DARING CRIME

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 350, 11 October 1932, Page 7

DARING CRIME

plan FRUSTRATED PREPARATION FOR THEFT MADE FOR TWO WEEKS. TWO MEN ARRESTED. Wellington, Thursday. Details of a daringly-conceived crime were revealed when Richard William Patterson, aged 38, and Robert Hull, aged 41, -were eiiarged in the Magistrate's Court,.yesterday, hefore Mr.-E. Page, S.M., with attempting to hreak and enter with intent to commit theft. -For weeks past the two men, who are employed as salesmen hy Mr. D'Arey Ford, linen merchant, Lamhton Quay, have been cutting a hole throught the floor of Patterson's flat so as to gain entrance into the shop1 of their employer directly below. On Saturday afterno cn, when within an ace of suceess, a comhination of coincidences not only prevented them ; from carrying out their plans, but led j to investigation s hy Detective Baylis and Ritchie and the subseqnent arrest of the two men. The idea of the men, as shown by their statements produced. by Detective Baylis to-day, was to cut through the- floor of the kitchen of Patterson's flat directly above the lavatory of the shop, the floor and the ceiling heing oue. They had been worlring during the week-ends when there was little chance of discovery, and on Saturday they were ready to drop down into the shop. The lavatory door is usually loeked at nights and weekends, but Patterson and Hull saw that it was left open when the shop was closed last week-end. Unfortunately for them, a nephew of Mr. F ord J had occasion to go into the shop on Saturday afternoon, and, finding the lavatory , door open, locked it. At , about 4.45 p.m. that afternoon, Hull and Patterson were ready to go through, but on discovering that they could not get into the shop the way they expected, they wrenched some boards off the ceiling of the shop1. Finding that the space in the ceiling was not large enough to allow either of them to get through, they then decided, according to Patterson's statement, to secure it as hest they could and hide all evidence and wait for a future occasion. Detectives' Search. Shortly after the shop opened on Mohday morning, Mr. Ford's attention was drawn to some dust and small pieees of wood on the floor at the rear of the shop. Searching for the cause, he found that the ceiling had been removed and a piece of cardboard put in its place. Detective Baylis was called, and he met Patterson at the door of his flat. On going into the kitchen and rolling back a mat on the floor, the detective found that a trapdoor about eighteen inches square had been cut in the floor. Patterson said that he knew nothing about the matter, but admitted the offenee .after Detective Baylis and Detective Ritchie had searched the flat and found portions of the boards from the ceiling of Ford's shop behind some wood in the pantry, a screwdriver, a chisel, a hammer, and some tacks in a tin in the pantry. In a statement made at the Detectice Office, Patterson said that he arrived in New Zealand in 1927, and for the first four years he had been employed on the New Zealand Railways, but owing to retrenchments he lost his position. He had been selling linen on a commission basis for D'Arcy Ford. About two months ago, when he and Hull were talking together, it had been mentioned what an >easy thing it would be to cut a hole in the floor of the kitchen and get down into Ford's shop. After talking the matter over they decided to make the attempt. Patterson explained how he and Hull had worked, and said that as they were canvassing lines of Ford's goods it wonld have been quite an easy matter for them to dispose of any property taken from the shop. It -was owing to the fact that they were both finding it hard to earn a living that they had attempted' to commit the crime. Hull later in the day made a similar statement. ! "Ilard to Make Ends Meet." When asked by Mr. Page if they had anything to say, both the accused said that Mr. Ford had treated them very well, but they had succnmbed to the temptation because they were finding it hard to make ends meet. They said they had never been in trouble before, and expressed their regret for what had happened. Both the accused pleaded guilty, and were committed to the Supreme Court for sentenoe.