Illegal Explosives Charge Against Man and Woman

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 46, 17 May 1927, Page 9

Illegal Explosives Charge Against Man and Woman

A THIRD ARREST— BURGLARY ALLEGED

WHAT lies behind the arrest of two men and a woman in Auckland yesterday—one man and the woman on charges of being found in unlawful possession of gelignite, caps and fuses, and the second man, on a burglary charge—may he revealed next week, when the trio make their next appearance in the Police Court.

When they appeared before Mr. F. K. Hunt, S.M., this morning, William James Mclntyre, aged 56, and Amelia Bertha Cooper, a married woman of 35, were each charged with being found in unlawful possession of explosives, while Frank Bailor, a young man of 24, was charged with breaking and entering the shop of Richard Alexander Hughes, at 340 Dominion Road, and stealing suits, overcoats, shirts and other clothing valued at £43 14s Cd. Chief-Detective Cummings asked for remands, to May 25 in the case of the first two, and to May 26 for Bailor. When Mr. Selwyn Clarke asked for bail on behalf of Mrs. Cooper, the Chief-Detective opposed the application, and told the magistrate that there were special circumstances surrounding the ease. While the police were searching the house yesterday, he said, the two had thrown the explosives out the window.

The woman was living apart from her husband, and in a house frequented by criminals, he added. She was therefore turned over to the care of Major Annie Gordon, of the Salvation Army, instead of being sent to Mount Eden, where the two men will remain in the meantime.

Hughes’s shop, which is perhaps better known as the Union Jack Stores, was broken into during the afternoon of April 10—a Sunday. A passer-by noticed that goods In the window were disarranged and that the iron gateway across the main door had been opened. He at once brought the proprietor to the scene and on searching the shop it was found that the intruders had unsuccessfully attempted to force the front and rear doors. They had eventually gained admittance by wrenching off some iron bars set in concrete, which protected a back window.

Mr. Hughes’s store was also broken into a year or so ago. On the former occasion his loss amounted to nearly £l5O.