MAGISTRATE’S COURT

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 26985, 10 March 1953, Page 12

MAGISTRATE’S COURT

, MONDAY (Before Mr F, F. Reid, S.M.) • FINE FOR ASSAULT Alfred Edward Goslin, aged 32, a labourer, pleaded guilty to a charge of assaulting Harold Maurice James Smithers at Christchurch on March 7. He was convicted and fined £2. Senior-Sergeant J. C. Fletcher said the charge arose out of a fracas in Beaumont street, Sydenham, on Saturday. Goslin apparently objected to the friendship of a woman of his acquaintance with the complainant, and had declared that he intended to “get him if he went to gaol for it.” Asked if he had anything to say, the defendant said: “No, sir. I’m in the wrong.” OBSCENE LANGUAGE Ronald Goslin, aged 24, a labourer, was convicted and fined £3 on a charge of using obscene language in Beaumont street on March 7,. He pleaded guilty. Senior-Sergeant Fletcher said the charge arose out of a disturbance in Sydenham on Saturday. The defendant had been with his brother, who was engaged in a quarrel about a woman. CHARGE OF DRUNKENNESS Pleading guilty to a charge of being found drunk in Oxford terrace on March 8, Frederick Diver, aged 61, a clerk K having been previously convicted of a similar offence within six months, was convicted and fined £3, in default four days’ imprisonment. THEFT OF MOTOR TYRES Albert James Pritchard, aged 54, a motor mechanic (Mr R. A. Young), was charged with stealing six motor tyres, of a total value of £Bl, the property of Beilins Breweries, Ltd., between September 1, 1952, and February 21.'.He pleaded guilty, and was remanded to March 11 for a report from the probation officer. Bail of £5O in the accused’s own recognisance was allowed, with one surety of £5O, on condition that the accused report daily to the police. Detective-Sergeant A. B. Tate said the accused arrived in New Zealand in 1950. The first three tyres sold by the accused while, he was employed by Ballins Breweries were car tyres, worth £7 each, and the accused had obtained £5 each for them. The others were truck tyres, valued at £2O each, but the buyer had become suspicious and demanded his money back. These tyres had been returned to the owner. DISORDERLY BEHAVIOUR Alexandei* Hamilton, aged 23, a labourer (Mr P. H. T. Alpers), was convicted and fined £5 on a’ charge of behaving in a disorderly manner in Cashel street on March 7. He pleaded not guilty. Constable K. Munro said the proprietor of the Grand Hotel telephoned the police on Saturday afternoon, saying that there was a brawl in the street outside his hotel. With - another constable, the witness went to the hotel in a car and saw a crowd of about 50 or 60 persons milling about in the street. ' “They behaved in a very ugly and hostile manner, booing and jeering at us,” said witness. “All of them were intoxicated. I arrested one man who was drunk, and after a struggle I got him into the car. As the car moved away, the defendant tried to open the door. I feared a further breach of the law, so I arrested him, too.” * To Mr Alpers, the witness said that j when he arrived at the hotel there ‘was no fight in progress. The defendant said he had taken no part in the fight. When he saw his friend struggling on the ground with a constable, he had started to take off his coat to help, but had put it on again when the two men got to their feet. Senior-Sergeant Fletcher: How dared you take off your coat to take any part in the arrest? The defendant: I thought he had done nothing wrong for the constable to throw him to the ground. The Magistrate said he was r satisfied that the defendant was guilty. He might well have been charged with a more serious offence. BREAKING AND ENTERING CHARGES George Vernon Dickinson, aged 23, a tailor’s labourer and presser, and Norman Lemon, aged 21, a labourer, pleaded guilty when they were jointly charged with breaking and entering the counting-houses of four Christchurch business firn)s, with intent to commit theft, on February 24. They also pleaded guilty to converting to their own use a motor-car valued at £460, the property of Kevin Barry Goodman, on the same day. Lemon pleaded guilty to a charge of receiving a wrist watch valued at £ll, knowing that it had been dishonestly obtained. The accused were remanded to March 16. The counting-houses were on the premises of the Gloucester Service Station, 332 Gloucester street, Johnson and Smith, Ltd., 140 Kilmore street, Bascand’s, Ltd., 151 Kilmore street, and the Scott Timber Company, 192 Barbadoes street. The car was taken from the premises of the Gloucester Service Station. PROBATION FOR SHIP DESERTER Alfred Balderson, aged 22, a seaman (Mr B. McClelland), appeared on a charge of deserting from the Akaroa at Auckland on November 5 last year. He was admitted to probation for two years, after evidence had been given that no ship was available to take him away from New Zealand. Senior-Sergeant Fletcher said the accused had appeared at Greymputh on a desertion charge, and had been sentenced to one 1 month’s imprisonment. Mr McClelland said the accused had met a Greymouth girl and married her and a child was expected later this year. He • was living with his wife’s parents in Greymouth, and had been in regular employment since his marriage. REMANDED Lance Raymond Long, aged 20, a farm i labourer, was remanded to March 11 when he appeared on charges of breaking and entering a house at 26 Leitch street and committing theft on February 27, and of stealing £3 in money, the property of Cecil Ernest Lambert, on February 28.