Magistrate’s Court Man Fined £200 On Bookmaking Charge

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29233, 17 June 1960, Page 6

Magistrate’s Court Man Fined £200 On Bookmaking Charge

Arriving at the home of Joseph Howard, aged 37, a freezing worker, last Saturday morning with a search warrant after complaints of bookmaking being rife in the Belfast district over a long period, two police officers saw the accused run into the house, where he hid the telephone in the diningroom under its stand and take the receiver off, said Sergeant T. A. A. Marson in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday. Howard pleaded guilty before Mr E. A. Lee, S.M., to a charge of bookmaking, and was fined £2OO. Leonard Kent Smith, aged 47, a freezing worker, who acted as an agent for Howard, was fined £75 on a charge of bookmaking, to which he pleaded guilty. Both men were represented by Mr H. S. Thomas.

Sergeant Marson said the officers replaced the receiver on Howard’s telephone and while they were interviewing Howard and making a search, calls were received and bets taken by the detective who answered the telephone. Some callers had asked for “Joe” and. had hung up when a strange voice answered the telephone, and a man later called at his home and said he “thought he might have put his foot in it.’’ A long list of doubles and other bookmaking material were found on the mantelpiece, and the accused had a substantial account with the T.A.8., said Sergeant Marson. He admitted operating in a small way, having taken only £l2 that day and £25 the week before. “However there was evidence that he had agents in Christchurch and Belfast,” Sergeant Marson said. When Smith called at Howard’s house while the police were there he admitted that he had placed £7O in bets with Howard the previous week. He received a commission of Is in the £ on bets he took. Mr Thomas said Howard admitted taking bets at his house but had made nothing out of them except on a few late bets which had been invested outside, and on which he had taken a small commission. The majority of bets had gone through the T.A B. in the usual way. Smith, who had collected bets from fellow freezing workers, had been the only person who had nlaced bets with Howard, said Mr Thomas. He said Howard had only had the telephone connected this year and could not have onerated for years as the police claimed. He had opened an account with the T.A.B. when he got the telephone, and friends had then asked him to accept bets on their behalf through his account. ILLEGALLY IN HOUSE Awakened by his wife’s screaming at 1 a.m. on May 6 Harvey Towner saw a man standing at the foot of their bed. The man struck a match and ran out of the bedroom, slamming the door behind him. and made off, it was revealed in evidence. Matthew Telfer, aged 21, was appearing on charges of assaulting Towner and being unlawfully on his premises in Charlesworth street, to both of which he pleaded not guilty. He was convicted on both offences, and was remanded on bail to June 23 for sentence. Towner gave evidence that the accused returned to his place an hour later, and when accused of entering their bedroom assaulted him and made off. Mr G. R. Lascelles, for the accused, submitted that he was so drunk that he did not know what he was doing, and had no criminal intent.

ASSAULTED CONSTABLE After refusing to leave a house in Tancred street, William Henry Goslin, aged 34 struck Constable W J. Agnew, who had been called by the owner, as he was being escorted to the door, said Sergeant E S. Tuck

The accused pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer in the execution of his duty. He was remanded on bail to June 23 for a Probation Officer’s report and sentence.

THEFT FROM WIGRAM Dennis Smith, aged 34, a carpenter, was fined £4 when he pleaded guilty to the tneft of a bag of coke valued at 8s from the R.N.Z.A.F. Station, Wigram, on May 1. LICENSING OFFENCES “There is no suggestion in this case that there was extensive aft/r--hours trading, and the sale was only an isolated one. ’ said Mr D H Godfrey, who appeared for Charles Frank Edwards, licensee of the New Railway Hetel. The defendant pleaded guilty to selling liquor after hours on April 7, and was fined £5. Edward John Sole was fined £3 for being found on the licensed premises of the hotel after hours. Donald George McNeill and Anthony William Pierre, university students, were each fined £1 for being on the licensed premises of the Clarendon Hotel when under the age of 21 on April 22. Pierre was convicted and discharged on a charge of purchasing liquor when under 21 years of age. John William Kelly was fined £3 for being found on the licensed premises of the Lancaster Park Hotel after hours on April 15. Graeme William Hawes was fined £2 for being in the Lancaster Park Hotel when under the aged of 21 James Bennett was fined £3 for being on the licensed premises of the Eastern Hotel after hours on February 23 ASSAULTED NEIGHBOUR

When Eric Albert Burke fell off his bicycle on the footpath outside his home in Levin street. Addington, on May 7, his neighbours laughed, Burke denied a charge of assaulting Albert Henry Wilson, his neighbour, but admitted swearing. He was convicted on both charges and remanded to June 23 for sentence.

