On the night of 28 June 1921 the blouse factory of the Marcelle Manufacturing Company in Guildford-lane was broken into and material worth about £230 was stolen. During the course of the robbery a man was seen by police "coming cautiously along the lane", and on seeing the police attempted to run away, but was arrested. A second man who was loitering in the neighbourhood also ran when he saw the police, but he too was apprehended. The two men were Norman Bruhn and Harold McDougall, a 30-year-old wharf labourer. Bruhn and McDougall were charged with loitering in a public place "with intent to commit a felony".Victorian News, The Australasian (Melbourne), 6 August 1921, page 30. Some of the stolen material was found near where the two men were arrested and stolen silk material was later found in McDougall's mother's house in West Melbourne.Charge of Factory Breaking, The Argus (Melbourne), 15 August 1921, page 11.Family in Court, The Argus (Melbourne), 6 August 1921, page 17. On August 12 the Bench of Magistrates discharged McDougall, but convicted Bruhn, who was sentenced to six months' imprisonment, to be suspended on a bond to be of good behaviour for three years.Family’s Troubles, The Argus (Melbourne), 13 August 1921, page 11. The next day McDougall was charged with breaking and entering the factory, but the charge ultimately failed and he was discharged.Factory Breaking Charge Fails, The Argus (Melbourne), 26 August 1921, page 5.
