HIGHWAY ROBBERY

Rotorua Morning Post, Issue 4, 27 August 1931, Page 3

HIGHWAY ROBBERY

Press- Association-

wellington hold-up MAN AND WOMAN CHARGED WITH SPECTACULAR ■ CRIME. male accused's statement.

— Copyright.

By Telephone — "Post" Special Service. WELLINGTON, Wednesday. Jack Morton, alias Jack Winstone, alias George Morton, aged 22 years, seaman, and Florence Cooper, alias Florence /Winstone, appeared before Mr. Page, S.M., charged in connection with the recent highway robberies. The woman was charged with robbing Clifford Thomas Morgan at Wanganui of £1 10s, arid at the same time wounding him by. shooting him in the leg. ' Jointly they were charged with being in possession of a revolver, and robbing William Alexander Pirie, at Day's Bay on August 10, -of £5 18s 6d, also .with two offences of robbery under arms on Shelly Bay Road, Miramar, on the night of August 7. Morton was charged with failing to comply with the terms of a probation order, unlawfully deserting from the steamer Cambridge, on which he was a duly articled seaman, and theft of goods and money the property of the Ne'w Zealand Shipping Company and members of the crew. > The first witness for the prosecution, Maurice O. Guthrie, gave evidence similar to his previous account of the method by which McDermott's car was held up on the night of 'August 7. Continuing his evidence Guthrie stated that the revilver produced resembled the one fired and also the clothing produced resembled that worn by the two accused. He identi-' fied Morton. Mrs. D. B. Vaney, married woman, living at Miramar, detailed how she and her husband, who were in the second car, were held up behind MaeDermott's car. Just as she was getting out of the eaf, which was driven by her husband, there was a shot fired and then the smaller of the bandits asked her to pass over her bag which she did. He then extracted £4 in notes and left a little silver in the bag. After her husband had been searched the bandits told him to drive on, which i he did. William Alexander Pirie, manager of a service station at Days Bay, detailed the eircumstanccs in which he was robbed of £5 18s 6d by armed bandits on the afternoon of August 10. Two men- forced an entry into his office, the taller of the two push'ng a gun into his stomach. The imaller of them aslced where the money was. Both were armed and both had masks. The smaller onq earried a bright revolver like the one produced in Court and the one. that the taller man earried was blaclc, with a long thin barrel like an air pistol. produced. ' Detective Me:klejohn stationed at 1 New Plymouth, stated that on Augj ust 15 he went to a hotel at New Plymouth, where the two accused had i ockcd as Mr. and Mzs. W'nstone The female accused stated she ha-, ecentiy arrived :n New Zealand witl e.* husband.. Witness went to tht oom where the male accused gave ais name as Jack Winstone, aged 20. HA sa ti he was a recent azrivai L on. Sydney. Arms Fcund In Room. Sevgeant McGregor made a searc": "f tbe room. and under the bed found 29 .32 cartridges. He also found the ovolvev p; oduced, fully loaded un, der the pillow of the bed. He later found the air pistol and two boxes of siugs, in the wardrobe. At the police station he interviewed Morton as tc his movements during the prevlouc week. Accused, in his statement said h had arrived in New Zealand some t'nu :go wAh h.'s wife on the "Aorangi. ' Ho had not been able to obtain anj vvork. Two pistols were given themby a man in the country soon afteshe arrived in the Dominion. He tolc the man that he wanted the revolver for p'g hunt.'ng. He said he was con jerned in two hoid-ups w:th a man vhose name he would not disclose. After the hoid-ups the masks ana e'othes were thrown into the sea. Moiton had a revo.ver y.nd h.s mati my on the aoad with a compressed air pistol. Ho described the Miramar holaup, also the firing of the shot, after which he said to the motoiusts "You had better 'hop out." After the robbery they changed their clothes and in Miramar they were met by a constable who asked them whethei they had seen any harum sea. umt about and they had better look out. Deteciuve Me.klejohn sa.d that after making the s.atement, Morton t.old the female accused that he hau admitted tbe two hoid-ups in Wellington. The dotecLve then i6au the statement that he had taken from Florence -Cooper, the female accused. On August 8, she said, she was staying at the Pier Hotei in Wellington with her husbano

"Be a Sport." "The 'car driver stopped," she said, "and put up his hands and said 'ThJs is not a real one,' to which 1 replied: *You will soon see whether it is a real one or not.' I stuck up the other car which came up and told the man and woman to get out. My husband left the other two men to go over to me and then took the woman's purse. The man from the first car came and flashed a torch in his face and this made my husband fire a shot. Tbe woman said: 'Be a spoit!, You have got the money.' " Before the Day's Bay lioid-up they cl'mbed up the hill behind and were up there all the afternoon. They in- , tended to hold up the bus after dark, j but when they saw the. service station they decided right away to rob it instead of holding up the bus. "AfterI wards I changed and then we went down to the service station and put masks on to eover our faces." They forced their way in after telling the prbprietor- that there was a man outside, which was not true. "I wish to say I am as much to blame as my husband in the two hoid-ups," accused conciuded her statement. Detective Kane described how he interviewed Morton in regard to his deserting his ship "Cambridge" on March 1 last, and the theft of certain articles from the ship. Accused then made a statement admitting the theft of a camera, a pair of binnoculars valued at £2 18s, and articles of clothing. Both accused pleaded guilty and were committed to the Supreme Court for sentence..