Magistrate’s Court FINED £10 FOR HAVING OFFENSIVE WEAPON

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28822, 17 February 1959, Page 9

Magistrate’s Court FINED £10 FOR HAVING OFFENSIVE WEAPON

At 2.10 p.m. on February 14 the police received, a message that a drunken man was flourish- “«» stiletto-type knife Jn the public bar of Bonner’s Tourist Hotel in Moorhouse avenue, Sergeant V. F. Townshend told’ Mr N. M. Izard, S.M., in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday. Gustav Hegedus, aged 30, was fined £lO for being in possession of an offensive weapon in a public place and was convicted and discharged on a charge of being drunk in Moorhouse avenue. He pleaded guilty to both charges through an interpreter. Two detectives went to the hotel were there were about 30 persons in the public bar, Sergeant Townshend said. They questioned Hegedus, who .became abusive. He was taken to a secluded part of the hotel and when asked for the knife produced an ordinary pocket knife. The detectives noticed what appeared to be a riding crop protruding from the waist band of his trousers. When it was examined it was found to fc be a sheath for a stiletto with a blaffe of about 12 inches. Hegedus claimed that he had used the crop when priding horses but this was known to be false. He had previous convictions.

“This is a most dangerous type of weapon and the police ask for its confiscation,” said Sergeant Townshend, taking the narrow bladed knife from its sheath and handing it to the Magistrate, who flexed the blade in his hands. Through an interpreter Hegedus said he had only received the knife half an hour before the police- arrived from another Hungarian, Asked by the Magistrate what he was doing with the knife in the hotel Hegedus said he was showing the knife to another person. He was very sorry it had happened.

“I. warn you that we regard this kind of thing very seriously in New Zealand,” said the Magistrate to Hegedus. “I accept your explanation that you were just showing the knife to another person and because you have not been in trouble for some time you will be find £10.” An order was made for the confiscation of the knife.. BREAKING AND ENTERING When a woman returned to her home at 51 Fendalton road about 8.30 p.m. on February 9 she saw the lights flash on and off in the front and the back of the house. She saw a man’s bicycle in the drive and took it to a. neighbour’s residence where she telephoned the police. The house was surrounded with the assistance of neighbours and as a result two men were arrested, said Sergeant Townshend. The two men, Owen Leslie Pugh, aged 36 (Mr A. Hem), and Keith Duncan Campbell, aged'32 (Mr D. J. Boyle), pleaded guilty to breaking and entering a house by day with intent to commit a crime and were remanded in custody to February 23 for a probation officer’s report and sentence.

Pugh had attempted to escape by climbing a fence but was arrested, said Sergeant Townshend. Campbell did the same and waded through the Avon river. He was not arrested until 12.45 a.m. at a city rooming house. Campbell had been quite frank with the police and admitted meeting Pugh in a hotel bar that day, said Sergeapt Townshend. Campbell said they had then gone to Cathedral square where they got a bicycle. Pugh had 40 convictions for serious offiences and Campbell had 52 convictions. Both men were out of work at the time. NAME SUPPRESSED

A man, whose name was suppressed (Mr D. J. Clark), was convicted and ordered to come up for sentence, if called upon, within six months when he pleaded guilty to a charge of assaulting his 19-year-old daughter. The defendant’s punishment would be during the next 20 or 30 years of his life as a lonely man away from his family, said Mr Clark. He asked for suppression of the man’s name for the sake of his children. The Magistrate declined to dismiss the charge under section 42 of the Criminal Justice Act. REMANDED Gavin Anthony Taylor, aged 18, an apprentice carpenter (Mr W. F. Brown), was remanded to February 23 on a charge of driving under the influence of drink or drugs in Blenheim road on February 14. Bail was granted at £5O with one surety of £5O. Frederick Thomas , Lingham, aged 50 (Mr W. F. Brown), was remanded to February 23 on a charge of driving under the influence of drink or drugs on February 14. Bail was granted at £5O with one surety of £5O. Rita Doris Morgan, aged 43 (Mr G. R. Lascelles), was remanded until today on a charge of driving under the influence of drink or drugs bn February 2. Bail was renewed. Charged with obstructing the footpath, assaulting the police and resisting the police on February 7, John Donnelly, aged 20, was remanded to February 23. Bail was renewed. Brian Jesse Lee, aged 25, was remanded to February 23 on a charge of driving under the influence of drink or drugs in Yaldhurst road on February 7. Bail was renewed.

Clifford Roy Smith, aged 38 (Mr M. G. L. Loughnan), was remanded to February 23 on a charge, of receiving stolen property on February 3. Bail was renewed. , _ Mervyn Ross, aged 30, and Royston Dean ..Samuel Sutton, aged 35, both of whom were represented by Mr B. J. Drake, were remanded to February 23 on a charge of shopbreaking at Lyttelton on February 3. Bail was renewed.. (Before Mr E. A. Lee, S.M.) FALSE PRETENCES Robin Ewen James Kempthorne, aged 19, a soldier (Mr R. de Goldi), was ordered to make restitution of £l4 and pay witnesses’ expenses of £26 16s 6d when he appeared for sentence on a charge of false pretences involving £l6 at New Brighton on November 24. Mr de Goldi said that the evidence disclosed that Kempttyorne had set out with no intention of committing the crime. The fact that he had consumed nearly a full bottle of gin was entirely the cause of his dishonesty. The Magistrate said that the defendant had indulged in a great deal of exhibitionism and had taken liquor far beyond his capacity. He was satisfied that the defendant had taken the book and written out a cheque, but was fully aware what he was doing at the time. “If you have any sense of responsibility you will leave liquor alone in future, and won’t abuse it,” he said.