"A NUISANCE."

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 174, 25 July 1932, Page 5

"A NUISANCE."

BOOKMAKER IN HOTEL COMPLAINTS IN NEWTON. RELIEF WORKER FINED £10. "I was only trying to make a few shillings by running a small double. I can't live on relief pay and I have a family, including an invalid daughter, to support," said Ephraim John Charles Thomas, aged 49, labourer, who appeared at the Police Court to-day and pleaded guilty to a charge of carrying on the business of a bookmaker. "The police have received numerous anonymous and other letters complaining about Thomas betting in hotels," said Detective-Sergeant Kelly. "At 4.30 on Saturday afternoon Thomas was arrested in the bar of a Karangahape Road hotel by Detective Nalder. As Thomas walked out he handed something to a man in the bar. It was a double chart, Thomas offering £2 10/ to 1/. This showed that lie had received £2 17/ as the results of taking bets on the two races. Thomas is a pest and a nuisance in Newton, and he is not wanted by anyone up there. Some of the, complaints we received were very bitter, as it was considered that he has been taking money which ought to go to the homes of men who bet with him in bars." Thomas said there were no complaints about his honesty. He knew he was breaking the law, but was only trying to make enough to keep his family. Mr. W. R. McKean, S.M.: All the police want to make sure of is that you will stop making yourself a nuisance in the carrying on of this bookmaking business. Thomas was fined £10, or six weeks' imprisonment. He asked for time to pay, but the magistrate told him that the police would assist him to get the money.