YOUNG MAN FINED

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 21989, 13 January 1937, Page 14

YOUNG MAN FINED

CHARGE OF CONVERTING MOTOR-CAR [THB PRESS Special Service.] j ■ . BLENHEIM, January 12.,?'- ! A 25-mile trip in a motor-car yes-; terday afternoon proved expensive for , a driver who used another person's car and this morning appeared before Messrs J. Stevenson and B. J. Cooke, Justices of the Peace, charged with unlawful conversion. He was fined £5 and given a week in which to pay. . The accused was John Edward Waterman, a cook, aged 21, who pleaded guilty to converting to his ownuse a car valued at £250, belonging, to Sandeman G. Harris. The police stated that a visitor to the town, Harris, had left his car m . a parking area, and had later discovered it to be missing. The actions of the accused had been fairly accurately described to the police, who advised outside stations to keep a lookout for the car. However, the accused, had brought the car back himself after, about two hours. He had stated that;, in the past he had been permitted up. a Mr Jackson to use his car, and he claimed that he had mistaken the car: for one that Jackson had been using temporarily. "The unlawful taking of cars has been a sore point with motorists formany years," Sergeant Smyth said. "Valuable cars have been taken ana. sometimes left hopeless wrecks, wl *£- the owners heavy losers. This might very easily have happened yesterday. In fact, there was some slight damage,, but the owner is not claiming for it. . . Accused stated that he had been under the impression that the car belonged to Jackson, whom he thougw would not have'minded him taking:» When he returned and found that the police were making" enquiries, he haa apologised to the owner. The last thing he meant to do was to take * stranger's car or to steal one. "Well, it was a very silly thing for you to do," said the bench, in finingWaterman. "The conversion of motor-cars is a thing that has to be stopped. Tflis time there appear to be some ml t!K,, gating circumstances, but we propose*,/' to do what we can to stop this sorr. of thing. You will be convicted ana fined £5."