LIQUOR AFTER HOURS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 271, 15 November 1935, Page 16

LIQUOR AFTER HOURS.

LICENSEE FINED £20. UNSATISFACTORY EXPLANATION. In fining Joseph Patrick Hall, licensee of the Albion Hotel, £20 and costs on a charge of selling liquor after hours, Mr. F. K. Hunt, S.M., in the Police Court this morning, asked Sub-Inspector Fox to bring the matter of the prosecution before the Auckland Licensing Committee. A .fortnight ago, Hall, for whom Mr. R: A. Singer appeared, pleaded not guilty to charges of selling and opening for J sale after hours. Mr. Hunt, after hearing considerable evidence, reserved his decision. He gave judgment thie morning and said that in the absence of a satisfactory' rebutting case he felt justified in assuming that a supply of liquor was a sale, "in this case a-satisfactory explanation has not been offered," he said. "I don't believe the defendant's story. There wae a sailors' party going on in a house near the hotel on Saturday night, October 5. A quantity of liquor was taken from the hotel in the middle of the night. Defendant admitted that he was in charge of the hotel all the evening. His replies to a constable's questions, and hie allowing a man and a boarder to leave, all make a prima facie case and call for an answer. Sufficient answer has not been given. On the charge of selling after hours Hall will be fined £20 and costs." The charge of opening for sale wae withdrawn.