ALLEGED THEFTS OF WALLETS

Press, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 25447, 19 March 1948, Page 9

ALLEGED THEFTS OF WALLETS

CHARGES £ll4 HEARD n?O MEN COMMITTED FOR TRIAL -fiarees of stealing five wallets coni ? mcnev at Ashburton on February James Trask, aged 44, penPalmerston North, and Thomas ward King, aged 43, pensioner, rton, were committed to the ■ourt at Christchurch for trial P. Lawny, S.M., in the Magisjrt at Ashburton yesterday. ■ESr’and King both pleaded not guilty, n W Russell appeared for both ac-Detective-Sergeant A, A. Herrou were charged with stealing a Jgtwmtaining £24 in money, papers, cheque for £22 Os 3d, of a total £46 Os 3d, the property of FrejHugh Robertson Perkins: a wallet lining £ l4 10s in mone y- a cheque g® p 7 papers and petrol coupons of a £IW of £22 10s, the property of ■ rfL Wilson; a wallet containing papers da cheque-book of a total value of X* the property of Herbert Money; a Swccntaining £1 in money, receipts, naoers of a total value of £2, the i-nrert? of Brian Sylvester Quaid; and a containing £lO in money and ,ne-s of a total value of £ll, the proof Laurence Charles Rooke Pp-ederick Hugh Robertson Perkins, enJeer 38 West street, in evidence, said S two accused entered his shop about •i S 5 am- on February 24. and asked him uhe (Perkins) could repair a mudguard walked down the shop with King Trask stayed in the middle of the vt- A coat, which contained the walEt mentioned in the charge, had been tunc in the centre of the shop at 8 a.m »nd was from six to eight feet from Perkins had his back to Trask When the two accused left the premises Sakins said he finished work and when tr happened to feel in his pocket he /mind his wallet missing. This was with?n*three or four minutes of accused's Sarris the premises. Witness saio he then went along East rtteet, where he saw King and Trask entering a shop. He rang the police and to the shop, where King, who apnearcd to recognise him. moved out of his Jteht When Constable Kilpatrick arrivSwitness told him he suspected the theft 2 his wallet. When the two accused ume out of the shop Constable Kilpatrick the accused who admitted havbeen in Perkins’s shop. Accused were then taken to the police station Leslie Wilson, builder and cabinetmaker, Moore street, said Trask and King had entered his office at 11.30 a.m. on February 24 to ask the price of a box-ottoman vj’ng had stood beside him and Trask £hind him. His coat was by Trask. After the two accused had left his premises he went home later and missed his wallet When the wallet was found in a lavatory at Ford Motors, Ashburton, a £lO M te was still in an inner compartment d it The two accused had entered his worktop to have repairs to a shoe at 2.30 »m, on February 24, said Laurence Charles Rooke, a boot repairer, of Burnett street. King had sat beside him. talking a lot, and Trask had stood close tc the door where his coat was hanging. After accused had left he worked for 20 minutes and then found his wallet missll a m- on February 34 the two accused had entered the shop in which he was employed, and asked to see a juvenile eyde, said Herbert Everard Money, a cycle dealer, cf the Triangle. "King and • walked to the workshop and were out at sight of Trask, who stood from six to eight feet from the office counter,” he added. A wallet had been placed under • pad on the office counter at 10 a.m., end was later found to-be missing. Brian Sylvester Quaid, shop assistant, employed at Buxton and Thomas, Ltd., East street, said the two accused entered the storeroom from the back of the premises. They bad a conversation with the manager, and while walking back passed directly by his coat. The following morning witness had found his wallet missing Constable W. Kilpatrick said that when he first took the two accused to the police station they did not give their correct canes. Trask refused to give a statement ot his movements that day. King had £26 Ils 4d in his possession, and Trask ted £27 5s 6d. Both denied knowledge of a theft from the premises of Perkins. Later in the day, witness found the accused on the south train at Hinds and brought them back to Ashburton, where they were arrested. Bail was allowed in £lOO on each accused’s own recognisance, with one security each of £lOO.