YOUTH ADMITS THEFTS AND MOTOR-CYCLE CONVERSIONS

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27472, 5 October 1954, Page 8

YOUTH ADMITS THEFTS AND MOTOR-CYCLE CONVERSIONS

on Between August 23 and September 20 this youth committed three thefts, broke and entered one company’s premises, unlawfully converted three motor-cycles and attempted to convert a motor-car,” said Detective-Sergeant u. w Alty when Thomas Mervyn Johnstone, aged 19, a weaver, appeared before Mr Raymond Ferner, S.M., in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday. Johnstone, who was represented by Mr J. G Leggat, pleaded guilty to charges that on August 23 he broke ?» ® ntere d the office of the Carpet Manufacturing Company in Peer street and committed theft; that on September e he unlawfully converted a motor-cycle, valued at £l2O, the proof. Lorraine Beverley Oliverocott; that on September 18 he stole a car radw, valued at £3B, the property of Maurice Cecil Palmer; that on September 19 he unlawfully converted a motor-cycle, valued at £167, the proR® rty °* Arran James Craig; that on tne same date he unlawfully converted a motor-cycle, valued, at £ll5, the property of James Smith; that on the he stole an overcoat, valued th ? P ro P er ty of James Neville wmte, and an overcoat, valued at £l4, tne property of John Thomas Patrick S?” r h and that on September 20 he unlawfully attempted to convert a motor-car, valued at £650, the property of Dorothy Pearl Attwood Faigan. Johnstone was remanded to October ffie ProSton O^e n r ding 3 rePOTt by Detective-Sergeant Alty said that ha< l been . employed by the carpet Manufacturing Company for More August 23, the f i A? broke into the office arid stole x s , pent tbe money on clothes. On September 6 he took a motor-cycle R?-?u + London J s l reet ’ rode it to New B sL gl lJ on and back to Christchurch, arid then abandoned it. On his way home from work about midnight on September 18 he wrenched a radio from the dashboard of a car parked in // e^ ry road and took it home. On September 19 the accused and a youth, who would appear in the Children s Court, went into the vestibule ' of the Roman Catholic Cathedral in Barbaaoes street and took two overcoats, one of which had been recovered, said ’ Detective-Sergeant Alty. The same • night the two youths took a motor- > cycle from Barbadoes street and John- 1 stone rode it around with the younger 1 boy as pillion passenger. They aban- 1 doned the motor-cycle in Armagh 1 street. They took another motor-cycle 1 from Armagh street, rode it to Adding- 1 ton and back and abandoned it. They ’ l« ie<3 r.,l° conv ert a car on September ‘ 20. lhe owner, who was in a hotel, 1 heard an attempt being made to start the car and notified the police. Detective Stevens found Johnstone and the other youth in Armagh street. They i were taken to the police station and . Johnstone later admitted the offences with which he was charged. He had < previously served a term in a Borstal < institution and had quite a list of i convictions. . SHIP’S STEWARDS FINED Michael David Vidler, aged 24. and ! William Ferguson Cuthbert, aged 18, i both ship’s stewards, pleaded guilty < to a charge that on October 2 they un- i lawfully converted a motor-car, valued at £5OO, the property of Joseph Beven « Mealings. < Each was convicted and fined £lO. Detective-Sergeant G. W. Alty said ; that residents of Richmond were < wakened aloout 3 a.m. on October 2 by 1 the noise of a car stalling. They saw ; it on the footpath and went out to > talk to the two men in the car. A l neighbour came along and the two men 1 ran away. It was found that the car belonged to another neighbour. Vidler and Cuthbert were stewards on the ship Port Napier which was due to sail ( on Tuesday. They had been to a party ( in Christchurch and decided to convert i a car to take them back to Lyttelton. ! Mr C. G. Penlington, for the shipping company, said that both men had ( good records. The master of the ship i was anxious that they should not be < lost to him and the Court might con- ‘ sider imposing a fine rather than have i the two men being retained in the country. YOUTH DAMAGES CELLS Rex Norman Pimley, aged 17, a ■ labourer (Mr J. B. Corbett), pleaded : guilty to charges that on October 2 : he was found drunk in Manchester street, that he wilfully damaged a cell : door to the extent of £5, and that he wilfuly damaged a cell bench to the 1 value of £2, the property of the Police Department. Pimley was convicted and discharged , on the first charge, and convicted and ordered to pay the amount of the dam- ' age on each of the the others. Senior-Sergeant A. B. Collinge said that Pimley was arrested for being < drunk and when he was taken to the Central Police Station he behaved in such a way that he was put into the padded cell. He damaged the padding on the door. He was moved to an ordinary cell, where he did more damage. His conduct was due to liquor. Pimley declined to say where he obtained 1 the liquor. Mr Corbett said that friends took : Pirhley to a hotel after a football match on Saturday. He had some liquor and . completely lost his head. He came from a good home, and his parents would see that he did not get into any more trouble. In the circumstances the Court might suppress his name. “This was a disgraceful business, Pimley,’’ said the Magistrate. “You had no business indulging in liquor and then, having had liquor, you caused this damage.” MOTORIST SENT TO PRISON John Reginald Taylor, aged 23, a bulldozer driver (Mr M. D. Hodgins), . pleaded guilty to a charge that while under the influence of drink he drove a motor-truck in Milton street on September 4. He was sentenced to seven days’ imprisonment with hard labour; his driver’s licence was cancelled, and he was disqualified from obtaining another for 18 months. Senior-Sergeant A. B. Collinge said that Constable H. A. Sayer saw the truck being driven erratically in Milton street. It swerved badly and a 10gallon keg of beer fell on to the roadway. The constable arrested Taylor and took him to the Central Police Station, where he was examined by Dr. F. L. Scott, who certified him as being unfit to drive. SHIP DESERTION Frederick Janotti, aged 35, a seaman and labourer, was charged with deserting the British ship Kaikoura at Napier on August 20, 1949. He pleaded guilty and was convicted and sentenced to imprisonment with hard labour for 21 days. Mr T. R. Woodward, who represented the New Zealand Shipping Company, said that the desertion had taken place before an amendment to the Shipping and Seamen’s Act on December 1, 1950, requiring the deportation of deserting seamen. Accused was therefore liable to imprisonment for one month under the old act. Mr W. G. P. Cuningham, who represented Janotti, said that he had been going under the name of Daly while working for the New Zealand Railways at Culverderi. He heard the police had a warrant out for a Daly, and he gave himself up. The warrant was for another man. Accused had already spent a week in prison. MOTOR-CYCLE CONVERTED Toby Robinson Taituha, aged 20, a farmhand, pleaded guilty to a charge that on September 25 at Christchurch he unlawfully converted to his own use a motor-cycle valued at £l4O, the property of Clive Maxwell Alan Glasgow. He was remanded in custody for sentence oh October 7. Senior-Sergeant A. B. Collinge said that accused had been involved in a collision with a car in Victoria street at 8.25 p.m. He had left the motorcycle and had made off. He was later located by the police and admitted the offence. Damage done to tjie motorcycle amounted to £2O. Tvlr K. W. Frampton, appearing for accused, said that the offence had occurred on a Saturday evening. It had probably been the result of over-in-dulgence in liquor when accused had been drinking with some friends in the Grand Hotel. “I would be prepared to consider

