THEFTS ABOARD SHIP

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28794, 15 January 1959, Page 5

THEFTS ABOARD SHIP

Naval Rating Admits Receiving Charge

(New Zealana Press Association) AUCKLAND, January 14.

The disappearance of money from the pockets of ratings aboard . the survey vessel H.M.N.Z.S. Lachlan late last year prompted the paymaster to set a trap which caught James Edmund Walker, aged 24, an engineer mechanic, the police said today when Walker appeared before Mr L. G. H. Sinclair, S.M., in the Magistrate’s Court, and pleaded guilty to receiving £3O, knowing it to have been dishonestly obtained. The Magistrate remanded Walker in custody for a week for sentence.

The police prosecutor (Mr A. R. Austin) said that the series of thefts had been a source of constant embarrassment aboard the ship. The paymaster had obtained brand new notes, and noted the numbers. Shortly after a payout, a rating reported that the whole of his wages had been taken.

Later, another rating asked the paymaster to change one of the £5 notes. The rating said that he obtained it from Walker, said Mr Austin. Walker told the police that, while he was drinking in a city hotel, he was offered £3O for £lO. The money was “hot,” he was told.

Mr Austin said that £25 had been recovered. A naval officer said that Walker had not been in trouble before. His most recent character assessment was “very good.” He had been in the Navy for six years. Walker had nothing to say.