Magistrates Court Presented Loaded Gun At Constable

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29239, 24 June 1960, Page 18

Magistrates Court Presented Loaded Gun At Constable

A loaded shotgun was presented at Constable T. W. Hies, when he went to investigate a domestic dispute at a Waikari home. A schoolteacher had been threatened with the gun when he remonstrated with a man who pushed his wife into a ditch, said Sergeant T. A. Marson in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday. Peter Albert Wright, aged 24, a workman, pleaded guilty to two charges of presenting a shotgun at Constable Illes and Colin Morrison McDonald, a schoolteacher, on June 17. Although Wright had committed the offences under some incitement and pressure, his past convictions showed a degree of wilfulness. There was some menace in his repeated acts and apparently the gun was loaded, said Mr Raymond Ferner, S.M., when remanding Wright to June 7 for a report under the provisions of the Mental Health Act. Wright was crying in the dock while Sergeant Marson, who prosecuted, read the police statement. About 7.15 p.m. on Friday, June 17, McDonald was passing Wright’s home in Waikari when he saw Wright push his wife into a -ditch. Sergeant Marson said. He stopped and went on to the front lawn and called to Wright to stop ill-tfeating his wife. Wright went into the house and came out again with a shotgun held in the ready position. He walked up to McDonald and panted the gun directly at his waist. Wright ordered McDonald from the premises and he left immediately. At 7.25 p.m. Constable Illes, of Waikari, went to Wright’s home after he had received a report that there had been trouble, said Sergeant Marson. He was invited inside by Wright who denied that there had been any trouble. He said his wife was out in the yard. Wright went outside and the constable followed him. Mrs Wright was in the yard at the rear of the house. She was crying and was in a distraught state. The trouble had started when Wright had demanded the keys of his wife’s car and she said she did not have them, said Sergeant Marson. The constable was leaving the premises and was walking with Mrs Wright towards the gate when Wright came out of the front door with a shotgun, Sergeant Marson said. Wright was seen to break the gun but the constable could not see if it was loaded at the time. It was later found that the gun was loaded. The constable persuaded Wright to put the gun down and he was arrested.

Wright had previous convictions which indicated irresponsibility and drink, said Sergeant Marson. ' z

The incidents arose from a domestic dispute, said Mr G. R. Lascelles, who appeared for the accused. His wife had had a miscarriage a few days previously and it had greatly affected them both. Wright had a history of mental instability. There had been the domestic trouble in the household a few days before and there had been trouble with Wright’s step-brother. He had just “boiled up” after the incident with his wife.

OFFENSIVE BEHAVIOUR As a Christchurch-Lyttelton train drew into the Heathcote station on the afternoon of June 13 a man was urinating from the platform of a carriage and it went over 11 crates of celery valued at £lB 14s, making it unfit for human consumption, it was stated in evidence. Thomas Moran Boltan, aged 46, of no fixed abo-e, pleaded guilty [to a charge of offensive behaviour on a railway and was fined £5. He pleaded not guilty to a charge of wilful damage valued at £lB 14s and this charge was adjourned to June 27 for the Magistrate to consider Boltan’s defence that he had not wilfully damaged the celery. Desmond Aloysius McManus, statiorunaster at Heathiote, said he spoke to Boltan, who was under the influence of liquor. Boltan said he could not find a lavatory on the train, yet there was a lavatory in the carriage in which he was riding, said McManus. He reported the matter to the police. Constable W. J. Bagley said he interviewed Boltan and he admitted urinating from the train but he said he had hot seen any crates of celery. SUNDAY SALE OF SECTIONS Paramount Homes, Ltd., had dealt in the sale of sections at week-ends to provide this service to people so that couples could inspect the sites together, and so that prospective buyers from outside centres could travel to Christchurch, it was submitted when the firm was charged with Sunday trading on May 8. The company was fined £5 on the charge, to which a plea of guilty was entered. Thomas Sabina Pasley, aged 30, a salesman employed by the company, also pleaded guilty to a charge of Sunday trading and was fined £3. Both defendants were represented by Mr G. C. P. Beadel. Sergeant V. F. Townshend said complaints were received that transactions in building sites were being made by the company in the Dallington district on May 8. Police officers who kept watch saw several persons call at the parked caravans used by the firm at a subdivision, apparently to discuss business. When the firms manager was approached he said the business had been carried on partly because of ignorance of the law, and because many prospective purchasers could not arrange to consult land agents during the week. Mr Beadel said sections were set aside for prospective buyers after their inspection, but the ’ agreement for sale was not signed until later in the week. Since the incident the company had ceased conducting business on Sundays. ASSAULTED FEMALE “See the stupid things you do if you take too much liquor, it imperils the whole of your future," the Magistrate told a 30-year-old man ’ who pleaded guilty to assaulting a female on a Transport Board bus on May 21. His name was suppressed. The accused, who blamed the incident on his having taken too much liquor, was fined £5. Sergeant Townshend said the accused sat beside the woman and tried to take her handbag from her. ASSAULTED THEATRE MANAGER John Francis Aitken, aged 19, a steward (Mr R. H. Ludbrook), who the Magistrate found had played a

