VENIAL CHARGES

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 197, 20 August 1943, Page 4

VENIAL CHARGES

MAGISTRATE PUZZLED TWO OFFENDERS CONVICTED This morning Mr. J. H. Luxford, S M., had before him two women on summons, each admitting a breach of the Censorship and Publicity Emergency Regulations. Each was convicted and discharged. In one case the defendant, in a letter intercepted by .the censor, mentioned a hospital ship. This fact caused Mr. Luxford to remark that there was nothing serious in that as hospital ships had to radio then position every half-hour while at sea. In the other case a woman, whose husband was serving on a ship of the Royal New . Zealand Navy wrote to her .brother-in-law on another ship and gave him an item of news which had since appealed in the Press. , _ t . Referring to these cases, the magistrate said: "It puzzles me why the Director of Publicity, or whoever the authority is bring such venial charges as we have had tins morning. When we have such higniy technical and venial cases as we have been getting in this Court it seems to me that the director should himself do the job by admonition instead of prosecuting. In a number of cases I have merely convicted and discharged the offenders. Sometimes serious breaches have been brought, when they have been treated accordingly. However, there have been far too many technical and venial prosecutions." Mr. Trevor Henry, who appeared for one of the defendants, agreed with the magistrate, but suggested that probably the cases were brought to Court as a warning "But the public knows all about it now," said the magistrate.