WESTFIELD HOLD-UP

NZ Truth, Issue 1202, 13 December 1928, Page 7

WESTFIELD HOLD-UP

Two Men Arrested, Alleged to Be Bandits Who Waylaid Motoring Party NEWCOMERrsyDDEN EXIT (From ■ "-N.Z. Truth's" Special Auckland Representative). pi!llllllllllllllll!l!lllllllllllll!l!lll!IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIM 1 For two weeks following 1 the sensational hold-up of a party j | of jockeys at the revolver point onlthe Great South Road on j 1 their return from the Te Kuiti races 1 , Auckland detectives car- 1 1 ried out a systematic search for the wanted men. On Saturday j ■ last at Kaikohe the police arrested two men, alleged to have | I been responsible for the hold-up, i I | They are Roy Patrick Newman' and McAfee Stoner, both m | of Melbourne, and they were arrested by Constables Wolf en- . j 1 dale, of Kaikohe, and Puddy, of Rawene, on a charge of false jj | pretences. Subsequently they were charged with being con- | jj cerned m the hold-up. ' . • 1 Il!i[|l!l!ll!lilll!llllil!!llll!!lli:i!ili!li]l!i:i!l!ll!lliiiiilllllii:!lil;il!m

IMMEDIATELY following their arrest X Detective -sergeant Doyle and Detective O'Sullivan left Auckland for Whangarel and interviewed the two accused m connection with the WestHeld sensation. A search of their effects brought to light . two revolvers. The . accused men were brought to Auckland following their appearance before the Whangarei bench. For several days* prior to their arrest, Newman and Stoner w<ere under surveillance. They were touring around m a motor car, similar to one hired from Shortens garage m Auckland/ and finally they entered Kaikohe. They purchased some goods, tendering a cheque for payment. The police were Informed and when the cheque was found to be allegedly wuraiuiniwimniHimnwimiminiiiniumiiiiiiiiiiiiiimimiiimiiiiHiiMimiiic-

tenants suddenly disappeared that suspicions were aroused. After the hold-up the police were informed about the mysterious disappearance of the two men from Epsom and they busied themselves m seeing what could be done_ along that line of investigation. Then came the information that a car had been hired from Shorter's gai - age. That, was all the police had on which to work. It was little enough, identification of the features being impossible." Soon reports began to come m from North Auckland which suggested that the men for whom the police were looking were on the move, - Instructions were issued to police stations to' watch for them. The two men who were finally arrested had been touring m a car m the vicinity of the Ninety Mile Beach, and the car they used was seen to be very similar to the missing vehicle, a description of which has been broadcast by the police. For three days Newton and Stoner remained m Kaikohe, where they fell under suspicion, being closely watched by Constables Wolf endale ' and Duddy. But nothing happened to justify the constables taking: any. action until the two men presented a cheque m payment of goods from a store. The cheque was found to be valueless. . Then the constables interviewed Newton and Stoner and charged them with -obtaining goods by means of the valueless cheque. A search of their effects followed, and an automatic pistol and a revolver were found. The men appeared before the Whangarei magistrate _m handcuffs and were remanded to Auckland to appear on Tuesday on a charge connecting them with the Westfield holdUP-. ,••.,"■' A full report of the court proceedings will appear m "N.Z. Truth."