GAMING CHARGES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 271, 15 November 1937, Page 9

GAMING CHARGES.

MEN IN COURT.

FMESvQF £10 AND £15.

VOf iHf HOTEL AMD SHOP.

Two <tncti who were arrested last inonth on'vharges under the Gaming Act wre; dealt tf with ,by Mr. C. R. Orr ■Walker,''S.M.*,~ in the Police Court this morning. Thomas Thomson.,aged . r >«. for whom Mr. *N. iWHsori^appeared, pleaded guilty ito-n charge of carrying on the business «f a bookmaker»on Oetolier 25.

Detective-Sergeant Walsh said Thomson , was - a resident of Kllerslie. For pome, months past complaints had hern received' about Thomson's, activities in the bar of an hotel and on October 11 n constable had no difficulty in placing three half-crown bets with accused. On a later date the same constable made another half-crown bet with Thomson. When arrested in Newmarket by Detectives Aplin and Brown, accused was found in possession of material which •showed that he had accepted 2« bets on a trotting meeting, the bets totalling £«. Thomson had never been in anv ■trouble before. Pathetic Case. "This is a pathetic case." said Mr. "Wilson, who made an appeal on behalf of Thomson. Thomson was a returned soldier who lost hU leg in an accident some years ajro. He received a war pension of .£ I 10/ per week and was ineligible for sustenance because he was a disabled soldier. Recently his wife had to cro to hospital and she was still in a precarious condition. Thomson was standing l, v i n ~„«,, he waß ca |j ed on to give a blood transfusion. Recently he had been trying to eke out a livin" by selling art union tickets.

Forced to try and supplement his small income by doing a little betting. Thomson was only in a small wav of business. ami counsel asked that in the rncunistances a small fine should be imposed.

He wa* fined £10 and was advised by the magistrate to make application 3or time to pay.

"More Risky Than Hary* Assisting in the management of a common gaming house at 83, Pitt Street was the charge to which Harry Millward' •ged 31, pleaded guilty. It was stated by Detective-Sergeant Walsh that the tobacconist and newe agent's shop at 65, Pitt Street, was raided under warrant on October 4, -when a man named Williams and accused were arrested. Williams was :hned £100. A constable in plain clothes had no difficulty in making four bete ■with Millward in the «hop. Millward accepted four 2/6 bets from the constable and he was present when the constable called and collected a dividend on one of them. "Until recently Millward has been in the Royal Navy," said 3lr. Walsh. "I know that he left the service with an excellent discharge. He Diss not long been in the shop." Appearing for Millward, Mr. Winter *aid the defendant had been assisting fln the shop, and during the rush hour »n a Friday night he yielded to taking • small bet from the constable.

Mr. Orr Walker: Apparently he had Just started. Probably this will be the end of it. It was evidently more risky fhan being in the Navy. Millward was fined £10. *