"A CONCEITED ASS."

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 261, 3 November 1928, Page 12

"A CONCEITED ASS."

YOUNG ENGLISHMAN'S CONDUCT.

ADMITTED TO PROBATION.

GUILT Y OF FALSE PRETENCES,

In admitting to probation for three years an ex-Imperial Army officer and son of a vicar in England, Geoffrey Edward Gibson Forster (Mr. Schramm), Mr. Justice Smith said at the Supreme Court this morning, that the case was one that had given him much concern. Forster had baeu found guilty of false pretences. His attitude in the witnessbox during his trial was one that indicated he did not realise the gravity of the offence. On behalf of Forster, Mr. Schramm said that he was a well educated young man and had been well brought up. He came to Xew Zealand, and, unfortunately, instead of living within his means, led a somewhat gay life and got into trouble. He had obtained a motor car from a girl who was working in an office in Whangarei, which she had purchased out of her savings. The action taken by the police and the trial which Forster had stood had been a great shock to him. He had been in gaol for two months, and counsel, in asking that the benefit of the Probation Act be extended to him, said that it was not likely that Forster would again be seen in any court in this country. Mr. Meredith, Crown Prosecutor, said that Forster had been welcomed and entertained by well-to-do people in Xew Zealand and had abused that trust. Apparently it was his wish to have a good time, and he had shown a good deal of vanity and swank. The strict lesson he had got that he could not do that sort of thing should straighten him up and show him that he must work for his money. The correspondence in the case indicated that Forster had been acting the fool in England, and his relatives were glad to get rid of him by sending him out to New Zealand. "Since he arrived here he has continued to act the fool generally," said Mr. ileredith. "Probably he is not criminal at heart, and has no criminal intent, but is just a conceited ass. With this lesson before him, he should go straight, and will have a little sense knocked into him." His Honor: Have you any occupation by which you can earn a living?— Yes; farming and engineering. His Honor: Are there any people who can look after you?— The Salvation Army eaptain said that he can offer me a job already. His Honor: It does seem you need a lesson. I trust this will be sufficient for you. Some of the letters put in in the course of the eTTse showed that you had no sense of responsibility in your relationships with certain people who wrote letters to you. A condition that the costs of- the prosecution should be paid by Forster durinar the period of his probation was attached by his Honor.