SUPREME COURT

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21718, 27 February 1936, Page 8

SUPREME COURT

CRIMINAL SESSIONS AT GREYMOUTH FALSE PRETENCES CHARGES (bpiciaii TO tn PMsa.i GREYMOUTH, February 26. The criminal sessions of the Supreme Court opened before his Honour Mr Justice Northcroft at Greymouth, today. No bill was returned by the grand jury against Donald Stanley Donaldson. on a charge of breaking, entering and theft, and receiving at Westport. True bills were returned against Harry Infield Hodgson, aged 59, a waterside worker, of Westport, alleged attempted unnatural offence, find alleged attempted indecent assault on a male at Westport. The common jury returned a verdict of guilty on the second count. Prisoner was remanded True bills were also returned on .charges of false pretences against William James and Catherine Ann Morris. The case is proceeding. It involves four counts of obtaining and one of attempting to obtain a total of £212 Os 4d from the Unemployment Board by false pretences under the building subsidy scheme for building an accommodation house at the Maruia hot springs tourist resort. It was stated for the prosecution that the accused had been granted a subsidy of £650, and it was claimed that the amounts paid in wages were grossly overstated. They thus obtained subsidy money to a greater amount than they were entitled. A legal aspect as to the. court’s jurisdiction was introduced by Mr W. Perry, counsel for the accused. Before the accused were asked to plead he said he would like to raise the point that the court had no jurisdiction to try the accused by indictment. Accused were charged with obtaining money by fraud under the Unemployment Act. 1031. and section 31 of that act provided that every person who committed an offence was liable on summary conviction to a maximum fine of £2O. He submitted that this act constituted the offence with which the accused were charged, and if so they should be dealt with under that I act, not section 252 A of the' Crimes 1 Act. He referred his Honour to ■ authorities on the question. By the Unemployment Act a new offence was constituted, said Mr Perry, and by virtue of that section of the Unemployment Act, and the s decisions he had cited, the court had’no jurisdiction to deal with the case. His Honour said he would take time 1 to consider the matter. He would take the pleas of accused and. if the i occasion arose, when the jury gave . its decision, to go into the matter . again he would do so. ' Accused pleaded not guilty to all charges. The court adjournedat 5.30 , p,m., after hearing two witnesses, until this morning. The female accused was released on her own recognisance.