METHVEN—TUESDAY.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXVII, Issue 9127, 24 October 1917, Page 7

METHVEN—TUESDAY.

Alltgtd Misappropriation.

At the >*Magistrate's> :Conrt at Methven on Tuesday, before Messrs H. H. Pawson and W. Morgan, Justices, William JohHvPercy, clerk' to tho Mt. Hutt': Road Board,(who appeared.on remand), was charged, on the information of De-tective-Sergeant 'Hunt, of Chriatchurch, that,; on or about / I^ebruary.i 27, 1917,: at Methven, lie? did- Veceiye^ from Robert Wallace "Wightmau the sum of £26 13a 2d, on terms requiring him to account for or pay tho same to the Mount Hutt Road Board, and, did fraudulently convert the,same to his own j>se and did .thereby commit I theft. A -second charge had relation to a. 6um oi\£9 JLls 2d, recehted from .David Alexander 'McLean, »nd similarly con- 1 verted, and '■«*-third charge covered a sum oK£37 12s Ad, received in divers amounts and not accounted tor. 1 Detective^Sergeant Hunt prosecuted for tho police. Mr Dart represented accused. James Carrj farmer,,Methv.en,.stated that ho was treasurer to the Mount Hutt Road Board. Accused had been in the employ of the board lor about four years. Acting on instiuctions from the auditor', witness, on September 18, posted demands to ratepayers, who, according to,the books, were in arreaws. in ..regard to,rates, «"In: reply to these demands certain ,'v regularities were discovered. * ' ' "'. ?To Mr Dart: Pnoi to June 7-thia year the 'Mount 'Hutt*Road Hoard did not have a treasure). Apart from the present transactions, the conduct of accused had been all. that could, be desired. The appointment of treasure] was made for tho purpose of'signing cheques and vouchers', 'and not to receive money. Beevor Roll, manager oi the-Barik-of New Zealand, at Methven, produced a cheque, signed by R. AY. Wightinan, for £26 13s 2d, payable to the Mount Hutt Road Board, and dated February 27, 1917. The cheque .was cashed arid was not paid in to thV vcredit of the board. Witness also produced n cheque dated September 23,1917, for ,£29 6s 4d, drawn by R. W. Wightinan, in favour of the boai'd. This was paid in to the board's account.

Robert Wallace Wightman, v farmer, Mount Hutt, stated that -... the v ) cheque for £26 13s 2d was sent in paynieut of his rates for 1916-17.Witness' was un-' able to say whether he posted or delivered the cheque. Last September witness received a. demand for £29 63 4d, and thought it was for this year's rates. He posted the cheque produced. After having posted the cheque, be discovered that he had already paid his { rates. He had not .yet received a Refund lor the amount oi-the second cheque from, the .board. ; „ ,- David-Alexander ; MoLeau, fanner, Cairnbi-ae, /staiea 7 thatr about ,";.three weeks before.-the ; election af J'bpard members witness ...gave;; accustid £9 lls 2d in payment of'rates on his property ■ AccusedipromLsed to post a receipt, but: failed^fev'doVso,•/; ;^faes%siibs<*. quetiiily. * retieiveil.■!a :demand-,f rom,,the tpV^'foft, his ;^l6rKva'ates.>^ ■going to the;, board'sidflic^ ■:<acOusedv^mitted 1 'tovwitiieskAthat\;^ had been paidp and' promised-to hand in the amount to the: board;-; •?. ;■- ■ Leopold B. Jordan,' of the .Govern-j ment Audit Department, said that in August last he arranged to audit the books of the Mount Hutt lload Board. Accused postponed the audit until September 8, when witness received the books. On September 18, witness went to Methyen to enquire into the excessive araount'of pntftandiiig; rates, and subsequently asked' the treasurer to issue demahcls ibv: all such ratee, with' the result that the iwegularities in the present charge were discovered. No entries .had been made in...the board's cash or bank books Xp show that the rates had been paid. .The shortage of £37 12s fd wsis maJde up in various . amounts ranging ; front Vav few shillings to £1. There were no' rfeceipt blocks in the office to show.that receipts had been issued for. the Amount of the sshortage. It appeared- to witness

and on the platfoiin with him wore the Rev. Messrs G. K. Aitken (Methven), Geo Miller (Ashburlon}, Marshall (Tuiwuld), and TV. Tysoo (Methodist Circuits. ; .„ „. , The Rev. Geo. Miller delivered an interesting address on the history of Pres.byterianism, deal inc. with the work 'of John Cah'4n, .John Knox, Andrew Melville, and the pioneer m Now Zealand. The othei rmnist-ers also delivered addresses. ... During the ovoniug, a splendid pro"Tamme of musical it<yiis-wa>s rendered by members of the Uak.ua Choir and irionds from A^hbuiton. Amongst, the performers, Mi\ Loftus, » returned w>Tdier, received a ovation. The following contributed to the programme:—Misses Tucker. Halliday. Hardy, Mesdames Morrison and Tlosr, and 'Mwsre.L Oakley, "R. Ford, C. Ross Gardner, and Loftus.

' that the shortage had taken place between January and September. Witness spoke to accused about the shortage 'and the latter admitted ,that he had used some of the board's money for his own purposes. During tho audit of May 23, 1916, witness spoke to the accused about the number of ratesvhnpiudv and accused then produced ,a; bag containing ,£2BO, in arid cash. This amount was paid by the auditor to the bank, to the credit of the Mount Hutt Road Board. During the recent audit, about £150 was found in the office. Some' of the cheques included in this amount were "stale," being drawn over six months. Witness .banked £150, and the Shortage named la the charges still 'existed. ' ' •

To Mr Dart: In the case of Wightman's rates there was a partial entry in the rate book. The result of the audit in. May, 1916,: showed a state of muddle of the books and accounts, but no shortage-. Witness^believed: that this was due to accused's state of nervous depression at tha^ time. Witness recommended to the'board that accused 1 should be allowed to take a holiday. At j ■ the recent audit, witness found a muddle,,,but also found £150 in the 'sife: Witness knew accused while the latter was dork of the Lake Coleridge Road-Board!, and. shad audited his accounts, which were .always correct. SyVrin'ie H., Gordon produced a receipt from/the board for rates amounting to -£1; 'Qs 7d, paid to accused on NovembteT. 2^ 1914. During September last shei\a'gaiu received a demand for the same rates. , James Duff, carter, Methven, gave similar evidence to that of the previous witness in regard to a sum of £5 2s 3d 1 which he had paid for his 1914-15 rates. Detective-Sergeant Hunt, said he 1 arrested accused on October 16. Accused offered to give every assistance, to.thO'jSblice,-and did; so. He admitted cashing the cheques from Wightman and McLean. He also admitted not hfiviilg 1 placed/ th;e;; othe^pSnjt^ints^tQ, the credit m >" tlie hoaxd'^" accouiitvilAccused had^kept his proipiise had given thiil*'p J6licf» vevery ■assist^hce i; jt.o $ear "up tile 'matter!',;' -':, ... ''■''.>{■'■: ;:,':'V7- 'h.-.Y'- .c ;.; Accused p'Jeaded guilty 1. to both charges, and was committed to the Supremo Court for sentence on October 29. " . - ' Bail was allowed, himself in £\W, with two sureties ofr £50 each, or one of £100.