“relatively minor part’* in an assault on Aubrey Piner, manager of the St. James Theatre, after a rock *n roll concert on June 4, was fined £lO. He pleaded not guilty. THEFT OF SHOES A pensioner at the Wheatsheaf Hotel, Teddlngton, who had put his shoes outside to dry after they had been soaked by sea waters in the tidal wave on May 25 returned to find them missing, .and another pair in their place, said Sergeant Townshend. John Gough Newton pleaded guilty to a charge of theft of the shoes, valued at £4. He was fined £lO. THEFT OF GREASE GUN For theft of a grease gun valued at £2 3s 8d from the premises of Pyne. Gould, Guinness Ltd.. Darfleld, on May 14, Ronald Hornbrook Green, aged 38, a surfaceman, was fined £l2. He pleaded guilty. THEFT FROM HOTEL Rhonda May Duff, aged 18, a kitchen hand, was remanded on ball to June 30 for sentence on a charge of theft of £l3 in money from a waitress at Bonner’s Hotel, while she was employed at the hotel on June 12. She pleaded guilty. CARNAL KNOWLEDGE On three charges of unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl aged 15 years. Jack Watene, aged 27, a labourer was remanded on ball to June 30 for sentence. He pleaded guilty to all offences. YOUTH’S LONG LIST Gordon Herbert Roxburgh, aged 19, who was charged with casting offensive matter in Papanui road on May 29, already had 22 previous convictions including obscene language, disorderly behaviour, obstructing footpaths, and traffic offences, said Sergeant Townshend. He was fined £3. ILLEGAL LOTTERY TICKETS For being found in possession of Illegal lottery documents in the bar of the Gladstone Hotel on May 14, Victor Maurice Hooper, aged 53, was fined £l5. He pleaded guilty. DISCHARGED SHOTGUN ON HIGHWAY Bryce Jamieson, aged 27, a labourer, was ordered to pay Court costs when he was convicted on a charge of discharging a firearm in a public place. Jamieson had been driving along the Kimberley road. Darfleld, when he had seen two Canadian geese on the bank of a water race which ran alongside the road. He had stopped and killed the birds with a shotgunThe shots had alarmed the wife of a farmer who said that stock had been close by. The geese were the property of the farmer. INDECENT ACTS On eight charges of committing indecent acts before children and one of Indecent assault on a boy. Eric Francis Elkis. aged 38, a pensioner. was remanded to the Sunnyside Mental Hospital for a medical report. Elkis was single and lived at his parents’ home, Sergeant Marson said He received an invalid's pension and had done no permanent work for six years. He was well known to the young persons of the district who visited him to play cards. On some occasions he gave the boys cigarettes and money. He had convictions for similar offences. The accused was represented by Mr B. G. Dingwall. OBSCENE EXPOSURE “You have committed a number of offences which are abhorrent to society but you are a person of previous exemplary character and a good citizen. I am impressed by your endeavour to come to terms with this aberration of yours and you will be given an opportunity to redeem yourself,” said the Magistrate when placing a married man on probation for three years on three charges of obscene exposure. He was ordered to pay £l5 towards the cost of prosecution and was ordered to undergo medical treatment. THEFT AS SERVANT On a charge of stealing £5O from the Post Office when employed as a teller on September 1, 1959, Gordon Patrick Redmond, who pleaded guilty, was convicted and discharged and ordered to make restitution of £5O Redmond was employed as a teller on September 1 when a woman gave him £5O to place in her account. said Sergeant V. F. Townshend. He entered the amount correctly in her pass book but the deposit slip was not received by the ledger section and the amount was not entered on his daily sheet. The charge was in the nature of a washing up one as Redmond had served four months Imprisonment for two similar offences, Sergeant Townshend said. Redmond told the police that he had been drinking heavily at the time.

