POLICE COURT NEWS.

THEFT BY A CHINAMAN. ONE MONTH'S IMPRISONMENT. The young Chinaman, William Lip i Guey, who, on Wednesday, admitted the i theft of £19 2s 6d, came up for sentence j in tho Policc Court yesterday before Mr. ;J. W. Poynton, S.M. Accused had received the money referred to in the charge j I to fay to a firm of undertakers, in liquid- j j ation of the funera' experses of a country- ! ; man who had died at the hospital. The' : money had been subscribed by other, ! Chinamen. Accused had spent the money j gambling. It was Btated that restitution | ] of the amount stolen had been made, i Detective. Knight said he had known accused for about sis years. He* had been I ' employed by leading Chinese merchants, | | but in every case ho had " taken them I | down," even to tho extent of fa'sifying ' bank books. He had gone to Sydney, But had been returned by the Sydney ! police as an undesirable. He had re- j cently been working at Cambridge, but had , returned to Auckland and taKen a fur- j nished room, where he was living with a j white girl. His relatives were of the highest standing, but though accused had been given • every chance he would not " go straight." In view of aocused's character, tho magistrate said it was not a case for pro- j bation. He sentenced him to one month's imprisonment VAGRANT SENT TO GAOL. Thomas Skelly appeared on remand on a charge of vagrancy. He had been found j asleep in an old cab on a vacant section one night this week. He was sent to gaol (or a month. PROHIBITION ORDER BROKEN. A fine of £5, in default 14 days' imprisonment, was imposed on John Graham for having procured liquor while prohibited. ' CHARGE AGAINST A WOMAN. Ethel May Lawrence was charged with the theft of £6. It was alleged she had received the money from Catherine Dann on terms requiring her to account for it to Harold Charles Mosea, and had fai'cd so'to do. The case Mas adjourned till January 9, Chief-Detective Mcllveney saying there were similar charges pending. UNWHOLESOME STRAWBERRIES. A charge of ha®ng sold unwholesome fruit was made against Margaret Newman (Mr. Holmden). The evidence showed that a customer purchased two boxes of strawberries at defendant's shop and found that underneath the top layer the fruit was mildewed. For defendant it was stated that she had not been long in business, and was inexperienced. She had been too late to obtain strawberries at the market on the day in question, and hfd purchased six chips from a Hindu hawker. She had so'<l them as she bought them, The hawker had sinoe refunded her money. The magistrate said it was a trivial case. Defendant was ordered to pay costs.