MAN’S APPEAL DISMISSED

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 29002, 17 September 1959, Page 7

MAN’S APPEAL DISMISSED

Warning Issued By Judge

Telling George Clifton Bird that he was glib, and too smart with a pen when he had a cheque book, Mr Justice Henry, in the Supreme Court yesterday, warned him that he was heading for a sentence of preventive detention. His Honour dismissed Bird’s appeal against sentences totalling 27 months’ imprisonment on charges of false pretences by obtaining credit by fraud. These offences, which occurred at Auckland, Wellington, Masterton, and Kurow, involved a total amount of £747 15s 2d.

The sentences were imposed in the Magistrate’s Court at Timaru on August 19. “You are a nuisance to the business community, and it is the duty of the Courts to protect the business community,” his Honour said. Making his own submissions from the dock, Bird said that when he came out of gaol last time he had an inferiority complex. “The first couple of jobs I got in Auckland, I got sacked through being an ex-criminal,” Bird said. Bird said he hoped to go to Benmore if his appeal was successful and seek work, because he had the idea of paying back the money he had obtained. “You’re obviously a man given to this type of dishonesty. Yon need only a cheque book and a desire not to work, and you proceed to use the cheque book and live a life of ease,” said his Honour. “You’re glib, and you’re too smart with a pen when you've got a cheque book. “You’re heading for one sentence, and one sentence only, and that is preventive detention,” his Honour told Bird. “I’m warning you as to your position, and you had better take heed of the warning. “Your appeal is dismissed. It has no ground whatsoever,” his Honour concluded.