WHAKATANE POSTAL THEFTS.

Bush Advocate, Volume XXI, Issue 290, 11 June 1909, Page 5

WHAKATANE POSTAL THEFTS.

Some remarkable disclosures were made in the charges of thgfit heard - at Rotor ua "on Saturday, wlfeh Alfred Charles Norris, postmaster at Whakatane, was charged with embezzling the sum of £380, the property of the Postal Department. Evidence was given by Mr McKinnon and Mr Curtis, of the Department, as to the state of accused's accounts, which they said revealed a state of deplorable muddle. The Whakatano constable deposed that for some twelve months the accused had been drinking heavily, especially latterly, when he (the constable) reckoned that Norris spent five pounds a week in drink. James Sempkin, a half-caste youth, who had previously pleaded guilty to embezzling the sum of £58 odd from the office, .gavo evidence. He admitted the theft of an average of three pounds per week, extending over many months, from the till. He . kept a P.O. bank account, which at one time amounted -to £31, paying in to himself, and issuing his own receipts. After examination of witnesses, the accused formally pleaded guilty and were committed to the Supreme Court for sentence. Bail was allowed Norr:s in two sureties of £175 each, and £300 personal surety. Norris, who is well-known in Rugby football circles, had been in the service of the Postal Department for over thirty years, and owing to having had niucli sickness and trouble in his family a great deal of • sympathy has been extended to him. ,