SENSATIONAL HOLD-UP

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 32, 8 February 1939, Page 8

SENSATIONAL HOLD-UP

EXPERIENCE OF TAXI DRIVER PASSENGER IN BACK SEAT WITH SHOT GUN “ I’LL BLOW YOUR BRAINS OUT! ” CHRISTCHURCH MAN'S ACTION

[ Per Press Association.J CHRISTCHURCH. Feb. 7. { “Drive to North Beach or I’ll blow i your brains out.” A startled Christchurch taxi driver turned in his seat to gaze down the single barrel of a sawn-off shot gun. That was at 10.45 a.m. yesterday, and for the next, hour the taxi driver, H. M. Keith, had one of the most sensational and terrifying experiences of its kind the city has known. Behind him was an armed man holding a gu.n in one hand and gripping a woman by the wrist with his other. At about 10.30 a.m. yesterday, a ■ man approached Keith and asked to be taken for a drive. At the corner of Armagh and Colombo Streets the ’ stranger picked up two women and ’ one sat in the seat with the driver and the other got* i.n the back with the ] stranger. “Go on, make for the ' beach,” the man ordered the driver. ’ Once over Barbadoes Street, the man ' changed his mind and ordered to be 1 taken to St. Albans. The car stopped ’ there and the woman in front got. 1

out. < The man tried to persuade the i woman in the back to go to North < Beach. She got out a.nd talked for a l moment or two with her friend and i then got back into the car. She asked 1 to be driven to the Square and not 1 half a block had been covered when 1 the man at the back snapped out. < “Driver, I’ve got a sawn-off shot gun < here. Drive to North Beach, or I’ll) j blow your brains out.” I [ j Looking Down Barrel Quickly the driver turned to look 1 down the barrel of a saw<n-off shot : gun. “It was pointing right, at the 1 level of my eyes,” said Keith, when 1 relating his amazing experience in a special interview with the Star-Sun. ' “I did not know what to do. He had a firm grip of the woman’s right 1 wrist, while he held the shot gun with his right hand. I drove slowly on, playi-ng for time. I made towards the beach and kept looking to the right 1 and left in the hope of attracting help. “Do not look to the right or left. I can see you in the rear vision mirror. You keep on going or I’ll blow your head off,” the man said in a menac- ' ing tone.

[ The taxi driver, realising he was at the mercy of a desperate man, was scheming a pla.n of escape for the i woman and himself. ! “What are you going to do when [you get to the beach?” the taxi driverasked casually. “I am going to commit suicide,” came the astounding reply. “I cannot leave lhe lady here with you and that gun,” Keith said. “You give me lhe gun and I will let the lady stop.” Passenger’s Defiance “No.” said the man defiantly. “1 ,am going to have a yar-n with my 1 wife first.” It was a tense moment, but Keith I kept on with his quiet, persuasive (methods. Shrewdly, the taxi driver suggested lhe man should unload the gun and after a time he agreed, withdrew the cartridge and handed it over. “You might have some mort cartridges in your pockets,” Keith said. The man grinned, and produced some in his hand. Still the situation was desperately delicate but the persuasive powers of Keith still worked in an off-hand way. He suggested the man should give him half of the gun and to his amazel ment the stranger, who was obviously [under a great strain, agreed. He [broke the gun and handed the taxi driver the barrel and the tension was 'over and the taxi driver and the woman breathed freely for the first I time. ‘ “I could not possibly leave the woman with him,” said Keith, “so I [kept on arguing with him. Eventually,] after a lot more bluff on my part, he 'handed over the stock of the gun and t three more cartridges which he had in I his pocket. He said he had bought j the gun with his last £4. “Broke Down and Cried’’ I Then he broke down and started to [cry, with his head on the woman’s I lap. I suggested he should come into town and that he should see a doctor and after a time he agreed. Near Fitzgerald Avenue the man demanded to get out, and, relieved, Keith pulled up. Calmer now. the man got out and wandered off. Thetj Keith drove himself and the woman to the police headquarters. He handed over to detectives a single-barrel shot gun and four cartridges. Detectives were out on the job • looking for the man as soon as they I heard the story and it was not long jbefore a stranger was arrested and charged with having in his possession 'a shot gun \\;ith felonious in ! He [went quietly. Sequel in Court I This mornidig in the Magistrate’s •Court this sensational incident was described when Alan Stuart McLachlan, aged 28 years, described as an electric welder, of Edgeware Road, stood charged that he was deemed to be a rogue and a vagabond in that he was armed with a gun with felonious intent. McLachlan pleaded guilty and after evidence had been i heard the magistrate, Mr. E. C T.evvey, granted a remand until February 1 1 13 to allow the medical observation of accused.