Magistrates Court Gaol Sentence For Assault On Boy

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29227, 10 June 1960, Page 10

Magistrates Court Gaol Sentence For Assault On Boy

The night before his trial in the Supreme Court earlier this year on a charge of indecent assault, for which he was sentenced to imprisonment for nine months, Allan Kendrick Dean, aged 23, assaulted a 13-year-old boy in a Christchurch picture theatre in an action which was described as “near to indecency,’’ it was stated in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday. The accused, who pleaded guilty before Mr A. P. Blair, S.M., was sentenced to imprisonment for two months on the charge, to be served concurrently with his present sentence.

Sergeant V. F. Townshend said the accused, who had several convictions for indecent assault, was seen by a theatre patron to move and sit near young boys. After assaulting the boy he left the theatre and made off. When interviewed several days later he admitted the offence but denied he intended to indecently assault the boy.

Mr C. J. O’H. Tobin, for the accused, said an unfortunate fear ture of the offence was the age of the complainant, but the assault was not of such a nature as to affect the young boy. “The offence was an extremely mild one; it was only technically an offence and must be considered with the accused’s medical history,” said Mr Tobin.

“In the eyes of the medical profession it is not regarded as wrong, but as an illness,” he said. PILLAGING BY RAILWAY EMPLOYEES

’’Pillaging has been rife in the Middleton railway yards and has been causing concern to the Railways Department. It is a difficult class of offence to detect and usually some weeks elapse before shortages are discovered, and in addition all employees come under suspicion,” said Sergeant Townshend, when two former railway employees appeared on charges of theft of goods valued at £42 18s 2d from railway waggons. Peter Frederick Saunderson, aged 27, a traffic assistant, admitted charges of theft of socks valued at £2 Is on April 7 and a child’s jersey valued at 15s 6d, and receiving two electric blankets worth £2O 0s lOd from Rex John Sullivan on May 17. Sullivan, aged 28, a traffic assistant, admitted stealing four electric blankets .valued at £4O Is Bd.

Both accused were remanded on bail to June 16 for sentence. Sergeant Townshend said cartons containing the blankets and clothing . had been broken open by the two accused after being placed in waggons for dispatch to South Island retail firms. Children’s socks pillaged by Saunderson had been worn by his children and were recovered in a soiled condition. FALSE PRETENCES By representing that a car which he had purchased in March under a hire purchase agreement was his own unencumbered property, Alan Gerald Ridley, aged 31, gained £165 from Scrimgeour Motors, Ltd., by trading it in on a later model vehicle, said Sergeant Townshend. The accused pleaded guilty to the false pretences charge and was remanded to July 7 on bail for sentence.

Ridley had paid only £25 deposit on the original car, and had failed to meet later instalments before he traded it in, Sergeant Townshend said. DAMAGED TELEPHONE When William Hamilton Hill’s wife attempted to telephone the police during a dispute at their home at 284 Manchester street on April 12 Hill pulled the telephone off the wall, said Sergeant Townshend.

Hill, aged 41, a painter, pleaded guilty to a charge of wilfully damaging the telephone, the property of the Post and Telegraph Department. He was fined £1 and ordered to make restitution of £2 damage to the telephone fittings.

THEFT FROM SHIP Clarence Rudolph White, aged 41, was convicted on a charge of theft of two cakes of chocolate from a carton in the hold of the cargo vessel Konini at Lyttelton on May 26. He was remanded on bail to June 16 for sentence. CAR CONVERSIONS Norman Lemon, aged 28, was remanded to June 16 on four charges involving theft and unlawful conversion. They wefe conversion of a car valued at £llOO on April 26, a car valued at £lOOO at Clarkville on May 11, and a bicycle valued at £l3 on April 26, and breaking, entering and theft from premises owned by William Turner at Belfast on April 26. THEFT OF CAR RADIO

"While the Court must not be too cynical about such an explanation it is a fact that the story of meeting a man in a hotel who sells him something and who subsequently disappears is a very common one and very convenient for the receiver and the thief.” said the Magistrate when he convicted Arthur lan Creedon, aged 33, a road construction foreman, on a charge of theft of a car radio and aerial valued at £ll 10s between March 2 and 12.

Creedon had been charged with the theft or alternatively receiving the property. He was remanded on bail to June 16 for sentence.

‘‘lt seems to me that an honest man does not purchase goods from an unknown, or comparatively unknown man in a hotel.” the Magistrate said. WILFUL DAMAGE

After being asked to leave the Top of the House Cafe because of his behaviour and that of tw/ other young men, the defendant was seen to walk across the road and smash a radio aerial and mirror on the car of the proprietor, Douglas Bums Cromb. said Sergeant E. S. Tuck.

