PRISONERS SENTENCED.

Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 97, 26 April 1922, Page 8

PRISONERS SENTENCED.

A VARIETY OF CRIMES. THEFT THE CHIEF ELEMENT. At the Supreme Court this morning Mr. Justice Reed had before him for sen- \ tence just on twenty prisoners, who had been caught in their trespasses, ranging from reckless mischief tn the moral violation of young girls, and punishment "'as meted out to them according to the measure of the law. tempered in some of the cases with mercy directed by the | youth of the prisoner or by mitigating I circumstance. • I One of the most venial of the crimes ' I that came under his Honor's review was i that of two youths from the North, j Laurence (Jalla'sher (Ift) and Robert K. I P. Russell (2l»I. who had, in a fit of I foolhardy mischief, caught and killed a 1 settler's lamli at Ilouhora. and had thus \ brought themselves under reproach as I sheep stealers. Mr. Selwyn Mays was I ' stressing thp facts that the accused were ordinarily decent young fellows who had ] been betrayed into folly by a spirit of ! mischief, when his Honor remarked that I ho did not view their lapse as serious, j other than thnt the accused had foolishly given themselves a black mark which ; would stand always against them. They were admitted to two years' probation, and were ordered to pay £3 12/ costs I apiece. ROBBED A ROOM MATE. The looting of a room-mate's pockets was the crime of Richard Thomas Carroll (25). who pleaded for leniency on the score that he had a-rjvidowed mother to support. When employed as a labourer on the public works at Paeroa. he had got up in the nisht at his hoardinghouse, rifled the pockets of a mate, taking £20, and had gone away from the house, lifting someone else's overcoat on the war out. His Honor could not see that a man in good work who committed an act, of the sort was entitled to special consideration, and Carroll was sentenced to two I years' reformatory detention. POSED AS BORROWER. A more subtle form of theft was that admitted by Herbert Walker Meßae Bull (43), who had obtained a bicycle under 1 the guise of a borrower from a man at Tc Aroha, and had taken advantage of his friend's good nature by riding the machine some distance away and then selling it. There had l>een thrpe previous convictions for theft ajrainst the accused, and Rull was sentenced to 12 months' hard labour. LOOTED A LAUNCH. "This is a case in which a punishment must be imposed which will act as a j deterrent to others," remarked his : Honor when John Edward Condren (22) ! offered the plea that he had been under the influence of drink when he stole a number of articles from a launch in the harbour. Adding that the offence was far too common in Auckland, his Honor imposed a sentence of six months' hard labour. AFTER A LONG JOY-RIDE. A somewhat similar comment was made from the Bench respecting two young men. Henry Hampton (22) and Stanley Walker Montgomerie (21), who had gained notoriety by taking a trip from Auckland to Xew Plymouth in a I motor car which they had annexed in the 1 town, and by committing incidental crimes a,t Te Awamutn, where a shop was feloniously entered. To Hampton his Honor remarked that the police report indicated that the accused had boasted of his exploit, and as he had a previous conviction for theft it appeared as if he had determined to enter upon a career of crime. He would be sentenced to a term of 12 months' hard | labour, to be followed by two years' re- I j fomiatory detention. Montgomerie, ' whose share in the crime was that of an i accessory after the act. was regarded by the judge as one who had been led away bya stronger personality. He was put on probation for five years, and ordered to pay f-i 1/ costs. A DRIXK VICTIM. John Huntley (24), who had been guilty of breaking and entering at Kaitaia, with which to obtain drink, for which he had a weakness, agreed to make application for a residence of 12; manths at Rotoroa Island,, and when he had got an order from a magistrate for. this, ~he was convicted and ordered to come up for sentence on the breaking; and entering charge if called upon within 12 months. A HORSE RUSTLER* William Fred. Leahy (27), and Stacey Erie Tapp (17), were companions in the crime of horse-stealing at Taumarunui. Leahy had a record \>f five previous | thefts, including one for horse-stealing, and a conviction for carnal knowledge, and, with the brief comment that he | had had his chances, the judge sentenced' him to two yeare' hard labour. Tapp, just a youth, was held to have been the' tool of the elder man, and was sentenced to two months' hrda labour, with a I recommendation that he be transferred to an industrial school, hie Honor believing that the prisoner needed to be under good control. ROBBED HIS MOTHEB. "A despicable thing" was the description applied to the act that 'brought William Henry Gevreal (33). up on a ' charge of theft of £110. The money had been entrusted to Pevreal's aged mother by her brother for safe-keeping, i and Perreal had obtained eve to get access to the cash, which he had stolen and waeted in dissipation. Accussed was sentenced to twelve months' hard labour. j TO THE REFORMATORY. I. Twelve months' reformatory detention' was the portion of Harold David Pryorj' for sheep-stealing at Cambridge, an "ex-1 planation that drink was the- cause fi the crime bringing from the Bench a! comment of disbelief, and a remark that! two previous convictions stood against , the man. I •Hugh John Walker (27). who had' broken into a shop at Te Awamutu and'; had stolen goods, was also sentenced to' twelve months' reformatory detention. "MENACE TO SOCIETY." "In my opinion you are an absolute menace to society, , ' declared his Honor' of George Arthur Wilson (56), who admitted three charges of indecent; assault on young girls. His Honor j pointed out th#t in 1908 and again in, 1917 the accuesed had been acquitted of : similar charges, but the evidence in the , present case showed that very shortly , after tbe last acquittal Wilson had been : indecently handling two girls, then only nine years of age. "It is one of the worst crimes that can be committed, as it destroys the girls morally, and I shall inflict as severe a sentence as I can," stated the judge, who concluded by ! sentencing the prisoner to seven years'/ hard labour. — i