The Magistrate told Burke that his conduct while on remand might well influence the penalty. ASSAULTED WARDER Fourteen days* goal was imposed on Desmond Paul, aged 19 (Mr J. S. Bisphan), who appeared for sentence on a charge of assaulting a prison warder at Rolleston, on May 25. SENT ILLEGAL LETTER For delivering a letter to an inmate of the Dunedin Women’s prison, between February 22 and 29, Daphne Margaret Noreen Mclntosh was sentenced to 14 days gaol. Mclntosh pleaded guilty. She is now serving an 18-month sentence for attempt) d i obbery ASSAULT For assaulting Aubrey Frederick Piner at the entrance of the St. James’ Theatre on June 4. George Robert Parore, aged 23 (Mr D. H. Stringer) and Peter James Brown, aged 19 (Mr R. H. Ludbrook), were each remanded in custody to June 23 for sentence. Both men pleaded guilty. Parore also pleaded guilty to being in possession of a spring bladed knife. He will also appear for sentence on that charge. i Sargeant Tuck said the Incident

arose after three men arrived in a taxi at the entrance of the theatre. There was an argument about paying the fare, and Piner called two constables.

The fare was eventually settled in the office o( the theatre. But. meanwhile, Parore and Brown waited in the foyer. As Piner came down the steps, Parore struck him on the back of the neck, knocking him down. The two men then fell on him and assaulted him. Later, at the police station, a spring-bladed knife was found on Parore's person. said Sargeant Tuck. “I am not suggesting he attempted to use it.” he added. DISORDERLY BEHAVIOUR Admitting he had tried to stop two girls leaving the gates of the Botanic Gardens on April 25, Rex Campbell was fined £5 for disorderly behaviour. Sargeant Tuck said a nearby constable had seen Campbell step out in front of the girls. When they moved to one side, he also moved. CONVERTED CAR Norman Lemon, aged 28 (Mr B. J. Drake), denied unlawfully taking a car, valued at £lOOO, from a garage owned by Alex Stanley James Titheridge at Clarkvilie between May 10 and 11. On that and four other charges Lemon was remanded to today for sentence. He had 44 previous convictions, said Sergeant Marson. Constable I. P. McAteer said he was on duty in lower Colombo street about 4.5 a.m. on May 11. Seeing an approaching car. he mistook it for an expected patrol car. He stepped out on to the road, flashed his torch, but it was not until the car was quite close that he realised his mistake. But as the car went past he recognised Lemon, whom he had spoken to on another occasion.

His evidence that Lemon was wearing a dark polo-necked jersey and a peaked cap was corroborated by two other policemen who said they saw Lemon later that day. Lemon pleaded guilty to stealing petrol from a contractor in Harewood road; breaking and entering a shop at Belfast and stealing chocolates and cigarettes valued at £9 14s; unlawfully taking a motorcar valued at £l3OO from 68 Malvern street; and stealing a bicycle valued at £l7 at Belfast. REMINDED On charges of false pretences Involving £270 on June 3, and theft of a wallet and contents valued at £5, Robert Brian Hay. aged 21, was remanded to June 23. Charged with obtaining £2O from the Ferry Road Post Office on October 2, 1958, by falsely representing that he had funds in the Post Office savings bank. Frederick Charles Greenhalgh, aged 42. a machine operator, was remanded to June 23.

Carl Cunningham Bent, aged 27 was remanded on ball to June 30 on charges of assault and being a rogue and vagabond in that he was found by night with an offensive weapon on June 9.

On a charge of unlawfully getting into a motor-car on June 15, Norman Charles Munro, aged 24. was remanded on bail to June 23 • Rhonda Mae Duff, aged 18, was remanded on bail to June 23 on a charge of theft of £l3 in money from Josephme Arthur on June 12. Thomas Moran Bolton, aged 46 was remanded on bail to June 23 on charges of behaving in an offensive > L at Heathcote and causing wilful damage of £lB 14s on June IX (Before Mr A. P. Blair, S.M.)