Roderick James Legget, aged 21. a wool classer (Mr J. N Matson) pleaded guilty to a charge of wilful damage valued at £lO He was fined £lO. Legget, after causing the damage to the parked vehicle, got in a car and drove off, Sergeant Tuck said. He admitted the offence when he was interviewed by the police. The police statement did not quite tally with what he had been told, Mr Matson said. Legget and « friend went to the cafe *nd the friend created a dtetuxb-

ance and he was asked to leave by the proprietor. An argument ensued but Legget was not taking part in it. He was struck by the proprietor and he worked out his annoyance on the car. THEFTS FROM HOUSE

After a woman had been talking at her front door to a man who was inquiring about accommodation, she went to the rear of the house where she saw a man hurry past a window, said Sergeant Townshend. It was discovered that some thefts had been committed. Karoly Kohalmi, aged 24, a workman, pleaded guilty to the theft of £4 5s in money, and a purse and £5 14s 6d, of a total value of £5 19s 6d on June 3. He was remanded in custody to Jfine 16 for a probation officer’s report and sentence. JOINT CHARGE Karoly Kohalmi and Tabor Pataky, aged 23, a fitter and turner (Mr B. J. Drake), pleaded guilty to stealing a bottle of gin sling, brandy, cocktail and two bottles of cider valued at £5 5s 6d. They were remanded to June 16 for a probation officer’s report and sentence. Pataky was granted bail. On Jupe 3 the police were making inquiries about another theft when they visited the room of the accused in a city boarding house. They found four bottles of liquor similar to that reported stolen, said Sergeant Townshend. The accused admitted to the police stealing the liquor when going to a party on the evening of May 31. They went to a side door of a building in Circuit street. Kohalmi went inside while Pataky waited at the door. Pataky was a first offender. FINED £3. For casting offensive matter in a milk bottle in a doorway in Colombo street on May 6, William Mervyn John McNally, aged 18. was fined £3. LICENSING CHARGES On charges of being fouhd on the licensed premises of the New Zealander Hotel after hours on April 8, Hector John McLean, John Wood Hill, Kathleen Mary Hill, Norman Francis Hogan, and Lenore Doreen Terris were each fined £3. Thomas Cunningham Malcolm, licensee of the New Zealander Hotel, was fined £l5, for selling liquor after hours on April 8. His daughter, Anna Campbell, was fined £2 on a charge that, being a person other than the licensee, she supplied liquor after hours. Mr W. F. Brown, who appeared for both defendants, entered pleas of guilty to the two charges. Herbert Joseph McCartier, licensee of the Royal Hotel, was fined £6 for selling liquor after hours on April 24. A barman at the hotel. Jack Chammen, aged 28, was fined £4 for supplying liquor after hours. Mr W. F. Brown appeared for both defendants and entered pleas of guilty to the charges. Barrie Gilchrist was fined £3 for being on the licensed premises of the Royal Hotel after hours. A charge of supplying liquor to a minor on April 24 against McCartier was dismissed. He pleaded not guilty. REMANDED On a charge of theft of an alarm clock valued at 19s ljd from Woolworth’s, Ltd., Colombo street, on June 2, Dennis Johnston, aged 59, was remanded on bail to June 16. George Robert Parore, aged 23. and Peter James Brown, aged 19, were each remanded to June 16. on bail, on a joint charge of assault on June 4.

On a charge of assaulting a police officer on June 5, Walter Allan Barber, aged 19, was remanded on renewed bail to June 16. Harold John Beams was remanded to June 16 on bail on a charge of obstructing Constable J. S. Hibbs in the execution of his duty on June 5.

Allan Aubrey Kennington, aged 35, who pleaded not guilty and elected trial by jury on a charge of obscene exposure on May 21, was remanded to June 15. ON LICENSED PREMISES

A claim by seven men, that they had all met at the Southbridge Hotel about 9 o’clock on April 14 for the express purpose of playing cards, was not upheld by the Magistrate, when the men appeared on a charge of being on licensed premises after hours. “The story is most unconvincing. One would expect them to go in the front door instead of the back. Evidence has been given that the bar had been recently used,” said the Magistrate, in convicting and fining them each £3. The men were Terrence Frank Mackrell, Colin Keith Maw, Noel Frederick Mcllraith, Albert Douglas Ridden. Joseph Noel Thompson, Thomas Hunter Thompson and Leo Martin Twiss. They were represented by Mr H. W. Hunter, and pleaded not guilty. Brendon Dunn, the licensee of the hotel, was convicted and fined £lO on a charge of aiding in the commission of the offence of being on licensed premises after hours. Dunn (Mr H. W. Hunter) pleaded guilty. Sergeant K. J. O’Driscoll said that he and two constables were parked in a car at the back of the Southbridge Hotel when three cars parked in the backyard. Shortly afterwards there was a commotion in the kitchen and on investigation a number of persons were found sitting or standing around the table. One of them said that they were going to play cards. THEFT OF CLOTHING

lan Basil Archer, aged 27, a soldier (Mr G. T. Mahon), was fined £lO on a charge of theft of clothing valued at £5. On seven other charges of theft of clothing he was convicted and ordered to come up for sentence within one year if called upon. Archer, who was appearing for sentence, was ordered to make restitution of £3. CARNAL KNOWLEDGE

