NOCTURNAL THIEF.

Taranaki Daily News, 6 December 1922, Page 4

NOCTURNAL THIEF.

CAUGHT IN THE ACT. BREAKING AND ENTERING AT MANAIA. ELECTRIC BELLS AND VIGILS. “Your career reminds me somewhat of a celebrity in Scottish historyDeacon Brodie,” said His Honor Mr. Justice Chapman, in passing sentence on Andrew Jjeslie Young at the Supreme Court at New Plymouth yesterday. “Like you, Deacon Brodie posed as an honest man while he robbed his neighbors.”

Young was charged with, on September 16, breaking and entering by night the warehouse of Newton King, Ltd., at Manaia, with intent to commit a crime; with being in possession by night, without lawful excuse, of an instrument for housebreaking, to wit, an electric torch; and on September IZ, with being in possession by day of an instrument for housebreaking, to wit a bunch of keys with intent to commit a crime.

His Honor Mr. Justice Chapman presided, and Mr. C. H. Weston (Crown Prosecutor) conducted the case for the Crown, while the accused, who pleaded not guilty to all the charges, was represented by Mr. P. O’Dea. The following jury was empanelled: Messrs. W. A. Dingle, W. Crockett, F. Davey, J. T. Nicholls, W. Davey, S. Bollon, W. T. Bishop, G. Trembott, F. R. Bridger, E. R. C. Gilmour, J. Low, A. E. R. Gilbert. Mr. Gilmour was chosen as foreman. MISSING THE BENZINE. The case for the prosecution opened with details of how Thomas Henry Hotter, manager of Newton King’s Manaia branch, had come to the conclusion that several cases of the firm’s benzine had been taken at various times from the store by other than purely legal means. At first Hotter put the supposed losses down to faulty checking and the sale of benzine without making a record of the fact in the books, but when, however, he knew, to his own knowledge, that there had been three cases of benzine in the store on the night of Saturday, August 26, and that there were only two there when he visited the store first thing on the following Monday morning, he was forced to the conclusion that his surmise was wrong, and that a thief was at wbrk.

THE TRAP. cases. To ascertain definitely how the

The store in which the benzine was stored had one door secured by two locks, which were always used, and two windows which were boarded up, the boards being nailed to the wall. On September 1 a consignment of 28 cases of ibenzine was received, and these Hotter branded with the firm’s rubber stamp to assist him in tracing the supposed thief managed to effect an entrance to the store, Hotter also attached a piece of cotton to the door and the porch, so that if the door was opened the cotton would be broken. His deduction was correct, for on the night of September 3, a case was taken and the cotton was broken. With this fact established, that someone must have been *in possession of duplicate keys to the store, Hotter set his trap. He fixed up an electric bell which would ring in the main building of the branch when the store door was opened, and on the nights of Saturday and Sunday, September 9 and 10, he put in a fruitless vigil. On the following Saturday night, at 9 o’clock, he examined the door of the store, found it secure, set the bell, and lay down in a, bunk he had prepared in the main building. CAUGHT. At 10 o’clock the bell rang, and Hotter hurried to the store. The door was open, and pulling it to, he found two keys in the locks, which he turned, and so" locked the doon The keys were not his. Hotter then rang up Constable Scannell, and returned to the store, this time with a gun in his •hand. Ab he approached he heard a great clatter going on inside, and then a voice call out: “Is that you, Tom? Let me out!” Hotter, however, was not having any, and advised the rowdy one inside to stay where he was for a while and that if he came out he would shoot. The voice inside, however, remarked: “I’ll d soon get out of here! ’ and, suiting the action to the word, up went the window, and cut jumped Young. He turned and pulled down the window. By this time Constable Scannell had come up, and seeing Young jump out. of the. window and come up to him, asked what he was doing there and why he had jumped out of the window, \oung ’ replied: “T saw the door open and had a look in when someone shut the door behind me. I wasn't going to stay there all night!” The constable warned him that he would probably be charged with a serious crime, but Young adhered to his statement. He was taken to the lockup and arrested, and. on being searched, an electric torch was found in his possession. A search of the store by the constable and Hotter showed that one of the cases of benzine had been shifted from the stack. Next day’s Young’s house was searched in his presence, and keys were found which would fit the doors of other premises in the town, from the occupiers of which the constable had received complaints. A benzine case was also found bearing the brand put on by Hotter, which Young said had been given him by a man named Reardon. Reardon was questioned about this in Young’s presence, and said that, while he had given him some boards from eases he had never given him a whole case In addition, the benzine used on his company’s motor lorry was ot a different brand from that of the case found at Young’s house .... The above facts were elicited from the examination of Hotter and Constable Scannell, the only witnesses for the prosecution, who also stated that the door of the store could not be seen from the street at night. A DEFENCE OF CHARACTER. For the defence, Mr. O’Dea called Thomas Andrew Bridge. .T.P.. who said he had been a resident of Manaia for about 35 years, and had known Young for about 'l5 or 20 years. He had been associated with Young on the Town Board and the School Committee, and had always .considered him of good character, although he admitted to the

Crown Prosecutor that Young’s reputation was not too good. In his address to the jury, Mr. O’Dea said that the whole circumstances surrounding Young's presence were accidental, and said that his action in coming up to the constable and giving a straight-out explanation was that df an honest man. He was a man who had taken a prominent part in the affairs of the town, and it was not likely that a man of his standing would commit the theft of a few cases of beAzine. HARD LABOR. The accused was found guilty on all counts, and was sentenced to 12 months* imprisonment with hard