MAGISTRATE’S COURT

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25227, 4 July 1947, Page 3

MAGISTRATE’S COURT

THURSDAY (Before Mr Raymond Ferner, S.M.) COMMITTED FOR TRIAL John Albert Arthur, 197 Waltham road, a carpenter, aged 27, pleaded not guilty to charges of breaking and entering a shop at 87A Cashel street and commit- J ting theft, and receiving an overcoat valued at £l4 10s, knowing it to have been obtained dishonestly. He was committed to the Supreme Court for trial at the next session. Bail of £l5O and one surety of £l5O was renewed. Detective-Sergeant A. A. Herron prosecuted. Frederick George Leslie Clarke, a tailor, said that on December 11 he found that his premises had been broken into by the hinges being forced off a window. A door leading to the shop premises had been forced. Suiting materials, an overcoat and one suit were missing, of a total value of £l7O. He recovered the suit lengths in the back yard some days later. On June 16 last he was shown an overcoat which he recognised as one he made and which had been stolen. Its vallie was £l4 10s. The coat was now in a very' bad state. z - Detective R. S. Smith described how he executed a search warrant with Detective Rundle at accused’sTiome in connexion with another matter on June 14. He had seen the coat produced in Court on a bed, and had asked Arthur if it belonged to him. He answered “Yes.” He also said: “You are only wasting your time. I don’t bring stolen stuff home.” At the conclusion of the search he again questioned accused about the coat. Arthur had stated that he bought the coat 18 months ago at auction for £6 10s. He had taken the coat for further inquiries and it had been identified by Clarke. At another interview, accused had produced a receipt for the overcoat, and said he did not wish to make any further explanations. Acting-Detective E. C. B. Rundle gave corroborative evidence. He mentioned that the receipt given by accused was written on the back of a letter which was post-marked December 10, and the receipt was dated November 13. COMMITTED FOR SENTENCE

Pleas of giiilty to three charges of theft were entered by Richard Stanley Wratten, a carpenter, aged 26, of no fixed abode, and he was committed to the Supreme Court for sentence. He was charged with stealing a suitcase and contents valued at £3O, the property of Stanislaus A. G. Carrodus, a suit valued at £l2, belonging to Arthur Gordon Thomas Anderson, and a piano-accordion valued at £T2O, the property of John Hughes, all on June 2. On a further charge of stealing 13 Army blankets worth £lO Bs, he, was remanded until July 10.

Detective-Sergeant Herron prosecuted. John Hughes said he was the owner of a piano-accordion. He left it in his hotel room on the night of June 2. On June 3 he noticed it was missing. He identified the. instrument in the hands of the police as his. Stanislaus A. G. Carrodus, a member of the Tivoli Vaudeville Company touring New Zealand, said that he left his hotel about 7 p.m. on June 2, v and returned about midnight to find a suitcase and contents which he £ad left in his room missing. Several articles were still missing. Arthur Gordon Thomas Anderson, a member of the Tivoli Vaudeville Company, said he occupied the. same room as Carrodus. When he returned to the room he found a suit valued at £l2 missing. Acting-Detective R. H. Harding said he interviewed accused on June 19. He had been quite frank and admitted the theft. Accused informed him that he had gone to the hotel with the intention of stealing clothing, and had taken the piano-accordion believing it to bd a suitcase containing clothing. As a result of information supplied by accused. the piano-accordion was recovered. Wratten also admitted the theft of the other articles, most of which had been recovered. HARBOURED ESCAPED GIRLS For harbouring two girls who had escaped from the girls’ training centre at Burwood, Leslie George Smith, of 46 Junction road, was convicted and ordered to pay costs. He pleaded guilty. Senior-Sergeant G. H. L. Holt said that after the girls escaped they met accused who took them to his sister’s house where they stayed for several days. They told him that they had escaped. There was' no suggestion that he had made any improper suggestions to the girls. The Magistrate: Then there was no motive for this? Senior-Sergeant Holt agreed that there was not. Smith said that the girls had told him that they had come from Wellington and he did not know at first that they had escaped. In the circumstances, he would not inflict a penalty; but accused should take a warning as his actions had been very foolish, said the Magistrate, refusing to suppress his name. LICENSING ACT BREACHES

Fines were imposed as follows for licensing breaches:— Liquor near dance hall:—Douglas Beattie, £3; Archibald Taggart, £3; James Fielding, £3; Leslie Olliver Wheeler, £3. On licensed premises after hours:— Colin Hylton Lyford, 20s; William Kerr,. 20s; Hazel Kerr, 20s; Clarence Morgan, 20s; Warren Nelson Milne, 20s; Peter Harris, 20s; Matthew Fitzgibbon, 20s. BORROWED FIREARMS The regulations covering the lending of firearms had been given much publicity lately, said the Magistrate to a man,who said that he did not know that he had to obtain a permit from the police before borrowing a rifle. Several prosecutions were brought by the police, and fines were imposed as follows: Delivering firearm to person not entitled to obtain one: Robert James Matthew Harns, 10s; Frederick Church, 10s; Harry Craven May, 10s. Procuring possession of a firearm without police authority: Terrence Gerald O’Connor, 10s; Edward Ernest Miller, costs only, an order being made for the confiscation of the rifle. Patrick Andrews 10s: Maxwell Riphard Carson, 10s. ILLEGAL USE OF RATION BOOK Barbara Helen Johnston, aged 22. of M2 Esplanade, New Brighton, was fined £2 on a charge of obtaining rationed goods—tea, butter, and sugar—with ■ a ration book which had not been issued to her or to a person for whom the benefit of the goods was to be obtained. She pleaded guilty to the offences which took place on January 25 and Mav 11, and at other times between that period. Before January 24 last, accused resided with a family in Spreydon. She had taken a ration book registered in the name of Anthony Gustaf Ny when she left, and had registered it with a grocer in New Brighton from whom she had obtained rationed goods, said DetectiveSergeant Herron. She had been quite frank with detectives when interviewed. To the Magistrate, he said that as far as he knew, the rationing authorities would not be taking any further action. An application for suppression of name was refused.

FINED FOR ASSAULT ’’This is the third assault hl has committed this year and the excuse he gave last time was that he was under the influence of liquor,” said Senior-Sergeant Holt when Horace Momo, a labourer, aged 18 (Mr H. W. Thompson) appeared on a charge of assaulting Phillip Carmichael on June 6. He pleaded guilty. Mr Thompson said that Carmichael had also had liquor and the assault was in the nature of an open slap. Fining Momo £3, the Magistrate said that accused would know what to expect if he came up again for assault.