which measures about 4ft. by 3ft. and vanish with it without being seen.