CIGARETTE AS A CLUE.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXXIV, Issue 9414, 7 April 1909, Page 2

CIGARETTE AS A CLUE.

A clever piece ;'of detective work, in which a slight clue Ipd to the capture of a particularly cunning • and hypocritical thief, was instanced at the Middlesex sessions. Inithe ■' dock /was a assistant, William Booth, a young man of 19, Who ' pleaded not guilty to three charges ’ df burglary. The robberies took place at Harrow, where from The Market Green Hill, prisoner was alleged to have stolen £4 8s 2d ; from a rifle pavilion on the recreation ground, a^rifle; and from the shop of a tobacconist named ■ Dnnhill, five pipes, a quantity of tobacco, a walking stick, and a number of cigarettes. It was one of the latter ‘,that, by a strange chain of circumstances, led to pns- ' oner’s arrest. It happened that amongst those stolen were a number marked with the address of a, new shop at Lowlands Road, Harrow, which Mr Dnnhill said had not been opened, and none, of these .cigarettes had consequently been told. After ", the robbery Booth happened to meet Mr Dnmmer, a florist, with whom he waC acquainted. “Hallo, Nelson ’’said Booth cheerfully, have .a ■cigarette?” “Thanks,” said Mr Dnmmer, and took the proffered artide, which he placed in his case, • intending to smoke it later. _ The next,day Mr Dnmmer met Detective Bagnall, and incidentally ■ offered him a cigarette. The officer took one haphazard from the case, and aa» he turned it in his fingers noticed the name and address_on.it. He also did not smoke it,, but imme diately inquired where Mr, Dnmmer got it. This learned, he promptly ■ proceeded to find Booth, and told liiin 1)6 should take him into custody. Booth thus tackled, attempted to •draw a revolver, which was loaded in five chambers. He was, however, ■ quickly overcome, and when searched there was found on him a number of -> cartridges, a and more of the incriminating cigarettes. . SHOCKING Hi POORISY.

Mr Alien Mallet, of Harrow, engaged in the Civil Service, said that prisoner bad attended a Bible class in which be (witness) was interested. He bad also heard that he had acted as a Sunday school teacher. Prisoner , had always struck him distinctly as / a good lad an£ very open hearted. Mr Oliver, for the defence, dwelt ~npon the fact that only a small part of the proceeds of the robbery had been traced to prisoner. If he bad been the man who committed the burglary, what more could he have done to secure bis own apprehension than to band those cigarettes about among the residents of Harrow? The jury, however, found the prist oner guilty, and he then_ pleaded guilty to two further indictments. On this, to clinch matters. Detective Pike produced a handy burglar kit, and also an electric lamp found on Booth when ar-ested. / Mr Montagu Sharpe, in sentencing prisoner to eight months’ imprisonment under the Borstal system, on each of the three charges, to run consecutively, making 24 months in all, eaid that one of the worst features of the case was that the prisoner acted as a Sunday school tsaoher while he was plotting and planning the crimes with which he had been charged. Such hypocrisy was shocking. He expressed the hope that prisoner would stick to the trade he would be taught in prison upon his liberation. He was glad to see that there/ were ?eople willing to assist him in the nture.