CHARGE AGAINST SOLDIER

Press, Volume LXXIX, Issue 23947, 14 May 1943, Page 7

CHARGE AGAINST SOLDIER

“ACT AMOUNTING TO THEFT” GOODS BROUGHT FROM MAADI (P.A.) AUCKLAND, May 13. A soldier who left New Zealand with the 3rd Echelon and returned home last December, was charged In the Magistrate's Court to-day with obtaining at Maadi, Egypt, a Persian rug. tablecloths and napkins, cutlery, silverware and goblets of a total value of £IOO by an act which, if done in New Zealand, would have amounted to theft, and that in December he brought such articles into New Zealand. The charge was the first of the kind ever brought in a New Zealand Court. The soldier’s name was suppressed pending his appearance in the Supreme Court. An unusual feature of the case was the absence of any evidence by the complainants, who live at Maadi. The only witness called was a detective sergeant, who located and Interviewed the accused on March 25. Accused pleaded guilty, and was committed for sentence to the Supreme Court. In an explanation to the police, the accused said that in July, 1942, when things were in a very serious position in the Middle East, and everyone expected Cairo and Alexandria to be taken by the enemy any moment, most of the Jewish population left Egypt, and the complainants, a Van and his wife who emitted their home in a hurry, asked the accused to look after their effects. Accused and another private packed and checked the larger effects, and employed natives to cart the goods away. A list was kept. In October, when the military position was easier, the effects were returned to the complainants’ home, except for the goods mentioned in the charge. He thought the complainants would not be returning to their home, and was not aware of their return until informed of the fact by the police.