Special Photograph no. 258. Details surrounding this particular photograph are unknown, but P E Smith appears frequently in police records of the 1920s. His photo appears in the Photo Supplement to the NSW Police Gazette of 1 August 1923 p. 12, captioned 'Assault and robbery.' A mention Photo Supplementof 19 October 1927 has him as a '[p]ickpocket and confidence man.,' who '[f]requents metropolitan and country racecourse meetings in the various states.' Yet another entry, in the Supplement of 18 April1928 (group 1 p. 2) is captioned, '[i]nterstate pickpocket and bogus agent. Frequents dance halls. Dresses well. A native of Queensland.' Smith was also profiled in exposes in the newspaper Truth in 1928,as a 'go-getter', ie a con man who sells suburban building blocks at grossly inflated prices, by falsely leading the buyers to believe the lots may be promptly resold for a huge profit. See also 'Mug shotWalter Keogh'.
Titled "Mug shot of Phillip Elmsworth Smith, 19 May 1921, possibly Darlinghurst Police Station, Sydney."
Source: Sydney Living Museum (Justice & Police Museum).
