BETTING IN AN HOTEL

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 163, 13 July 1925, Page 8

BETTING IN AN HOTEL

A BOOKMAKER CONVICTED. £300 FINE INFLICTED. ILL HEALTH AS AN EXCUSE. Carl Ernest Ekman (38) was this morning, at the Police Court fined £300, with the alternative of serving six months' imprisonment in Mount Eden, having pleaded guilty to a charge of having carried on the business of a bookmaker. Senior Detective Ward stated that with Chief Detective Cummiogs, he arrested accused on Saturday. For some months past Ekman had been frequenting the Thames Hotel where he indulged in the practice of his "profession." Chief Detective Cumminga then had something to tell Mr. Poynton about accused. Ekman, he said, had quite a flourishing business, for his settling sheet for one day's transaction showed a total of £85. He had £27 on him when arrested, as well as betting slips. Accused owned a hairdresser's and tobacconist's shop in Mount Eden, and kept a man to look after the shop while he himself did betting in the open bar of the Thames Hotel. When arrested, accused said he could get a bond of £500, and was bailed in the sum of £200. Ekman was a man of means. As soon as he was bailed after his arrest, "Ekman went back to the hotel and resumed betting. Mr. Waddingham, who appeared for Ekman, said that his client was not a man of means. Ekman was suffering from consumption, and was not allowed to work in his hairdresser's shop. Aβ a result this business was falling away fast, and accused had been persuaded to adopt other means of making a living. Mr. Poynton: I don't think it is the best method of preparing for the next world. Chief Detective Cummings: A public bar of an hotel is not the best place for him if he is as bad as counsel makes out. Mr. Poynton: I think it is a very discreditable thing that betting and gambling is permitted in hotels. Accused will be fined £300. Mr. Waddingham asked for time to pay, but the magistrate replied that he would not allow time to a man who went straight back to the hotel after hie arrest and commenced again. However, at a later stage, Mr. Poynton agreed to allow accused three daye in which to paf. Only in a. Small Way. A charge of carrying on the business of a bookmaker was also preferred against William James Montgomery (45) who pleaded guilty. Senior Detective Ward said that he arrested accused on Saturday. Montgomery was a labourer and had been running a small double chart. Chief Detective Cummings added that accused was only carrying on in a very small way—running a £5 to a shilling double. He was a man who was in constant work and a good worker. The magistrate inflicted a fine of £25, in default one month's imprisonment. One month was allowed in which to pay. "Now don't go on the course and try to make up the fine," advised Mr. Poynton.