BURGLAR CAUGHT

Wairarapa Times-Age, 24 November 1943, Page 2

BURGLAR CAUGHT

PROMPT ACTION BY YOUNG MAN END OF SERIES OF CRIMES (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, This Day. Chief credit for putting an end to a series of burglaries which has disturbed weekend residents at Paraparaumu, Raumati, Stokes Valley and the Moonshine district of Upper Hutt' is given to a young man named Max Kelton, of Upper Hutt. When visiting a friend at Wallaceville on the evening of October 30 he detected a strong smell of petrol in a private garage. Knowing that the garage had been broken into and petrol stolen there previously, he decided to investigate, and saw a man run down the road. He chased the suspected thief and caught him. i The Upper Hutt police took the man into custody. They suspected that he might be the person responsible for the widespread burglaries, and a search of his home is reported to have proved that the suspicions were well founded. As a result of questioning, the police found a confederate, and both men confessed to the crimes. The accused were Allen Ernest Dome, driver, and Eric Hamlyn McKnight, clerk. Twenty-four charges, three being for themt and the balance breaking, entering and theft, were preferred against them. The value of the' goods stolen was approximately £6OO. > The charges were heard in the Upper Hutt Court yesterday, accused being committed to the Supreme Court for sentence.