„^^ SSAULTED CONSTABLE There is a conflict of evidence as to what actually happened, but I prefer and accept evidence of the constable rather than the evidence of the defendant,” said the MagisR»Jh»r ln o^ C '; n \ l „ Ctlng , w a»er Allan nu- be n a <£ ed c l9 'r, a factory worker ?? r P ' r G ' s - p enlington), on a charge of assault on a constable on June 6.

Barber, who was also convicted on charges of resisting the police and using obscene language, was remanded on bail to June 23 for a Probation Officer’s report and sentence Barber pleaded not guilty to all charges. CHARGE DISMISSED A charge against Harold John Beams, aged 19, a workman (Mr H. S. Thomas), of wilfully obstructing Constable J. S. Hibbs in the execution of his duty was dismissed.

THEFT OF CLOCK In explaining to the police how he came to have a clock In his possession, Dennis Johnston, aged 59, a retired workman, said that he was passing the door of a shop when a clock came flying out of the door and landed at his feet. Johnston (Mr B. J. Drake), was charged with theft of a clock, valued at 19s lid, on June 2, the property of Woolworths, Ltd. He was convicted and remanded on bail to June 23, for a Probation Officer’s report and sentence. He pleaded not guilty. Mr Drake submitted that Johnston was under the Influence of alcohol and did not have any intention of depriving Woolworths of their property GAOL FOR THEFT “Pillaging is rife in the Lyttelton yard, but it is a difficult thing to detect and all employees come under suspicion,” said the Magistrate, when two men appeared for sentence on charges of theft at Lyttelton between January 1 and June 1. The men, Peter Frederick Saunderson, aged 27. and Rex John Sullivan, aged 28. who were represented by Mr R. G. Blunt, were each sentenced to one month’s Imprisonment. to be followed by one year’s probation. CORRECTIVE TRAINING ' Saying that Karoly Kohalmi, aged 24, was leading an unstable life, the Magistrate sentenced him to corrective training when he appeared for sentence on two charges of theft, and one joint charge of theft. “Since 1958. you have had six convictions for theft, and four for false pretences. Probation has been of no benefit to you,” said the Magistrate. Tibor Pataky, aged 23 (Mr B. J. Drake), was fined £2O and placed on probation for one year when ■ he appeared for sentence on a joint charge of “ISOLATED OFFENCE” “This is an isolated offence in vour life and your medical condition was a contributing factor, but the Court would be failing in its duty if it did not send you to prison,” said the Magistrate to Clarence Rudolph White, aged 41. in sentencing him to seven days' imprisonment. Wbl(e. who was represented by Mr R. J. de Gold!, was appearing for sentence on a charge of theft, valued ?t ss. commltteed at Lyttelton on May 26.

FINED £29 FOR THEFT CHARGE "The defendant is reliable, honest and trusted and has settled down to a new way of life,” said Mr D. H. Stringer, counsel for Arthur lan Creedon, aged 33. Creedon, who was appearing for sentence on charges of theft and receiving stolen goods, was fined £2O. An order was made for the return of the stolen property. LICE-INFESTED SHEEP For exposing lice-infested sheep at the Addington Saleyards on May 18, D. C. Anderson was convicted, and fined £5. TRAFFIC CASES ■ In prosecutions brought by the Transport Department, offenders were dealt with as follows. Exceeding heavv traffic licence: B. J. Hale. Ltd., £5 (exceeding axle weight for class of road, two charges £3 on each). _ Exceed'ng a v le r^ str 2 < ;^ on _. on bridge: W. A. Habgood. Ltd., £5. Insufficient lights: Lester Gerald Gibson. £3. u_„». Exceeding 30 miles an Maurice Dixon Kerr, £7; William A Lunev. £8: Gr»ham Francis Rhodes. £7: Barrv Lionel Sh’W. «*•, George Mervyn Timms. £5, Barry M SS.» w».i 11 .n h *. | heavy motor-vehicle: Ronald Stepn day £< (no warrant of fitneaa, £Z).