Magistrate’s Court FORGED SIGNATURES ON BENEFIT WARRANTS

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29245, 1 July 1960, Page 7

Magistrate’s Court FORGED SIGNATURES ON BENEFIT WARRANTS

Two Social Security sickness benefit postal warrants for £4 ’10« each were posted to T. H. B. Heffron, at 324 Hereford street, after he had been arrested on j February 8 and held in custody. | These warrants were signed and cashed, said Sergeant V. F. Townshend in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday.

Edward George Sullivan, aged 24, a workman, pleaded guilty to two charges of forging signatures on two social security warrants on February 12 and 22. He was remanded to July 7 for a probation officer’s report and sentence by Mr A. P. Blair, S.M. Sullivan -had 11- previous convictions, Sergeant Townshend said. Sullivan was granted bail at £l5O with one surety of £l5O and was ordered to report daily to the police.

THEFT OF SUITCASE One of a number of suitcases, placed in the foyer of a hotel before being taken to the railway station, disappeared, said Sergeant Townshend. Edward Arthur Larson, aged 48, unemployed, pleaded guilty to stealing a suitcase and contents valued at £24 10s on June i2l. He was remanded to July 7 for a probation officer’s report and sentence. Bail was renewed.

Larson had five previous convictions, said Sergeant Townshend. He had no explanation to give for the offence, except that he had been drinking.

Larsbn was represented by Mr G. R. Lascelles.* FINED FOR ASSAULT “I threw the accused out as he was making a nuisance of himself; he was making excuses for being in the house and said he was playing dominoes with our baby, who is only two,” said Lionel Drury in evidence when John Burnett Wilson, aged 59 /Mr J. N. Matson), denied a charge of assaulting Drury’s wife, Nola Elizabeth Drury, on the evening of May 11. The Magistrate convicted the accused, who, he said, had committed a “most offensive assault,” and fined him £2O. Mrs Drury said the accused came into her house after her son had answered the 'door and while she was getting her baby ready for bed. He said he wanted to give her husband a tip for the races, and sat on the couch. He then walked over to her, asking for a cigarette, and placed his hands on her. The witness she she. pushed him away and rang for her husband, who was at work. Lionel Drury said Wilson appeared to have had quite a few beers. ‘‘After a lot of pushing I got him out of the gate,” he said. The accused said he had been drinking before he called at Drury’s house to give Mr Drury a tip for the races. He denied having assaulted Mrs Drury. RECEIVING CHARGES Admitting two charges of receiving tools and money valued at £l4 6s lid from his brother, who is at present serving a prison sentence for theft, Arthur Leonard Wootton, aged 18, a driver, was remanded on bail to July 7 for sentence. Sergeant E. S. Tuck said the accused sold the tools* which his brother had stolen, to a secondhand dealer, and the proceeds were shared. The accused also accepted from his brother 3s lOd which was taken from gas meters which had been forced open. FALSE INFORMATION After reading in the newspaper about an accident half a miler south of Winchester in which a rental car was involved, a man who had lost his driver’s licence went to the police. It was discovered that the youth who had hired the rental car had used the missing licence. Sergeant Tuek said. A youth, aged 19, whose name was suppressed, was discharged without conviction under Section 42 of the Criminal Justice Act on a charge of stealing a driver’s licence valued •at ss, and Was fined £5 for supplying false information when hiring a rental car. The youth told the police that he had picked up the licence, said Sergeant Townshend. TAXI FARE NOT PAID After hiring a taxi from Cathedral square to Tovey street, New Brighton, on the evening of May 19, Reginald John Hills, aged 29, went into a neighbouring property after asking the driver to wait. He did not return, and after the matter was reported to the police it was found that he. had climbed the fence into the back yard of his own place,, ,to avoid paying the fare* said Sergeant Tuck. The accused .pleaded guilty to a charge of credit by fraud of 18s. the cost of the taxi fare, and was fined £5. IDLE <AND DISORDERLY Leslie Raymond Simmiss, aged 17. was remanded to July 28 under the provisions of the Mental Health Act for a medical report when he pleaded guilty to a* charge of being idle and disorderly, in that he had insufficient lawful means of support on June 28. Simmiss had a previous conviction for a similar offence on March 17, Sergeant Townshend said, CAR CONVERSION “I intend to remand the defendant a further week for psychiatric examination,” said the Magistrate when he heard charges of unlawfully taking a car. wilful damage, and theft to which a 17-year-old youth pleaded guilty. SHOPLIFTING CHARGE On a charge of theft of two packets of cheese valued at 2s lOd from the Self Help Co-op., Colombo street, on May 16. a 36. year-old woman who was described by her counsel as “suffering from kleptomania in its true form,” was convicted and ordered to come up - for sentence if called upon within six months. The woman, whose name was suppressed because of her medical conditioni pleaded guilty. SEPARATION ORDER BREACHES Simeon Zane Vincent Hart, aged 27, a rubber worker, who admitted two charges of trespassing on ’to his wife’s property during the currency of a separation order,- was ordered to pay costs on each charge. 1 THEFT OF SHIRT A 20-year-old man who admitted stealing a shirt valued at £3 10s from a fellow boarder was remanded on bail to July 7 for sentence. Interim suppression of .his name was granted. RUBBISH DUMPED ON ROAD A dry cleaning docket with a name and address, in a pile of household rubbish left on a road in the Waimairi County led to the identification of the person who had placed the rubbish there, said Charles Manhire, an employee of the Walmairi County Council. John Joseph McGarry, a metal polisher, who did not appear, was fined £5 on a charge of leaving rubbish on a road on or about February 14: FOUND DRUNK John James Murphy, aged 27, was fined £3, in default three days* imprisonment, when he pleaded guilty to a charge of being found drunk in Moorhouse *avenue on June 29, having had one previous conviction

