Magistrates Court £2 FINE FOR KEEPING DUCKS IN CAPTIVITY

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28936, 2 July 1959, Page 18

Magistrates Court £2 FINE FOR KEEPING DUCKS IN CAPTIVITY

The defendant had obtained no authority from the North Canterbury Acclimatisation Society to have the ducks in his possession, and he therefore must be convicted, said Mr N. M. Izard, S.M., when convicting Richard Henry Bates, licensee of the Mandeville Hotel, Kaiapoi, on a charge of having in his possession four live grey ducks on February 23. The Magistrate delivered his reserved judgment in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday. Bates was fined £2. The charge was heard on June 24 when Bates, who was represented by Mr J. G. Leggat, pleaded not guilty. “The ducklings waddled intp the defendant’s premises from the wild life state and were retained there with his knowledge and consent for seven weeks before they were seen by the informant,” the Magistrate said. "I think that constitutes possession. I am unable to distinguish between the possession of a dead bird and the possession of live ducklings restrained in the way these were.

“Had the defendant intended to retain the ducks for their own protection from predators, it would have been an easy matter to ask the acclimatisation society for authority to do so,” said the Magistrate. “People must realise that they retain wild life at their own peril.” Mr P. T. Mahon prosecuted for the acclimatisation society.

(Before Mr A. P. Blair, S.M.) INDECENT LANGUAGE Henry Charles Irwin, aged 73, retired, was fined £1 for using indecent language on the Christchurch Railway Station on June 30. He pleaded guilty. At 7 o’clock the previous evening a sergeant heard the defendant use the language complained of when standing outside the waiting room at the railway station, said Sergeant V. F. Townshend. It was said in a loud voice and was repeated. Two women were standing nearby at the timfe. The defendant, who was a well-known character round town had not been in trouble for nine years. NO INCOME RETURNS Ivan Major Martin Illing, a painter and paperhanger (Mr B. A. Barren, who pleaded guilty to five charges of failing to make returns of income in the years 1952 to 1956, was fined a total of £l2.

A warning letter had been sent to the defendant, but there was no response, said Mr W. A. Raymond, who prosecuted for the Department of Inland Revenue. Illing was fined £2 on the first three charges and £3 on the two remaining charges. Plaza Confectioners, Ltd., milkbar proprietors, whose manager pleaded not guilty to a charge T of failing to furnish a return of income on or before July 7,- 1953. was convicted and fined £2. The manager said the necessary information had been forwarded to the accountants with the instruction to file a return. The following were fined on charges of failing to make returns of income: Robert Carrington. £5; Custom Finance Corporation, £2; Clifford David Buckett. £3; P. W. Foster, Ltd..

£3; Farmers Distributing Company, Ltd., £2; George (E. W.) and Green, Ltd., £3; Steam Cleaning and Spray Painting Company, Ltd., £3. BUTCHER FINED £3 For keeping corned beef, not in a wrapper, near cooked meat Murray Milton Hibbard, a butcher (Mr J. R. Williams) was fined £3. A plea of guilty was entered. The charge was laid under section 478 of the Food Hygiene Regulations which prohibited the keeping of cooked meat and fresh meat together so that there could be pollution between the two, said Mr A. Hearn, who prosecuted. An inspector wen» to the defendant’s shop in Colombo street and saw ham near corned beef. The ham was usually kept on a shelf underneath the counter but had been taken out to serve, said Mr Williams. The defendant had since discontinued the sale of cooked meat. The shop was a modern one and most hygienic and clean in every way. LEFT TILES ON ROAD The Christchurch Tile Company, Ltd. (Mr G. C. P. Beadeb was convicted and fined £2 for leaving objectionable materials on a public road. Before the charge was amended, the company pleaded not guilty to a charge of placing objectionable materials on a public road. F. Peek, an inspector employed by the Waimairi County Council, said that on April 15 he saw a heap of broken tiles on the edge of Yaldhurst road. Subsequent inquiries revealed that they had fallen from a contractor's truck. Later in the day the material was removed by council employees. Frederitk Thomas Foster, a driver, employed by the defendant company, admitted that the tiles had fallen off his truck. With another employee, he shifted the material to the grass verge. He intended to remove them when he returned later for another load. When he returned on the following day, the tiles had been shifted, he said. Mr Beadel said that the by-law was to stop people from placing rubbish on public roads. In this case the materials had fallen, and the driver of the truck had intended to pick them up later That did not constitute an offence, he said. “The way it appears to me, 1 could not convict the company on a charge of placing the tiles on the road.” said the Magistrate. “But I feel I should convict it for leaving them there because they were a possible scource of danger.” He said he would take into account the fact the company had paid for the cost of removing the tiles.

NO PERMITS William Henry Blackler was fined' £5 for erecting a work shed without first obtaining a permit from the City Council. Kevin Anderson, a builder, who pleaded guilty to a charge ol erecting a garage without a permit on or about April 30, was convicted and fined £2. REMANDED Allan Charles HHI, aged 19 was remanded to July 9 on a charge of failing to notify a probation officer of a change of address while on probation. He was allowed bail of £5O with a surety of the same amount.