A chain of supermarkets was doing its best to control a shoplifting wave which had hit Canberra in the lead up to Christmas, The Canberra Times reported on this day 54 years ago. Shoppers had every bag inspected on their way past the checkouts, with people encouraged to leave their bags on shelves outside the display area. But no rule prevented women from taking bags into the shopping section. Four women charged with shoplifting appeared in the Canberra Court of Petty Sessions the day before. The magistrate, who said shoplifting was extremely prevalent at that time of year, placed them all on 12-month good behaviour bonds. The magistrate warned the four that another conviction for an offence involving dishonesty would "almost certainly" mean a jail sentence. Superintendent B. A. Rochford of the Canberra Police said a change in the law meant women were no longer entitled to the benefit of a closed court when they appeared charged with shoplifting. The general manager of the Canberra David Jones store, D. W. Alexander, said $500,000 was lost each year to shoplifting, about 1 per cent of annual turnover. Meanwhile, the Times reported seven students at Sudbury Grammar School had written a letter of protest, angry that Prince Charles had allegedly misused his royal prerogative to gain "backdoor" entry to Cambridge University. "Nobody would begrudge the Prince a university education had he been content to follow the official procedure for entry," the letter said.