POLICE COURT.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 169, 17 July 1919, Page 5

POLICE COURT.

(Before Mr. J. E. Wilson, SAL) I DRUNKENNESS. Two first offenders forfeited bail.Samuel Jackson (51), up for getting I drunk when prohibited, and stated to be a periodical spree-maker, appealed to be given a chance to get away to the North |Cape, where there were no hotels; he was fined £3, in default fourteen days. UNPROMISING NEW START. 1 "1 only came off the Island on Monday this week/ declared Elizabeth Alison Woods (55), who was charged I with being a vagrant, and stated that the charge was "only put against mc." Senior-Sergeant stated that the woman was a problem for the police. She had, as she said, only come off the Island this week, and had immediately gone on with the vagrant life of yore, wandering about the street and sleeping in the parks. She was found late last night in the street, hungry, wet to the skin and ill. It seemed as if she could not find for herself; she had a long list for drunkenness. "I've had enough of the Salvation to last mc my life," stated the woman, when it was suggested that perhaps some charitable institution might be found for her.- The Cosrt, however, remanded her for a week, to see if some home could not be found for her. PICKED UP NAMES AND OTHER TRIFLES. George William Thompson, alias Thomassen, alias Hanson, alias Braithwaite, alias Mark Tapley (45), admitted having committed- a series of petty thefts in the beginning of this month, stating he was drinking at the time. It was stated that accused went to Takapuna, where he took an opportunity to annex two pairs of hedge clippers and some pruning clippers. He also picked up several saws for which an owner could not be found; nHe. followed this up by a visit to the' Mount Albert district, and there bad a look over a building which was in the course of erection, and incidentally annexed a brief bag, thermos flask, some tobacco, and "a pencil belonging to the builder, H. V. Hcmus. Word of his actions came to the police, and Plain-Clothes Constable O'Sullivan visited the pawn shops, and apprised second-hand dealers of the description, of man who might be expected to call to sell stolen goods. As a result one of the dealers "spotted" Thompson when he called to sell a brief bag, and tipped the police off, enabling them to drop on Thompson at the shop. Accused had a very long list of petty thefts against him, and he was sentenced to three months' imprisonment. CIGARETTES AS A SIDE LINE. Maria Seged'm was charged with a breach of the Shops and Offices Act in that on June 5 he sold cigarettes and tobacco after 0 p.m. Mr. G. R. Whiting, for the Labour Department, stated that the closing hour observed in the city by tobacconists had been fixed by requisition at 9 pjm., except on Wednesday, for those who remained open on Saturday afternoon, and on Saturdays ,for those who remained open on Wednesday afternoons. Defendant carried on a soft drinks and confectionery shop, with a small department for the sale of fancy goods ana tobacco, and this latter department was subject to the closing hours observed by tobacconists. On Thursday, June 5, a visit was made to Ifahid department of defendant's shop, which has a separate entrance, and he was observed to sell 35 packets of cigarettes and five tins of tobacco between 9.15 and 9.45 p.m. . Defendant contended that according to a recent Wellington judgment, he was within his rights in selling after 9 p.m., and desired the matter tested in Court. Mr. A. Moody, for defendant, stated that his client, without consulting a soli- | citor, had interpreted a judgment by Mr S. E. McCarthy, S.M., as giving him the right to sell after 9 p.m. for the reason that the selling of cigarettes was hut a ■very subsidiary part of his business. Counsel pointed out that the report of the decision was capable of that interpretation by a lay mind, 'though he was afraid that he. as a solicitor, could not support defendant's contention on that ground. He pointed out, however, that defendant had acted with honest intent, and that when the Inspector of Factories had made an objection, defendant had closed his tobacco department at the hours when tobacconists closed. He would probably now have also to partition off the department. Defendant was fined 20/ and costs. THE OLD, OLD STORY. Thomas John O'Brien, alias Michael Ryan (44), and Gavin Burns Croker (47) admitted begging in the street at Newmarket yesterday. O'Brien, with all the personal and sartorial symptoms of a man down on his luck, was stated to be addicted to drink, and had also lapsed from the path .of honssty. Croker, who was well dressed, was stated to have been known previously to the police only for an occasional lapse from sobriety. The two of them had accosted a plainclothes constable in the street at Newmarket yesterday, requesting the price i of a tram fare to Onehunga, and were I turned down. They then .proceeded to j accost other people and visited two shops ! with the tale of being returned soldiers I without money and with a burning de- j I sire to get to Onehunga. The former i I part of their story was correct. i O'Brien was sentenced to six months' I imprisonment and Croker was convicted yrohihited and ordered to come up for j sentence if called on within twelve I months. I