FORCED CELLAR GRATING

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 808, 31 October 1929, Page 11

FORCED CELLAR GRATING

CORDIAL MISSING FROM HOTEL TWO MEN ON TRIAL A basket containing seven bottles \ of cordial, alleged to be the proceeds \ of a robbery from the Shakespeare Hotel cellar, was the principal exhibit | at the trial in the Supreme Court to-1 clay of Harry Collins, aged 50, a sea- j man, and Henry Girling Arnold, a ! labourer, aged 55, charged with break- j ing and entering the basement, theft.! and receiving the cordial. Mr. Jus- ] tice Smith was on the Bench. Both men pleaded not guilty to j breaking and entering, but Collins ad- j mitted theft and receiving the cordial. His companion, Arnold, denied all I charges. Mr. Meredith, Crown Prosecutor, I conducted the case for the Crown, j and Mr. Noble appeared for accused, j The grating of the cellar openingj on to the Wyndliam Street footpath was chained and could not be opened j from the outside, said the licensee, j John Hook. He missed seven bottles of cordial that night, he said, and near the grating he found a crowbar. CONSTABLE’S EVIDENCE Watching from the darkness of a I doorway near the corner of Wyndham j Street about 9.30 p.m., Constable Hayes said that his suspicions were aroused by Arnold’s pacing up and down in front of the hotel and watching up and down the street. He then saw Arnold lift the grating, and Collins crawled out, witness accosting them as Collins gained his feet. Collins said that he would take the blame for breaking into the cellar and that Arnold had nothing to do with the affair. Arnold, however, claimed that he was as much guilty as his companion. At the police station seven bottles of cordial, produced in court, were found on Collins. In an unsigned statement, to Detec-tive-Sergeant Doyle, Arnold stated he wa* drunk that night. While walking along the Wyndham Street footpath he said he had tripped over the displaced grating, and the man, Collins, who was standing on the other side of the road, came over and assisted him to replace it. Collins stated that the man who “did the job” was a stranger whom he met near the Perry Buildings. He denied that he had entered the cellar. DETECTIVE QUESTIONED The detective was sharply questioned by Mr. Noble concerning his reason for interviewing accused after arrest, the police officer stating that he did so under instructions. The detective said he wanted an explanation, and followed his usual practice of warning the accused first that they need, not make a statement. No evidence was offered by the defence, and Mr. Noble addressed the jury on accused’s behalf, pointing out that the discrepancies in the police evidence were such that a conviction was not possible. The jury retired at 12 o’clock. After two and a-half hours’ retirement, the jury returned a verdict of guilty against Collins, of breaking, entering, theft and receiving. The jury also found Arnold guilty of breaking, entering and theft, but not guilty of receiving. The prisoners were remanded until Saturday for sentence.