THE MAIL ROBBERY

Hokitika Guardian, 15 March 1929, Page 6

THE MAIL ROBBERY

(By Telegraph—Press Association)

WELLINGTON, March T 3

Further evidence- was given in the Magistrate's Court- this afternoon in. the case' in which Thomas GoiMon, Arthur Henry William Reran. Richard Ryan, and George Wi llred Ryan, are charged.' that between’ February Dili, and 10th. they robbed the “Waliine's’’ mail.

A shop"'assistant gave evidence of selling rubber gloves' to two men. She had been unable to identify the men at a pa cade. Other witnesses said that they bad been ’given a fountain pen, a. ring and a watch by the various accused.

One witness. Joseph Roper, a hotelkeeper at Otaki, said that he changed a AM note for Bevan.

A postal employee described the discovery of the tact that the mail bad bee’ii tampered with. The string •of the bags had been cut and retied. All of the letters were intact with the exception of one case, where an envelope only was found in a bag. I here was nothing destructive about the job apart from the money being taken. The postal authorities did not know what the letters contained except lor the word of the senders where there was nothing in the letters. A statutory declaration we.s.all that the postal author! I ies could lie guided by. ■'The finding of a pocket knife and •pieces of a rubber glove in the .bold and among t'lie letters was described. STATEMENTS MV 1 11 K ACCUSED.

Detective-Sergeant Tricklebank .said that when Richard Ryan was questioned" about' his movements oil the night'of Friday, February Bth. he admitted that lie went to Christchurch on tin* Wahine that night with his brother Ge-u-ge. also Thomas 'Gordon and Bill Bevan.

in signed statements made by the lour accused, which were read aloud by Detective Tricklebank, all knowledge of tlic robbery was denied. The men stated that they had gone to the Trots in ( liristelmi’ch and had returned by the Wahine to Wellington. They had not. however, been near the Hatch. They had read in the paper of the rob bery, and that was the first they had heard of ii. Gordon, in his '.statement. said that he had “gone broke!’

at tlie trots and did not liave his fate ba-T to Wellington. He had entered a moi-.ir ear which was. covered tip on the deck of tlie Wahine, and had remained there all night out of sight. The other three also vouched lor this in their statements, saving that Gordon iiad “gone broke” at the trots.

Air Leicester pointed out that whatever one man said in his statement was

not evidence against another.

Mr Hunt: That is quite) so. THE FIRST ARRESTS

Continuing. Detective Tricklebank said that at- (5. a.in. on Friday 21st., in company with Detective Jarrold. he went to the house in Turnbull Street, where Gordon and Bevan lived! and found them in bed. “We told them,” went on witness, “that we wanted them down at the Detective Office and they came along with u.s. Before leaving, we searched them and their room. Bevan had £l(> in his possession, while we found £2O in single notes on Gordon. At the Detective Office we questioned Bevan, telling him that we had interviewed Roper, iiie hotel-keeper at Otaki. to whom he had given a £5 note which had been stolen from the mails.” When 1. showed Bevan the note, said witness, lie .said "he would tell the truth about tlie matter. He then made the following -statement, which Detective .Jarrold took down and Bevan read it over and signed as being true. A CONFESSION BY BEVAN. Tlie statement which was dated on February 21st., read as follows:—“About, a week prior to Saturday, the robbery took place. Thomas Gordon, who resides in the same house as I did in Turnbull Street, told me that he and the two Ryans were going to rob the mails on hoard the Wahine, and asked pie to come in with them on it. He 'told me that it would he all right, and

...at it as to he dune on the boat. He did not explain to me at Hie time, just Imw tlie robbery was to be carried out. hut he assured me that it was all right, and I agreed to help. He told me that George and Dick Ryan wore to be in the robbery. On Thursday February 7th. 1 met Dick and George Ryan and Gordon in Willis Street. They were in Dick Ryan's molor car. If was in the afternoon', and we were all in the motor car together.” THE PLAN. “Dick Ryan planned the robbery in the car. Ryan told me that the job w;j< all right, and that there was no show of getting caught on it. It was arranged that when we were coming ba-.-k I'i’oni Lyttelton on the Saturday night that Gordon was to go to 'the mail hatch, and roll the mail On Friday. February Bth. we all went down to L’’Helton on the Wahino. I had a cabin and the two Ryans and Gordon were in a cabin down hoi >w. We all travelled steerage. Gordon was sick, and during the trip down I changed berths with him. When we arrived at Lyttelton, we went, to Christchurch, and filled in the time by kicking around the town all day. We went, to Lyttelton by train, and when we arrived oil ti.e wharf, we went on hoard the Wahint*. We had got out ref urn berths' in Christchurch that day. Gordon did not have a ticket coining back. After we got on board. Dick Ryan. Gordon and I went along tlie deck to near the mail hatch in the stem of the ship. The mails were lieing loaded into the hatch at the time. We all kept a watch on the mail hatch, until the sailors went away.

While the sailors were away Gordon got into the hatch and' Dick Ryan and

I kept watch, while he went down the ladder. It had been previously arranged that Gordon was to come out of the hatch again the following morning, when it is opened up, and vve were all to he about the hatch when he came out - one to go down the hatch. ’ After Gordon got down the hold I went ashore and bought a paper. In the morning Dick Ryan was''up first. After having a wash and a cup of tea, we went along t the mail hatch, which was still closed down. The covers were on. We hung about the hatch until the covers and top were taken off just as the boat was coming in the heads. After the covers .were taken off, the sailors left the 'hatch. Alter they hud gone, George Ryan and T kept a wnten to see that no one came along, and Dick Ryan went along to the open hatch and called Gordon to come out, which he did. After that we kept away front each other. After the boat arrived at the wharf we came off with the passengers Gordon and I then went home to 19 Turnbull Street. Shortly after the Ryans arrived. The money was then counted, and divided. I. got £11). Gordon had a wristlet watch, a pen and a serviette ring, which lie kept. Gordon and I went to Otaki last Sunday in Ryan’s ear. I was not with Gordon all the time that we were at Otaki. We came back to Wellington oil Sunday night. I have' neverbeen in any previous trouble at anytime. The money found in my possession to-day (£l6) is all that I have left of the £4O that I got from Gordon. It was part of the money stolen hv Gordon from the mail bags on the Wahine.’’

At tliis stage the Court adjourned until 11.30 o’clock to-morrow, morning.