BICYCLES STOLEN

Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23744, 16 September 1942, Page 3

BICYCLES STOLEN

# CONVICTION ON TWO CHARGES AIRCRAFTSMAN REMANDED Much evidence in a case involving the alleged theft of six bicycles either from an Air Force station near Christchurch or in the city, was heard in the Magistrate's Court yesterday, when Harold Maurice James Smither, an ' aircraftsman, was charged. The charges, to which he pleaded not guilty, were: That on or about February 6 he stole a bicycle valued at £8 10s, the property of Frederick Cecil Benger; that on February 1 he stole a bicycle valued at £4, the property of James Ward; that on September 24 he stole a bicycle valued at £l4, the property of Douglas Judson Chatfield; that on May 4 he stole a bicycle valued at £7 10s, the property of Neville Edmund Rowe; that on March 4 he stole a bicycle valued at £l2 10s, the property of Stewart Erickson; and that on March 21 he stole a bicycle valued at £3, the property of Vincent McLeod. Mr E. C. Levvey, S.M., was on the Bench, Senior-Detective H. Nuttall conducted the case for the police, and the accused was represented by Mr C. S. Thomas. After Smither had been convicted on two' charges, Mr Thomas asked for leave to withdraw the other pleas. He said that the circumstances of the case made the offences difficult to explain, and the Magistrate decided that Smither should be remanded in custody until September 22, pending a report by the Probation Officer and for medical observation. Senior-Detective . Nuttall said that Smither was a well-known professional cyclist. Three of the cycles he was charged with stealing were taken from the station, and three from the city. The number on one of them was altered, and the parts of others were considerably interchanged. Chatfield, in evidence, said that the handle-bar stem, wheels, seat, and cranks of his bicycle (exhibited) had been I changed, "and the maker's name painted out. It had been stolen from a parking place at the station before he was transl ferred north. In answer to Mr Thomas he said he knew Smither well, and had asked him to "keep an eye open" for the bicycle. He denied receiving letters from Smither recently to the effect that the frame had been found. No one had authority to remove it. James Edward Duncan, station warrant officer, said that if a bicycle was found it should be reported immediately. Smither did not report finding one. i Evidence of interviewing Smither at the station was given by Detectives C. P. Burns and N. Thompson. In a statement to them, the accused said he had found the bicycle and written to Chatfield. twice, but had no reply. Smither, in answer to Senior-Detective Nuttall, stated he had carried the frame off the station. When he heard nothing from Chatfield, he painted out the name I on the bicycle so that he could ride it in a race. The front forks of his own I machine were twisted. He went no further in his attempt to locate Chatfield when no reply was received to his second letter. The bicycle was in full view at the station, and he kept riding it until the police took it. The case was difficult to understand in that Smither was not interested in making a profit, Mr Thomas said. "What the accused said may be 'Correct, but I am satisfied that the bicycle was taken and keot in a manner to constitute theft," said the Magistrate, entering a conviction. After being convicted on the charge of stealing a bicycle from Ward, Smither was remanded for a week.