THEFT OF WHEEL A woman, who parked her car in Charles street, Kaiapol, on May 14 while she went to the pictures, returned to find that the spare wheel was missing from the back of the car. said Sergeant Townshend. Albert Edmund Tregerthen, aged 20, a labourer, pleaded guilty to a charge of stealing a wheel and a tyre, valued at £lO.

He was remanded to June 30 for a probation officer’s report and sentence. He was granted bail at £5O with one surety of £5O and was ordered to report daily to the police.

THEFT FROM CARS A man, who was seen getting into a parked car, aroused the suspicion of a person who was watching him and the police were called, Sergeant Marson said. Norman Charles Munro, aged 24, a welder, pleaded guilty to a charge of unlawfully getting into a car valued at £lOO and stealing 26 colour slides, a pair of gloves and a repair outfit on June 15. He was remanded in custody to June 30 for a probation officer’s report and sentence. REMANDED On a charge of false pretences, by falsely representing that a withdrawal of £2O made at the Ferry road post office was covered by funds in his post office savings bank account, Frederick Charles Greenhalgh, aged 42, was remanded to June 29. He elected trial by jury. Robert Brian Hay, aged 21, was remanded to Junp 27 on charges of false pretences, and theft of a wallet, driving .licence, and papers valued at £5. John Robert Hawthorne, aged 36, was remanded to today on six charges of obtaining credit by fraud. A man, whose name was suppressed, was remanded to June 30 on a charge of breaking and entering the countinghouse of the Petrous Tile Company, Ltd., in Langdons road on June 16. He was represented by Mr B. J. Drake. Bail was renewed.

(Before Mr E. A. Lee, S.M.) FIFTEEN MONTHS’ GAOL "The only year you have not been before the Court over the last 12 years is the one when you were in prison,” said the Magistrate to Eric Claude Smiley, who was appearing for sentence on three charges of theft and two traffic charges. Smiley, aged 38 (Mr J. A. Bretherton) was sentenced to a total of 15 months’ imprisonment. He was sentenced to one year’s imprisonment for theft of champagne valued at £6l 10s. and three months’ imprisonment on each of two charges of theft of raincoats, valued at £24, to be concurrent, but cumulative with the sentence for theft of champagne. On the twp traffic charges, he was convicted and discharged. Mr Bretherton said that Smiley had been drinking heavily over a long period, so much so that he had become almost an alcoholic. When he had been asked by another man to join in the theft of the champagne, he had succumbed because of his condition. FINED FOR ASSAULT Saying that both were involved in an entirely unprovoked and serious assault, the M a S* stratiß fined George Robert Parore. aged 23 (Mr D. H. Stringer), and Peter James Brown, aged 19 (Mr R. H. Ludbrook), £2O each on a charge of assault on June 4. The Magistrate ordered that £7 10s from each fine be paid to the person assaulted. On a charge of carrying an offensive weapon, Parore was fined £5. OBSCENE LANGUAGE Eric Albert Burke, aged 47, was released on two years’ probation when he appeared on charge* of

