DARING ESCAPADES

NZ Truth, Issue 1215, 14 March 1929, Page 7

DARING ESCAPADES

Doris Adanis Believed That Daylight "Jobs" Paid

jU DOE GRANTS PROBATION

(From "N.Z. Truth's" Special Dunedin Eepresentative)

v The universal emancipation of women during the ' past decade has been the means of .bringing- members of the fair sex before thq public m many strange roles. Fortunately, however, . lady-burglars are yet : a; rare' fonh of ihdicatingoequality of the sexes, and there is still an element .of interest; about the arrest of such a daring;, young, woman, as -Doris May Adams,, whose exploits as a dayUght house-fofeaker date back to July of last year.

IT is about eighteen .months since the public.; was amazed by the arrest after a. thrilling motor chase by a posse of police, of a fashionably- 1 . (Tressed and, pretty .young woman who was later convicted and gaoled as a member of a gang of professional burglars^in Auckland.;;: .. .■ ' : ; There ; was ,. riotiiing£' so, sensational about the arrest .ipf Doris May Adams, but, nevertheless," hef^career as a ladyburglar mai-ks a ne^ epoch in> the history of female criminals m; the Dominion. . . . ' EJach of her three "jobs" 'was perpetrated m broad daylight during the absence of the . occupants. Adams, it 'tiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiittiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiun j

'iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiiiMimiiiiiiiHiii iiimiiii iiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiil seems, became inspired with bur-, glarious intent' at the sight of a house with air : !the blinds drawn, indicative of the owner being "away. 'She, was then a single girl, working at a city factory.";:- .'/ ■" . " ' ■ ■'. "■'■.. i- ' '.. That was eight months ago, and though she pawned, quite a large, quantity of the booty derived from her first two exploits, herappre-' ' hension was not brought about - until the police were put on her > trail by the recent bare-faced robbery of a house m Mornington. With ••■subtle forethought m her third and last burglary, Adams employed a fictitious 'telegram to decoy v anv old,, s.chQ£l-cojnpanion v .away from home. "The '~ ; ruse'" succeeded, ;; and 'the unscrupulous girl-burglar had an open field 1 m; which to. rob. her school-days acquaintance. " • '. ■ ..'■'■ : In clothing, jewellery, toiletry and knick-knacks, Adams amassed :- stolen property to the value 'of some £70 odd. A - slim, fresh-complexioned: , and good-looking girl, well-dressed, Doris A False Message i Adams, aged 20 : years, showed, no signs of. emotion when placed m the dock of the city police court for police evidence to be heard before Mr. H: W. Bundle, S;M. , ' ' . . . The prosecution was conducted by Chief-detective Cameron, and 'Mr. A.C.Hanlon appeared for the woman.' The first" witness, Georgina Marion Crawley, a married woman, living in' High: Street, St. Kilda, stated that .between July 10 and 21 of last year, she> and her family were away on holiday. On returnirig, it was. found, that .entrance to the house had been effected by 'a. broken window, and clothing: and jewellery were found to be missing from, the house. The articles missing were reported to the police as being valued at £58/5/-. ; Jr. / ; Liater, however, other, goods' worth approximately £15 were also missing, but had not been reported to the authorities. .Ezekiel Johns, a storekeeper, of Mosgiel, said that, during his. ab- . : sence on' July 17 last, his house. had ' been broken into and ran- ' sacked. Goods value.d. at £,11/2/9 were missing. On February 26, stated Hazel Alice McKehzie, a young married womaii, living; at .Kenmure; Road, Mornington, she received a telegram which read: "Meet me half-past nine at station. — Mother." ■ „-V • ... ■ Witness went to the Dunedin railway station, .but failed to see her mother. On returning to her home,' she found a window broken, and on investigation, discoyei'ed ,that goods worth £8/8/- had been stolen from ,h.e ; r'home^ /'• - ■■•■■. "' ; ; •" ■■'"■.'■ ."" i: ;-- ':* '' : J-':-'

'Two days later,, accused, who went ."' to school with Mrs. McKenzie, visited the house, but said nothing when told that the place had been broken -into. v • Evidence of haying interviewed -:•■ Adams at Mosgiel on February 28 -was . given by Detective W. Roycroft, 'who - also read out three very comprehensive confessions signed. by the accused;, .;■ Dealing with her first escapade,... ,_^ Adams stated that, m July: of last .-, year she'-- was- then single and ' A working at Irvine and Stevensons ? J HVFilleul Street. .Her. pre-marriage ''.'- -name was.McKegg. — . One day, instead of going to work, she went out to St. JCil da where she i noticed a house with the blinds drawn. She entered the premises and knocked ■ at. the door. As there was no answer? she decided to break into the place; which she did •■ by-breaking' *"a' window. 1 Articles taken by -. '-'her from this -' dwelling-, were: Gold watch, with muffchain (later pawned for 10/-); gold brooch, lady's ring, gent's guard (later pawned . for 6/-), a suit-case (later loaned by accused to Mrs. McKenzie, " Mornington), a considerable quantity of J lady's underwear and night . attire,. 3 boudoir caps, .2 dressing- jackets,. 3.. supper cloths, 1 underskirt, towels, box of perfume, marble clock and sundry ,; other articles. V \ * ' T -1 Curious Medley From the other /two places, -Adams admitted having stolen such things as underclothing, a box of gafters, a vase, biscuit barrel, Marcella quilt, half-g.-dpzen stainless knives , and- ditto ''teaspoons. ","-• — ■- ;- ■- ,;\_—"; •■-'■ The quilt she sold fOr■l2/(s;:;the^lverware for. 7/-, and the biscuit barrel for 5/-. A pair of black shoes, -eight pairs of stockings and twoV pairs' qf gloves, she had used and wprn but: ■■'■.■ Accused qualified >. hen .plea_.;'of^: guilty- by denying that; she had- ; ■ taken any men's clothing from tile house of Johns i arid v amendments v ; were made accordingly, thus leav- *'■£, ing the value of uri recovered, goods at £16/5/6, with £2/4/(5 owmgrt«>^ \. second-hand dealers. ■ f. Adams was committed to' the Su-: preme pourt for sentence, and later appeared before His Honor,. Mr, Justice MacGregor. .-. ■•; "~;V. : " ; v y '■■:■.. :,'.'] Mr. ' Hanlon Htpld,' the '; ;jiiiflg : e :; \ that Adams had committed two'o.f^^the^of- . fences before she was, matfrled..! Witti the money procured' from the : ; sale of articles from the last burglary, accused had purchased clothing for her baby, which was only three months old; : : . ■■":■■'.■ In 1921, the girl had been before the court and convicted on a charge, ,pf i^ arson. Her .sentence on that occasion had been five years' detention m the Salvation Army Home. . v ,• For theft, m 1925, Adams "was again before the court, and was "placed m the Point Halswell gaol on a two years' sentence. - ' : It was counsel's opinion that the girl was a kleptomaniac, but if probation were granted, " her husband, a hard- working young man, would try to - get a job as married couple. and thus <' keep his wife away from temptation. Prisoner was admitted to probation for two years, a. special restriction being that she report weekly to the nearest probation officer. : I It/ was stated by defending counsel that -the girl's father was prepared to make restitution of the value of the goods not recovered. •' •tmiiiiiimmimiMiiiiiiimuiiiiiiiuiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiuiiiiiiiiiuiiii '