MAGISTRATE'S COURT

Press, Volume LXXXI, Issue 24736, 29 November 1945, Page 3

MAGISTRATE'S COURT

WEDNESDAY • "(Before Mr A. A. McLachlan, S.M.) THEFT OF TYRES A man whose name was ordered to be suppressed pleaded guilty to the theft of two motor tyres, valued at £l7, which had been "goods in transit, from the Railway Department. Detective-Sergeant A. A. Hcrron said that accused was employed by the Railway Department and had taken the tyres from a railway van at Rangiora. He had later sold them to a dealer for £ls. Thefts of property from the railway had become prevalent, and the department was. continually being faced with claims. Accused was remanded to appear to-day, bail being fixed at £SO in his own recognisance,, with one surety of £SO, the Magistrate asking the Probation Officer to furnish a report. BREACH OF PROBATION LICENCE Marion Elaura Mitchell pleaded guilty to a breach of a probation licence. In sentencing her to reformative detention at a Borstal institution for a period of 18 months, the Magistrate said that accused had evidently made up her mind to go her own way.

FINE IMPOSED Charles John Hunter, • a labourer, aged 63, pleaded guilty to being found without lawful excuse on the enclosed premises of the grounds of the Roman Catholic Cathedral. He was fined 20s, in default 48 hours' imprisonment. EVASION OF SALES TAX

The Crystal Mirror and Glass Company (Mr V. G. Spiller) pleaded guilty to three charges of making erroneous returns with intent to evade sales tax. and to one charge of making erroneous sales tax returns. All four charges were brought by the Collector of Customs, for whom Mr A. W. Brown appeared. Mr Brown said that an investigation had been made, and it had been found that a whole series of transactions by the company had not been entered in the book Kept for sales tax.

Mr Spiller said that the business had been run by one man and a girl. The man had ■ died about six weeks before the information had been laid. He had been "useless in the office," and it had been very.difficult to determine just what he had done and had not done. Fines of £25 on each of the four charges were imposed. LIQUOR PRICES Leslie Victor Crothers. proprietor of the Racecourse Hotel, pleaded' guilty to a breach of the Control of Prices Emergency Regulations in selling spirits at a orice not in conformity with the relevant price order. Mr J. D. Hutchison, for the Price Tribunal, said that the standard "nip" was fixed at one forty-second part of a reputed quart, which was equal to 297 minims. The price for this quantity was lOd in public and private bars. For anything less than 297 minims, the charge should have been 6d. Defendant had sold a quantity of 210 minims to an inspector and had charged Is. Mr D. W Russell, for defendant, said that a porter had been relieving in the bar when the inspectors had called, and he,had thought that the price was still Is. The price order had been out for only six weeks. There had been an obstruction in the "bowser" from which the spirits were drawn, which had been discovered when attention had been drawn to the smallness of the "nip." Felix Augustine Siegert. proprietor of the Zetland Hotel (Mr F. D. Sargent) pleaded guilty to a similar charge. Mr Hutchison said that in Siegert's case the quantity sold had been 270 minims and the price, lOd. I Both men were fined 20s.

In imposing the fines, the Magistrate said that surely it was not the object of the Price Tribunal to protect men who wanted "nips" of wnisky and brandy. There were other people to protect. Women were paying high prices for clothing footwear and children's toys, which were much more essential. It seemed strange that so much time had been devoted to this type of investigation.' He said that the inspectors should wear some sort of badge—the method used did not appeal to his sense of justice. The police were in uniform when they went to hotels. It did not savour of the ordinary spirit of British Justice. Mr "Hutchison, replying, said that there was-nothing secretive about the method used. The inspectors entered the bars as ordinary members of the public. He asked what fairer test there could be. Many persons patronised bars and they had to be protected. . FINES IMPOSED

Adams, Ltd.. motor dealers, pleaded guilty to two charges of selling goods at prices not in conformity with the relevant price order. > Mr J. D Hutchison, for the Price Tribunal, said that the approval of the tribunal had to be obtained before goods be sold at prices higher than those obtaining at the beginning of the war, and this approval had not been ob-

talned by defendant company. The company had sold a crown wheel and pinion for £2O, less 25 per cent., to a Dunedin agent, the selling price before the war being £7 10s, less 25 per cent., although it cost the firm £ls at present In connexion with the second charge, a rear axle had been sold for £9 17s 6d. less 25 per cent., the pre-war selling price being £3 10s 6d, although they now cost £5 18s lOd to land. The cost of crown wheels and pinions had increased to the defendant company considerably since 1939, and if application had been made, it seemed likely that it would have been granted. Fines' of £2 on the first charge and £l.on the second charge-were, imposed.