A CONDID BURGLAR

New Zealand Times, Volume XLVI, Issue 10612, 10 June 1920, Page 5

A CONDID BURGLAR

AMAZING SERIES OF THEFTS

SEQUEL TO ELOPEMENT FROAI WELLINGTON. PER PRESS ASSOCIATION. AUCKLAND, June 9. The story of an elopement from Wellington under anything but promising circumstances was told before -Mr Wilson, y.AI., to-day, when a young man of 21 years, Arthur Symons, admitted .having committed half a dozen burglaries in the Newmarket district last month, and one of the witnesses against him was a. girl of sixteen who had accompanied him on the trip to Auckland from Wellington. According to 'the evidence Symons and 'the girl left Wellington together about seven weeks ago, and slopped at Palmerston North for a week or so before coming cm to Auckland. They put up us man and wile at an apartment ihou.se in Hobson street, and Symons did no work, hut one day early last mouth he tossed a roll of sixteen £1 notes to the girl and showed her a watch aud revolver. ' She pressed inquiries about where this came from, and he eventually stated that he had stolon them from Whittome and! Stevenson’s pickle factory office.

About 7 Friday morning workmen who were early on the job surprised Symons in tho office of the Tanpo-Totara Timber Co. at Newmarket, and though ha tried to bluff them that he was one of the office staff they refused to believe him,- and when he tried to holt they caught him and turned him over to Plain-clothes Cons'tablo Knight. Prisoner itmde a confession that since coming to Auckland ho had done no work, but had lived by theft, Gging out by night with a hammer in his pocket he had used the tool to break tho back windows or the glass panels of doors of business premises, and so gain access to offices! and ransack tills and ca-shhoxes. He stated that he had entered tho offices, of C. B. Laurie, where he got 16s worth of stamps and 9s lOd i" cash; of Whifcto:me and - Stevenson’s, where he got £l6 in cash; of the Motor Specialties, Ltd., where his liaul consisted of one shilling and 16s worth- of stamps; and of Alexander Harvey and Sons, where ha drew a blank. Eventually ho tried two burglaries in one night by returning on Friday to Whittorad and Stevenson’s, where ha got this time only a pair of gloves r pair of silk stockings, and £250 in iranegotiablo paper; and thou going on to tho Tanpo-Totara Timber Co.’s office, where he got some jewellery and also got. caughti . , He further admitted having done four burglaries of offices in Palmerston North. He stated that when caught he had snout all tho cash he had stolen. After evidence Had been given of the burglaries and tho goods taken ami found on accused had been identified, a ecu red was, committed to- the Supreme Court for sentence. He was remanded to apnear at Palmerston North on four j charges of burglary.