BURGLAR CONFESSES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 155, 22 June 1908, Page 4

BURGLAR CONFESSES.

SI'MJAY-SCIIOOL TKACHEK'S FALL. lil'AL LI FK "JKKYLL A\ U ll\l)K." Lloyd s News. of May llllli. publishes a remarkable signed confession made bv Leicester's "Jekvll and Hyde" the amazing younj; lunular. John' Frederick Spencer, a fnrmcr Sunday school teacher. who. unknown |o h ; s friends, fell away Irom a highly respectable position ill lile and carried out a number of seiwilional robberies ill the district. In his confession, which is a document of .ureal, human interest, he tells how he took the . rst downward step, licin.r ill iinan'-ial diilicultv he was befriended by a man who proved to be the captain of a company of burglars, and he was at length induced to join them.

Till' jirriM nf Spencer on April Dili was a ilraniittir climax to a series of burglaries in l/oiec»ter and district, which, up to then, had completely ball'led tile police, lie was captured ill the early hum's of that day, after a desperate .stnifrf.de. Tlu- police, apparently'.' hail learned Ilial a lioiw in Tlentoil road was to be broken into. So a detective secreted himself inside and waited fur tile burglar's entry. \ ery *OOll he heard someone com meuciiijr lo force (lie scullery window. He lay quite .Jill and listened intently. 11 wa-> ati vi»'il. For two ""hours on end Spencer worked unceasingly, only ; sto|ij) : nu now and th»-n to listen lor any ! ii:11 that the Inmates had been disI turbed.

At length the fastenings jrave way. Spencer pauseu. and satisfied himself that all was well, 'then he raised the window and crawled through. The detective sprang upon him, and ihey wrestled liereejy in the darkness, until, with (lie aid of two other policemen. tin 1 burglar was overpowered. The prisoner was equipped with onlin ary hou-eluvakin;: implements. I'p.ni him was found a piece of meat, which, i-n analysis, proved to eonlain siryc'e nine. Thi.-. it i«, was intended for any watch-dog which lie ini»ht encounter. Spencer's cenfesM-jn. in part, is follows:--

"A few years a<>o I took over a small 1 drapery business in Tudor road, Leicester. but owin^ 1 to bad trade and other unforeseen circumstances, the business did not pay its way. As the business gradually declined 1 became more; and more pressed for nionev. The business was disposed of, and 'l tried another business, but owing to the keenness ot competition and the want of capital J could not- make that pay either. "Just at tlie very time when T was in the greatest tinancial difficulties a man named X. came to me and expressed great sympathy with me in my troubles. I was naturally <jlad to have his sympathy under the circumstances, and he liecanie more and more friendly disposed towards me. At least lie mad" a «rieat pretence of doiii# so. and when he iiad lo a very liii-iro extent secured my confidence bv his apparently friendly attitude lie oejrjin to talk to me eonlidentiatly to this eU'eel.—that I was very foolish to bear all my troubles and to be in such distress, with >carcely enough food for my wife and children, while 1 could «m money, and plenty of it, without any trouble at all. lie also stated thai he »ot money in that way, and he took care not to work for it, and that if I had any *go' in nie at all I would do the same as he did. "lie led mo in this way. from one >ta<!v to another, till at length he

slid hi' was (lie head of ;i *ran«r oi' burglar-. ltefoiv lw had made this (lis-elo-ure lie had in a hirj:« extent p>t me into hi* hand*. -o that I was not a five ajrent. lie UM'd thi> inlluence over nw in a. coercive way. until J was gradually drawn more aiht inor«» within hi> power.

"It was under those circumstances lb-it when no proposed 111 at 1 should join a cmnpauy of burglars I was no! in a position to resist the temptation held out to m«'. I was practically forced t«» become one of them, and to share their see Ms. Kven it'; tlii-, time 1 was cmuph'telv in their power hy reason of the inllitemc which this man had ac ipiin'd «iver ine and tlie fear of the eon>e<|iience> if I refused to become one of them. ('nfortiuiately. I consented to .join thou, and from that moment of uridine to temptation i was eiitirclv at IlK'-r meivy. I ran truly >ay that until last September I was perfectly innocent uf burglary of any kind."