using obscene language and assault : on May 7. Conditions of his probation were : that Burke take out, renew, and : observe a prohibition order, and 1 that he not indulge in betting and i gambling of any kind, and that he ' show good behaviour to his wife and children. The Magistrate asked i the Probation Officer if it could be arranged that Burke make some allocation of wages to his wife, i Burke was not represented. ASSAULTED POLICE “Assaults on police officers are always viewed seriously by Courts,’’ said the Magistrate, when William Henry Goslin, aged 34, appeared for ( sentence on a charge of assaulting . the police on June 13. “I accept the view that this is out of line with your normal character, but . you have had a narrow escape from prison,” said the Magistrate. Goslin. who was represented by Mr E. B. E. Taylor, was fined £lO. FINED FOR ASSAULT • Mathew Telfer, aged 21 (Mr G. R. Lascelles), was fined £lO on a - charge of assault and £lO for being unlawfully on premises, when he appeared for sentence. CHARGE DISMISSED “In view of the difficulty of the defendant in getting evidence for his defence, it would be wrong to record a conviction against him," said the Magistrate, in dismissing a charge against Henry Ford, aged 57, a truck driver, of driving in a dangerous manner on the Main North road on April 29. Frederick Henry Farrow, a bus driver, said that he was following a truck on the south side of Kalapoi, going towards Christchurch at about 10 a.m. on the day in question. An oncoming car overtook two cars north of the milk factory, and the truck moved to its right, as if to stop the blue car from overtaking. The car just managed to scrape through. Later, by the new service station on the south side of the Waimakariri river, the truck pulled in behind a car that was stopping, then pulled out to pass the car, causing an oncoming truck to swerve to its left. Mr N. G. Hattaway submitted evidence showing that Ford was still at a shingle pit in Kaiapoi at the time in question. He said that Ford was first interviewed by Traffic Officer Wilson a week after the incident had taken place. SPEED DANGEROUS On a charge of driving at a speed dangerous on Blenheim road on April 16, Leslie Dunn was convicted and fined £l5, and his driver’s licence cancelled for one year. Dunn did not appear. OTHER TRAFFIC CASES On other traffic charges brought by the Transport Department, offenders were dealt with as follows: Exceeding 30 miles an hour: Noel Reece Andreassend, £5; Keith Raymond Burbridge, £4; Anthony Claude

Handisides, £4; Nola Mary Jamieson, £4; Russell Fergusson Lawrence, £3; Douglas John Lowery £7; Bernard Lewis Nicholls, £2; Mervyn Allan Smith, £4; Austin Dublin Smith, £4; Clive Banks Syme. £5; Brian Cecil Wroot, £4. Speed too great to stop in half clear road: Desmond Mathew Hardy. £3; Frank Clifford Raven, £5. Exceeding 30 miles >an hour in a heavy motor-vehicle: Robin Everard Alderson, £5; Ernest Henry Cattermole. £4. Breach of goods service licence: Burnetts Motors, threfc charges. £l5 on each charge. Failing to report damage: Mervyn Charles Greening, £3 (using motorvehicle before change of ownership. Failing to notify change of ownership: Basil George Steffens, £2. No warrant of fitness: Vansteenis Barthlomens, £1; Edward John Betts, £3; Neil Robert Chant, £1 (licence not affixed, convicted and discharged); Paul Adrian Gooch, £1: Maurice Edward Hockley. £3; Alexander Kahl. £3; Charles Joseph Lavery. £1 (insufficient lights, £7 10s); Neil John Mallett, £3; John Robert Manning, £2; Bruce John Manson, £1; Robert John Marr, £3. Parking in a prohibited area: John Gordon Young. £2. Failing to stop at a compulsory stop: Michael James Truscott, £3: Leemder van Wessel. £3. Failing to carry certificate of fitness: Canterbury Tractor Company, Failing to keep left: Peter Christopher, £5 (no warrant of fitness, £3). Exceeding 30 miles an hour with no safety helmet: Raymond Crozier, £2. _ Failing to carry heavy traffic licence: Harold William Jessop, £2; Noel Jarden, £2; Stevensons Motors, Ltd., £5. Cutting-ln: Derick Allen Manning, £4. No driver's licence: Robin Charles Mawson, £2 (no warrant of fitness. £l).. (Before Mr A. P. Blair, S.M.) FINED £25 “I do not accept counsel’s submission that the constable was tactless or over-zealous.’’ said the Magistrate, fining Walter Allan Barber, aged 19, £25 when he appeared for sentence on a charge of assaulting a police constable at Christchurch on June 5. He was fined £2 for using obscene language, and on a further charge of resisting the police he was convicted and discharged. The Magistrate said a conviction for assaulting a constable was usually followed by imprisonment, but because of the defendant's age. and a favourable probation officer's report, he would impose a fine only. THEFT Dennis Johnston, aged 59, was fined £lO when he appeared for aentence on a charge of theft of a

19s lid, on June 2, and £3 on a charge of obscene language. CIVIL CLAIM Decision was reserved on a civil claim in which Maunders Cordials (Mr J. G. Leggat) claimed £53 Is from Wright and Company, Ltd. (Mr W. T. Brown and Mr B. S. McLaughlin) in payment for bottles which belonged to the defendant company before it went into liquidation, and which had been collected by Maunders Cordials.