it, said the Magistrate, replying to an application for bail by Mr Frampton, “but I think two or three days more in prisop may impress upon him something which I may have to impress upon him when he is sentenced.” The application was withdrawn. REMANDED A man. whose name was ordered not to be published in the meantime and who was represented by Mr D. W. Russell, was further remanded on renewed bail to October 6 on a charge that he indecently assaulted a girl on September 25. Detective-Sergeant G. W. Alty said that the accused was electing trial by jury and Wednesday would be suitable for the Lower Court hearing. Joseph Eric Cornish, aged 42 (Mt E. J. Somers), was remanded to October 20 on a charge that on September 15 he assaulted a prison officer, Arthur Edward Blake, so as to cause him actual bodily harm. The Crown Prosecutor (Mr A. W. Brown) asked for the remand, saying that it was an indictible offence, and possibly the prisoner might elect trial by jury. The Crown would be ready to proceed on October 20. DRIVERS REMANDED

Garrett Fitzgerald, aged 25, an armour fitter, of the R.N.Z.A.F., Wigram (Mr W. F. Tracy), was further remanded on renewed bail to October 7 on a charge that while under the influence of drink he drove a motorcar in Hereford street on September

Victor John Joseph Barchard, aged 39. a commercial traveller (Mr R. A. Young), was remanded on bail to October 18 on a charge that while under the influence of drink he drove a motor-car in Riccarton road on October 4.

