A PARADISE FOR SAFE-BLOWERS

NZ Truth, Issue 1262, 6 February 1930, Page 2

A PARADISE FOR SAFE -BLOWERS

Scathing Indictment of Explosives Regulations by Police

THE NEED FOR STRINGENT IMPROVEMENT (From "N.Z. Truth's" Special Auckland Representative.) The extreme ease with which burglars and safe-blowers can obtain supplies of gelignite, fuse and detonators, owing to the weakness of the regulations governing their storage, was commented upon by Chief detective Hammond during the lower court proceedings against two young men, William James Leslie and John Edward Peters, who were charged at Auckland with breaking and entering certain shops by night, and with having explosives and house-breaking implements m their possession. A further charge against Leslie was that he had stolen gelignite and the apparatus for detonating it from J. <L Craig, Ltd.

IN only one case, 'that of the safeblowing at Hutchinson Bros.' branch m the Great South Road, did the thieves meet with any tangible success, and there they secured cash and goods to the value of £89/19/8.1 Neil Mackay Gallaugher, of R. W. Gallaugher, Ltd., of Victoria 1 Street, said he left the premises securely fastened on the night of January , 10. The outer door was fastened with a padlock and hasp, Yale lock, and bolts, the inner door being locked. Called by the police to the building early the next morning, he found the doors had been broken open, the padlock was missing, and the Yale lockhad been forced. NOTHING TAKEN The office was, m great disorder; books and papers which apparently had been placed round the safe door, had been blown all over the place by an attempt to blow open . the safe, j The safe door, however, had jammed, and nothing 1 had been taken, although damage of over £20 v had been caused and part of the safe fittings had been blown through the office door. iThe manager of Hutchinson's branch' shop m Ponsonby Road, Charles Darwin Hartnow, said he discovered on the morning of January 4 that a series of holes_had be§h bored m the qutar door, which was left bolted overnight. These holes were round the lock, but the door had not been forced. A sum of £2 was the value of the damage to thej door of Arthur William Page's shop m New North Road, butthough there were jemmy marks, nj entry had been obtained. Page said he had learned from a previous attempt on his premises to fasten his door securely.Another branch of Hutchinson's, this time m Great South Road, was broken Into .on the night of December 20, according to the manager, Janies Bell, who'said he found the padlock wrenched off and the Yale lock forced. > The strongroom had been entered and £72' m cash stolen, together with some tram tickets, while cutlery, a torch, and a clock were missing from the shop, and damage to the extent of £20 had been caused. At 1.45 a.m. on January 18 Detective Allen said that he and Actingdetective Packman, who had concealed themselves m Wellington Street near the house where Leslie boarded, saw him and Peters coming up the street. He accosted them and took them to the station. On Leslie, alleged Allen, he found a jemmy, knuckle dusters and gloves. Both men , made statements, which were produced, m which they admits tea the charges. Leslie attributed his lapse to unemployment, and Peteis attributed his to the same cause, but

alleged that Leslie was the .ringleader. Peters also said that •he was not with Leslie when . the latter made hs attempt ,6n Gallaugher's. When they broke into Hutchinson's he merely stood outside and kept watch. H'.s part of the proceeds of that night was £7. ' ' ' . ' • ■ According to Pe'ters's statement, ».t Leslie's request he took home a suitcase which he, did not examine until two days later, when he found it contained further supplies of gelignite and fuse. According to Detective .Allen, he had seen Leslie-' returning home at 1 a.m. on the morning of January 11, the same morning that Gallaugher's premises had been burgled. After the arrest, the detective said, he recovered some of the goods stolen from Leslie's room, and the latter had informed him that gelignite and a f u<;e were m a suitcase at Peters' s place' m England Street. These, too, had been recovered! . f : A plug of gelignite, three lengths of fuse — one with a detonator attached— which were found on Peters, were produced by Actingdetective Packman and handled very gingerly by all who had to touch them. < To the charge of stealing gelignite, detonators and fuses, valued at 14/ I\, from Jjf. J. Craig, Ltd., Leslie pleaded guilty, (through Mr. Kells Mason, who appeared for both "men. , A strong indictment of the present regulations regarding the storage ■.'£ explosives was made by Chief- det ?:•.•• tive Hammond. ' -"All that is required from those who use them legitimately m business," said Mr. Hammond, "is that they ksep the' explosives m a 'safe' "place—'safe,' that is, as regards a possible accident, not theft. "In this particular case, Leslie only had to break open an old shed In a quarry to get as much as he wanU-d. Any little tin-pot sub-contractor can obtain a police licence to purchase gelignite, but this case shows up tho necessity for more stringent regulations as regards its storage. COUNSEL'S PLEA "At present it is easy for any wouldbe safe-blower t» obtain sufficient 1o blow up half Auckland." For Leslie Mr. Kells Mason admitted that little could be said'in mitlgatiun. but he mentioned two severe. head accidents the man had received 18 months before. . Counsel suggested that these might have caused his lapse, which appeared to be more spontaneous m origin than premeditated. The justices, Messrs. W. J. Hamill and J. S. Rickaby, deferred sentence till after the Supreme Court sessions on this summary charge, while on .th-3 major counts they qommitted Leslie and Peters for sentence, the men having pleaded guilty.