TEN YEARS’ GAOL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 20 May 1939, Page 7

TEN YEARS’ GAOL

ORDNANCE FACTORY PLANS SOLD TO GERMANY SECRET SERVICE AGENTS TRACK BRICKLAYER. OBSERVATIONS BY THE JUDGE. By Telegraph —Press Association—Copyright. (Received This Day. 9.40 a.m.) LONDON, May 19. In the Euxton ordnance factory case. Joseph Kelly was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment, at the Manchester Assizes. The judge, in sentencing him, said: “Possession of this plan in the event of an Anglo-German war would enable the Germans to bomb and destroy the factory.’’ A story of how secret service agents tracked a British bricklayer to Germany where he allegedly sold a vital plan of the Royal Ordnance Factory, Lancashire, was unfolded in the Chorley Court, stated a cablegram received on April 20. Joseph Kelly, aged 31, was charged with the theft of two plans. Kelly was employed at the factory and communicated with the German Consul in Liverpool, who put him in touch with secret agents in Holland. The police found in Kelly's house correspondence from agents and one of the missing plans. The other would be of the greatest assistance to enemy bombers as a bomb placed accurately could cause untold havoc and loss of life. It was known to be in Kelly’s possession when he went to Germany. Kelly pleaded not guilty and was committed for trial. The ordnance factory is at Euxton, Lancashire, and was recently opened, an Independent Cable message stated. It cost £10,000,000 and is believed to be the most modern and most efficient in the world. It took two years to construct. The plant includes underground bomb-proof chambers, 900 buildings, 50 miles of roads, 25 miles of railways, and 30 miles of underground passages.