Victor Robert Blackburn, aged 47, a cartage contractor (Mr R. A. Young), was remanded to October 11 on a charge that on October 2 while under the influence of drink or drug he drove a motor-car in Colombo street. THEFT CHARGE Ronald Johnson, aged 19, a painter, of Wanganui, and Gj-ant Phillip Armstrong, aged 19, a labourer, of Wanganui, were jointly charged that on October 4 at Christchurch they stole two pints of cream, valued at 9s 4d, the property of the Christchurch Milk Company, Ltd. On the application of De-tective-Sergeant G. W. Alty they were remanded to appear on October 7. Bail was fixed at £lO in each of accused’s own recognisance. They were ordered to report daily to the police. (Before Mr L. N. Ritchie, S.M.)

FALSE PRETENCES Arthur Leonard Fisher, aged 64, who had previously pleaded guilty, appeared for sentence on a charge that on August 5 he obtained £2 Is from Samuel Rutherford by falsely representing he was G. Wesh, a member of the Woolston Workingmen’s Club authorised to accept subscriptions Fisher was convicted and ordered to come up for sentence if called upon within a period of two years, conditional on his abstaining from - liquor during his probationary period and taking out a prohibition order. “I deeply regret what was done,” said Fisher before he was sentenced. “It was only through drink.” “Notwithstanding the lengthy list you have, dating back to 1928—the last offence was on April 3, 1952—the probation officer has given you a fairly good report over the last period,” said the Magistrate. “I am prepared to give you a chance, but it will be your last one.” “It will. Sir,” replied Fisher. THEFT OF MONEY Ivan Andrew McEwen, aged 21, a driver, appeared for sentence on a charge of stealing a purse and £l6 in money from the dwelling of Ursula Susan Kane on September 27. McEwen, who had previously pleaded guilty to the charge, was convicted and admitted to probation for two years on condition that he make restitution of the money stolen, and that he bank money from his wages as directed by the Probation Officer. A - L - Haslam, who appeared for McEwen, said it was disturbing that the accused should be before the Court again, as he had been doing well on probation. McEwen would make complete restitution. The report from the Probation Officer was favourable and the Court might feel that a risk could be taken with him, imposing a penalty other than imprisonment. DROVE WITHOUT DUE CARE Ojars Lusis, aged 19, a labourer (Mr J. E Millar) was charged that on September 25 he drove a motor-car in Gloucester street while he was under the influence of drink.

Lusis pleaded guilty to driving without due care and attention in Cathedral square on the same day, and to not having a warrant of fitness for his car. The first charge was dismissed. Lusis was convicted and 'fined £2 for driving without due care L and 10s for not having a warrant of fitness. The police case was that Lusis drove erratically in Hereford street, into Cathedral square and along the main safety zone, into Gloucester street and Latimer hall. Police witnesses said that Lusis was not a bad case, but they would not have cared to be driven by him. Dr. F. L, Scott, who examined Lusis 10 minutes after his arrest, considered him fit to drive. DID NOT PAY RAIL FARE Hector ‘Wetere, aged 37, a labourer, pleaded guilty to a charge of failing to pay a rail fare of £1 9s 3d from Dunedin to Christchurch on August 23 and also to being an idle and disorderly person m that on October 2 he had insufficient lawful means of support. the j sec . ond J c . harge he was convicted and ordered to come up for sentence within 12 months if called upon on condition that he takes Offi n rU a ® „a lr ?£ te . d u by the Probation Officer and that he pays £1 9s 3d to On fh a ? E Department as directed. Un the first charge he was fined £2.