SERIES OF BURGLARIES.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVIII, Issue 54, 1 February 1938, Page 9

SERIES OF BURGLARIES.

JUVENILES CHARGED. Per Press Association. CHRISTCHURCH, Jan. 29. The extraordinary activities of a gang of four boys, led by the youngest of their number, aged only 12£ years, between January 12 and January 18, when they broke into 11 houses leaving a trail of wreckage behind them, and stole jewellery and property of a total value of £2ll, were revealed at a sitting of the Children’s Court this morning. The four boys, three of whom are brothers, who pleaded guilty to all the thefts, were 12J, 13, 14, and 15 years of age. Three of them were committed to the care of the superintendent of child welfare, this course having been adopted with the fourth boy at a previous sitting of the Court on January 15, when he appeared on other charges. Detective Sinclair, who prosecuted, said that property valued at £2ll was stolen, £192 of this being the value of jewellery. Jewellery to the value of £177 had been recovered. Total restitution, including damage to houses, came to about £63, and there seemed to be no hope of recovery. No order for restitution was made. The damage in one house alone was estimated at £23 15s, said Detective Sinclair. The boys had ransacked the pantry, throwing flour and sugar and other provisions on the floor. A bottle of brandy had been poured over the bed, hath salts, perfumes, and matches were strewn about, and bedding had been cut and sliced into small pieces. A new mattress was cut open and its contents thrown about.