MAGISTRATE’S COURT

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29268, 28 July 1960, Page 11

MAGISTRATE’S COURT

WEDNESDAY (Before Mr E. J. Crutchley, S.M.) THEFT FROM HOTEL ~ After drinking in the Zetland Hotel on July 14 Brian James Everett, aged 23, a steward employed by another city hotel, stole a suitcase containing women's clotting and accessories worth £45 which had been left in the passage-way, said Sergeant S. Byers. The accused, who pleaded guilty to the theft, was fined £2O. He was also ordered to make restitution of £lO for a nylon jacket which he told the police he had sent to a friend in England. BANKRUPTCY BREACH Russell George Cairns, who, it was stated, had been in a big way in business as a building contractor—with contracts for £21,000 in 18 months—was fined £lO when he pleaded guilty to a breach of the Bankruptcy Act in that he had failed to keep proper books of account. Mr I. C. J. Polson, for the Official Assignee, said the defendant was adjudged bankrupt in 1959. His books were found to be “by no means sufficient,” and his bank statement and cheque butts were incomplete. He had no record of some of his transactions. The defendant pleaded ignorance and ill-health at the time as the cause of his committing the offence. He said he considered he had kept the books sufficiently before the bankruptcy. BREACH OF COUNCIL BY-LAWS A part-time motor mechanic, Henry Taylor, was fined £3 for changing the use of his premises at 62 Cox street when he did not have a permit to do so. The defendant, who was represented by Mr B. A. Barrer, pleaded not guilty to the charge. Evidence for the Christchurch City Council (Mr A. Hearn) which brought the prosecution was that the defendant had used his garage for commercial purposes by undertaking repair work. A City Council building inspector had found the garage to be stocked with spare parts and motor accessories, and machinery. Two cars and a truck were parked outside on the roadway. There were eight wrecked cars at the rear of the garage, and the defendant had a sign erected. He had been warned twice previously about carrying on commercial dealings. The defendant, in evidence, said the only way he could earn a living and look after his mother at the same time was by doing repair work in his garage. NO TAX RETURNS John Charles Partleton, a hairdresser, was fined £3 on each of two charges of failing to furnish returns of income for the years ended June 7, 1958, and 1959, For failing to furnish income returns for the year ending June, 1959, other offenders were fined as follows: James G. Nutbrown, a carrier, £5; Edmund George Power, a contractor, £5; Timothy Patrick O’Gorman, a tubular steel manufacturer, £5; Maiko Kaputone Pahi, a concrete post manufacturer, £2; Agnes Ellen Percasky, £2. (Before Messrs F. J. C. Denn and E. L. Tinkler, Justices of the Peace) COMMITTED FOR TRIAL Ralph Henry Sinclair, aged 35, a railway surfaceman (Mr B. G. Dingwall), was committed for trial at the next sitting of the Supreme Court on a charge of receiving £6 10s in money and a cheque for £lB, the property of Laurence Peter Devlin, at Rangiora on February 26, when he knew they had been stolen. Sinclair pleaded not guilty and elected trial by jury. He was granted bail at £25.