3 for a similar offence within the last . six months. Murphy had 10 previ4 ous convictions. L ON LICENSED PREMISES . Neale John Cribb, aged 23, a driver, pleaded guilty to a charge q of being on the licensed premises of the Royal Hotel after hours on r*. May 7. j Poppy Gettrude Mason, who did not appear, was fined £3 for being,. - found on the licensed premises of . the Heathcote Arms Hotel after 1 hours on April 26. LICENSING BREACHES

Found drinking in the United Service Hotel on May 14, four RN.Z.A.F. trainees appeared on a series of licensing offences, for each of which fines of £2 were imposed. Travers James Beech, aged 20, Mervyn William Burgess, aged 19, Arnold Martin Goulding, aged 19, and Peter Vivian Wright, aged 18, each pleaded guilty to charges of being on licensed . premises when under 21 years of age, and Burgess and Wright also pleaded guilty to purchasing liquor when under age. LIQUOR OUTSIDE DANCE For having liquor outside the Ladbrooks hall when a dance was being held on May 14, Marshall Sheehan, aged 19, was fined £3. REMANDED James Wilson, aged 54, was remanded on bail to July 4 on a charge of attempting to. drive a motor-car while intoxicated on June 30. Charged with breaking and entering the premises of the Petrous Tile Company, a 25-year-old man whose name Was suppressed, was remanded on bail to July 7. Francis Lewis Gibson, aged 54, was remanded to July 7 on a charge of stealing a suitcase containing toys, a camera and clothing, of a total value of £23 15s. He was granted bail at £l5O and one surety of £l5O. Carl Cunningham Bent, aged 27, was remanded to July 7 on charges of being a rogue and a vagabond and assault on June 9. Bail was renewed. (Before Mr Raymbnd Ferner, S.M.) THREE MONTHS GAOL “You seem to be determined to go on with conduct of this kind,” said the Magistrate to Norman Charles Munro, aged 20, when Munro appeared for sentence on charges of unlawfully getting into a motor-car, and theft, valued at £5 2s. On each charge Munro was sentenced to three months’ Imprisonment, to be concurrent, and he was placed on probation for one year. UNLAWFUL CARNAL KNOWLEDGE “It is the result of quite unfortunate circumstances that the defendant appears in Court,” said Mr R, J. de Goldi, counsel for Jack Watene, aged 27, who was appearing for sentence on three charges* of unlawful carnal knowledge. “It wafc reasonable for Watene to believe the girl concerned was over the age of 16 as she does appear to be. This girl is of a quite loose character, and her character and behaviour is such that the police are taking steps to place her under proper control.” said Mr de Goldi. “I accept what has been said and the Probation Officer’s report is much in your favour,” said the Magistrate to Watene. Watene was fined £2O and placed on probation , for one year on the first charge, and placed on probation for a year on the other two charges. FINED £25 FOR THEFT Warning Albert Edmund Tregerthen, aged 20, that a further offence would almost certainly involve a gaol sentence, the Magistrate fined him £25 and placed him on one year’s probation, when he appeared for sentence on a charge of theft of a wheel and tyre valued at £lO at Kaiapoi on May 14. FAILED TO KEEP DOG MUZZLED Asked by a constable if she would tie up her black Alsatian dog rather than let it roam loose, Heather Me* Watt, a widow, replied: “I would rather go to prison than have my dog chained up all day.” McWatt (Mr C. B. Atkinson) faced charges of failing to keep a dog under proper control, and failing to muzzle a dog as required to under a Court order made on April 16. She was fined £2 on the latter charge, but the charge of failing to keep the dog under proper control was dismissed. Frances Ferriman, a widow, gave evidence of seeing the dog .running loose and not under control. “Every time I go down the street it comes out at me, jumping over, the fence. It does not growl or attack me, but its manner frightens me,” she said. “The reason why it is loose is because people coming In forget to close the gate,” said Mrs McWatt. “When it is off the chain my daughter keeps an eye on it.” “I cannot help feeling that .this trouble is going to continue,” said the Magistrate to Mr Atkinson. “Can’t you see to it that your client disposes of the dog.” REMANDED An 18-year-old girl, whose name was suppressed, was remanded under section eight of the Mental Health Act, to July 14. when she appeared for sentence on a charge of theft, valued at £l3, on June 12. She was represented by Mr M. L. Loughnan. TRAFFIC CASES On prosecutions brought by the Transport Department, offenders were dealt with as follows: — No warrant of fitness: William Leonard Alsop, £2; Alan Rodery Day, £3; George Charles Gordon. £1; Ronald James Graham, £2; Mervyn Douglas Hart, £1; Sidney Walter Hickmott, £2; Robert Jolly, £2; Jack Charles Lilley, £5 (failing to keep left, £5); Leslie James McClure, £2; John Warnock Mcllraith, £2; Richard Bernard McKernan, £2: Peter Anthony Marshall, £2; Allan Arthur Roe, £1; Kenneth John Stevens, £2; Albert Neil 'Diian. £2. Failing to carry heavy traffic licence: Maurice Edward Collier, £3 (no certificate of fitness, £2): Mtlchell Bros.. £l2. Failing to register motor-vehicle: Graham Alexander Nutt. £2.

Exceeding 30 miles an hour: Colin Douglas Hunter, £3; Richard Allan Roberts, £4; Robert Gilmour Wilson, <£3.

Exceeding 30 miles an hour in a heavy motor-vehicle: Spencer Grant Brent, £3. No certificate of fitness: Mervyn Nathan Cooper, £3. Failing to stop for traffic lights: Arthur Jeffrey. £3. Failing to stop at a compulsory stop: Amy Agnis Chapman, £2. Towing a bicycle: Frederick Noakes. £2.