A WAVE OF CRIME.

Taranaki Daily News, 31 December 1919, Page 2

A WAVE OF CRIME.

LEEDS BANK ROBBERY. MANAGER MURDERED. EX-OFFICER ON TRIAL. • London, Dec. 12. The polica- note the increase in daring burglaries with concern. On? of the most remarkable was carried out in Beigravia at the residence of Paul Nelke, the son of a German banker. Early last night a thief climbed the portico, entered a bedroom, and collected jewels valued at £IO,OOO. He escaped unseen, though the family and servants were present in adjoining rooms. A remarkable Bank robbery was carried out at Leeds, A man entered a branch of the Yorkshire Penny Blink and called ojjt to the manager, Oates, to hold up his hands. Oates refused to comply, and attempted to capture the burglar, who fired his revolver, killing the manager instantly. The murderer then locked up three assistants in the lavatory, fired through the door, and carried off £4OO, joining two accomplices in a waiting motor- car and escaped. In connection with this outrage, a hue and cry was raised for a man named Alfred Redfern, a former officer. Redfern was arrested at Bristol. His appearance shows that he is suffering from wounds received during the war, but he is not deformed. Redfern was a sociable, popular man, but subject to nervous excitement. He does not seem to have tried to evade the police, but travelled to Bath and joined two friends there, and then went with other friends to Bristol, where lie was arrested at the post office. Redfern presented an emaciated and cadaverous appearance in the dock when charged with murder. He did not plead, and was removed leaning heavily on the policeman. The correspondent of the Times at Bristol states that it appears that Redfern's mind is intermittent'/ affected as the result of severe wounds and he was recently worried over unlucky speculations. His record of war services is excellent. He was awarded the Croix de Guerre, and recommended for the Military Cross. A similar outrage was committed today at Barclay's Bank, Wood Green, London. A discharged soldier, Brown, entered the manager's office and held liim up with a revolver. The' manager rushed for assistance, and Brown fired, hut missed him. Four clerks then held him until the pblice arrived. The numerous bank burglaries and daily jewel robberies in London, with the recent murders and savage assaults, are discussed in the newspapers as the beginning of a wave of crime predicted by doctors and criminologists as the aftermath of the war. The smartest detectives are baffled and the majority of cases suggest a new type of tliief combining extreme cleverness with daring. The Railv Express urges stewer punishments— hanging for all deliberate murderers, and flogging for lesser criminals.