ATTRACTIVE SHOES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 62, 14 March 1930, Page 9

ATTRACTIVE SHOES.

DISAPPEAR FROM BEACH. YOUNG MAN BEFORE COURT. PENALTY FOR RECEIVING. The story of' the queer fate of an unusual pair of shoes which disappeared ' from a beach when the owner was disporting himself in the briny was unfolded in the Police Court this morning to Mr. Wyvern Wilson, S.M., when John Thomas Brown (25), labourer, described as having an unfortunate career, was charged with theft of the footwear, valued at £2, the property of William Thomas Robinson, or alternatively with receiving. He got the benefit of a doubt. Robinson said he went to Cheltenham to bathe on Sunday, February 2. He left his white shoes with his clothes, in a bathing shed. When he came out of the water the shoes had disappeared, but a pair of black 'ones were left in their place. The missing shoes; were white and tan cud he paid £2 for them in Sydney, where he spent a holiday in January. He never saw the shoes again until a 'fortnight later when he saw them being worn in Queen Street by Brown, the accused. Witness called a constable, who arrested accused. In witness' presence. Brown told the constable he purchased the shoes from a man in a city dance hall. He did not know the man's name. He only knew that he was a seaman known as "Tassie." 'Witness identified the shoes as his property because of the maker's name and address, which were attached. To Mr. Smyth, witness s.?id he knew accused by sight. He never saw him at Cheltenham on February 2. Constable Collins said that Brown did not give his correct name when first spoken to in Queen Street. When taken to the police station he admitted his name was Brown. He said he paid £1 5/ for the shoes at the dance hall. Giving evidence, Brown stated that he was not at Cheltenham on February 2. He left the city that day. He went with a girl to church at 11 a.m. and afterwards went for a walk with her. He was in her company during the afternoon and evening in the city. Explaining how he came in possession of the shoes, Brown said he met a seaman whom he only knew as 'Tassie" at the Rendezvous in Upper Queen Street, and bought the shoes from him for 25/. Brown admitted that he had six previous convictions for theft, and that his last conviction carried with it two years in the Borstal Institute. "Taking accused's own version, his story does not convince me," said Mr. Wyvern Wilson, S.M., who decided to convict Brown at the receiving charge. "A man with a criminal record does not buy shoes after midnight in a dancr hall from a man whose name he does not know." The magistrate sentenced accused to one month's imprisonment, to be concurrent with his present sentence of two months for maintenance of a child. The charge of theft was dismissed.