PLEA OF GUILTY

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21247, 20 August 1934, Page 4

PLEA OF GUILTY

MONEY OBTAINED WITH INTENT TO DEFRAUD CABINET-MAKER SENTENCED ! Charged with obtaining £ls from Daniel Higgins with intent to defraud, John Francis Burns pleaded guilty in the Magistrate's Court on Saturday, end was sentenced to six months' imprisonment to be followed with U months' reformative detention. Mr E D Mosley. S.M.. was on the bench, and Chief-Detective W. H. Dunlop conducted the case for the police It was alleged that Burns falsely represented himself as the proprietor of a progressive wood business; as me proprietor of the "Get-You-Home Assurance and Towage Company, that his banking returns amounted to £IW a month, and that he owned a Ford truck and a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, and side-delivery. Chief-Detective Dunlop said that Burns had advertised in a Christchurch newspaper on July 15 for a mechanic to look after that side of a business. When a man named T. H. Davey replied, Burns made the representations in the charge. Part of the business was the collection of lawn mowers for sharpening and adjusting while another part was the "Get-You-Home Assurance and Towage Company," which Burns had alleged to be showing a turnover of £ 100 a month. Davey had then paid £1.5 as a half share in the mechanical side of the business. Burns had then told Davey that he was going to open a garage in Madras street, but Davey learnt that Higgins had also been persuaded to invest £ls as a result of the same representations. When Davey confronted Burns with this information, he received £7, and a promise of the outstanding amount later. Instead of that, Burns left. The chief-detective said that in a statement Burns had said that he was a cabinet-maker, and a married man He admitted making the representations to Davey and Higgins, and said he hoped to be able to refund the money. "He would be an excellent man as a wild-cat company promoter," said the chief-detective. "In this case he just simply started a fraudulent scheme for his own gain. What is more, he seems to get the revenue. People fall for it." He handed documents to the magistrate including a membership card of the "Get-You-Home Assurance and Towage Company," which gave the following privileges: "Brakes adjusted once a month, relined at reduced cost; batteries watered and tested any time on request free; members' cars washed Is 3d; polished for9d; drainage of the crankcase every four months and re* filled and free towage in the event of a breakdown- within a radius of 12 miles. Membership fee was stated as £1 12s 6d a year." Burns Was sentenced to six. Months' imprisonment t6 be followed by 12 months' reformative detention. Woods' Great Peppermint Core For Children's Hacking Coughs. —-1