Saying that the defendant was normally a thoroughly decent young fellow, the magistrate convicted an 18-year-old youth and ordered him to pay costs when he appeared for sentence on two Charges of unlawful carnal knowledge. His name was suppressed. Mr J. G. Leggat, counsel for

the youth, said that it was most unlikely that he would ever appear again. "Illis girl was very precocious, and I am inclined to think this was known to you,” said the Mafteteote and flo>

ing Norman Winfred Davey, an apprentice metal worker (Mr R. S. D. Twyneham) £2O on a charge of attempted unlawful carnal knowledge, and Noel Stanley Ward aged 18 (Mr B. J. Drake) £2O on a charge of unlawful carnal knowledge. PLACED ON PROBATION A 17-year-old girl, who was granted suppression of her name, was placed on probation for two years on a charge of theft of a skirt, valued at £5, on May 13. The girl, who was appearing for sentence, was not represented. She was ordered to make restitution of £5. INDECENT ACT Warning the defendant that If he ever appeared again for this particular type of offence he would go to prison for a long time, the Magistrate fined Raymond Charles Scott, aged 23, £2O when he appeared for sentence on a charge of committing an indecent act on September 30. Mr D. W. Russell, for Scott, said that he was willing to undertake drug treatment SHOPBREAKING "This is your first really serious crime,” said the Magistrate, in convicting and fining James Michael Hughes, aged 49, £2O on a charge of shopbreaking on May 26. Hughes was ordered to make restitution of £25, in default 47 days* imprisonment He was not represented. FINED FOR THEFT Jeffrey Lawrence Pullar, aged 31, a bus driver (Mr J. N. Matson) was fined £lO when be appeared for sentence on a charge of theft of a watch, valued at £4 ss. "I am prepared to accept that this action of yours was thoroughly out of character, but unfortunately this type of offence casts suspicion on other people?* said the Magistrate. He ordered the watch to be returned to Its owner when the owner was found. SUPPRESSION GRANTED "I am quite satisfied this was a deliberate theft, but because your' wife is in precarious health, yOyr name will be suppressed,” said the Magistrate in convicting, and fining a 35-year-old man £l5 on a charge of theft of a saw, valued at £ll5. Restitution of £35 was ordered. The man, who was represented by Mr E. B. E. Taylor, was appearing for sentence. (Before Mr Raymond Ferner, SIX TRAFFIC OFFENCES For six offences against toe traffic regulations, Barry Michael Lee was fined a total of £3l For giving false information he was fined £lO, and on three charges of having no drivers’ Kcence he was fined £4, £5, and £3 For exceeding 30 miles an hour ip a residential area he was fined £4, and a further £2 for exceeding 30 miles an hour without a safety helmet ’ OTHER TRAFFIC CASES In other traffic prosecutions brought by toe Transport Department offender! were dealt with as follows.— EMMing 80 adtaa aa Mur:

Douglas Ronald Chapman, £8; Leonard Douglas Eade, £4; Benjamin. Hosking, £5; Powhirl Love, £5; Charles Henry Ryder. £3; Barry Linton Smith, £3 (no safety helmet £2); Harry Maxwell Simpson, £3; Errol Noel Williams, £3. No warrant of fitness: Ivan Bruce Hines, £1; Brian Henry Johnson, £2. Failing to stop at stop sign: Desmond Robert Campbell, £5 (no warrant of fitness, £2); John Robert Willoughby, £3. Driving without due care: Norman Richard Leslie Cox. £lO and licence cancelled for six months. Exceeding 50 miles an hour: Mervyn William Jenkins, £3. (Before Mr E. A. Lee, S.M.) PRISONER ASSAULTED WARDER Desmond Paul, aged 18, a labourer, at present serving a prison sentence on. a charge of attempting to convert a car, was remanded to June 16 ter a Probation Officer’s report on a charge of assaulting Sydney Tew, a warder at toe Rollerton prison. Paul, who was represented by Mr J. S. Bispham pleaded iSt guilty. Tew gave evidence that be was tn charge of a working party of four prisoners. Paul wMs Übing a shovel to put stones into a trench while the others were using their hands. He told Paul to use his hands, but. Paul made a cheeky remark and threw the shovel at his feet. Witness told Paul to go to his cell and when Paul did not go, he placed -his hand on Paul's shoulder and said, “Come on, you are going beds to your ceU.” He immediately stooped down and grabbed me around the legs and attempted to lift Jne off the (ground. I was then struck on my shoulder and kicked on toy leg. °“e. of .toe other prisoner y grabbed Paul and told him to i«rve the warder alone," said witness. In answer to a question by Mr Bisphan, Tew said he had placed his hand ori the prisoner’s shoulder as a friendly gesture. (Before Mr E. S. J. Crutchley. SJd.) CHARGE DISMISSED "It is clear that perjury has been committed in this case as two separate versions of the incident have been put before me," said the Magistrate when dismissing a charge against Douglas Green, aged 34, a driver employed by_the Christchurch City Council, of assaulting Joseph William Groom on March 25. Green, who pleaded not guilty, was represented by Mr P. H. T Alpers. The incident allegedly occurred when the City Council Social Club was holding a dance in the Foresters Hall, Oxford terrace. ASSAULT CHARGE A man, aged 43 (Mr B. J. Drake), was fined £3 and ordered to pay a portion of the witness expenses amounting to £8 when he waa convicted of a charge of