Magistrate’s Court Four Years Imprisonment On 14 Charges

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29726, 20 January 1962, Page 14

Magistrate’s Court Four Years Imprisonment On 14 Charges

John Allan Brown., aged 28, a workman, was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment by Mr E. A. Lee, S.M., in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday on 11 charges of false pretences, one of attempted false pretences, one of credit by fraud, and one of theft. On two of the false pretences charges. Brown was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment, the terms to be cumulative. On eight of the other false pretences charges he was sentenced to a year’s imprisonment, and on the other to three months’ imprisonment. Three months' imprisonment was imposed on the theft charge, and on the charges of credit by fraud and attempted false pretences the sentences were of a year’s imprisonment. All these sentences are to .be served concurrently with the sentences on the first two false pretences charges. Brown pleaded guilty on December 21 to all the offences, which took place in Auckland, Putaruru and Wellington between November 23 and November 27.

Mr P. M. Joyce, who represented Brown, said that the accused had spent nearly eight of his last nine years in prison. The accused attributed the offences to the fact that he was pressed for money, and to obtain some he took the old and familar course.

The Magistrate told Brown that he had considered sending him to the Supreme Court for sentence. He was liable to preventive detention.

“I solemnly warn you that if you appear again, as you most certainly will, on a charge of false pretences, you will go to the Supreme Court for sentence,” the Magistrate told Brown. WATCHED WOMAN SUNBATHING

A man who knew that a woman often sunbathed on the terrace of her house in Rackinghorse road ' stole a binocular from her house so that he could observe her more closely, said Sergeant V. F. Townshend. Trevor Thomas King, married, admitted the theft of a bottle of whisky valued at £2 from the woman’s house and also the theft of the binocular and a green towel, valued together at £2O 10s. Sergeant Townshend said that King told the police he secreted himself behind a sandhill to watch the woman, and stole the whisky after he saw her leave the house. He returned to watch her again, and when she again left the house he stole the binocular and a towel. He intended to use the binocular from his vantage point in the sandhills.

Sergeant Townshend said the woman saw a man behaving suspiciously near her house, and took the number of the truck he was driving. Police traced him in that way.

King was remanded to January 28 for sentence. Bail was refused. THEFT ADMITTED

Pleading guilty to a charge of shopbreaking and theft of goods to the value of £194 from Allan McGillivray on December 21, Kevin John Adair, aged 18, unemployed, was remanded until January 26 for sentence. Bail was refused.

After a complaint to the police that a shop in St. Asaph street had been entered and goods taken, the police interviewed Adair and he admitted the offence, said Sergeant G. M. Cleary. The accused told the police he and two other persons gained entry to the shop by breaking a lock on a rear door. They then took the stolen godds to a city cafe and sold som'e of them. Adair had no previous convictions. PROBATION

Appearing for sentence .on a charge of theft of jewellery, valued at £9O, from his mother about December 28, a 17-year-old youth was placed on probation for two years and ordered to pay £5 towards the cost of the prosecution.

For the accused, Mr K. J. McMenamin Said the boy's mother had been concerned about his behaviour and was trying to bring him “back on the straight and narrow path.” The Magistrate told the youth that if he had any conscience at all he must have a great deal of trouble in sleeping at nights. “It is time you realised that your mother needs your help, not the worry and trouble you have given her,” the Magistrate said. STOLE PETROL

Pleading guilty to a joint charge of theft of petrol and cans, valued at £lO 19s, from the Caltex Oil Company on December 10, Arthur George Mann, aged 17, a workman, and Lyndon Henry Ritchie, aged 19, a workman, were both remanded on bail until January 26. Sergeant E. S. Tuck said that the youths were found on a road at the back of the Caltex Oil Company with cans of petrol in their possession. They admitted climbing a fence into the company’s grounds and taking the petrol. A further charge against Mann of stealing a petrol pump, valued at £3 ss, on December 8 was dismissed. He pleaded not guilty. He was represented by Mr R. J. de Golds. Mr D. J. Hill appeared for Ritchie. OBSCENE LANGUAGE

Soni Elia Martu Lakatani. an Army signaller, was fined £lO on a charge of using obscene language and £3 on a charge of wilful damage on December 9. He pleaded guilty to both charges. Sergeant Townshend said the accused was drinking in the bar of the inter-island steamer Hinemoa, and caused the barman to ask him to moderate his language He was eventually refused more beer. The accused left

the bar and returned with four glasses which he asked the barman to fill. The barman refused, and the accused threw the glasses to the floor and broke them. STOLE CAR PARTS

While employed at Scrimigeour Motors between November 10 and December 6. Rex Campbell, aged 19, now a coalman, took car parts worth £4B 15s and sold them for £l6 and kept the money, said Sergeant Cleary. Admitting a charge of theft of the parts. Campbell was remanded on baiL. until January 26 for sentence. BICYCLE THEFTS Josephine Martha Ann Toki, aged 19, admitted stealing a bicycle valued at £27 on December 23. She was remanded on bail to January 26 for sentence. Sergeant Cleary said Toki had told police she was intoxicated when she removed the bicycle from outside the complainant’s house. Allan Edward Faas, aged 18, unemployed, was remanded on bail to January 26 for sentence when he appeared on a charge of stealing a bicycle valued at £2O, the property of John William Strange. He pleaded guilty. Sergeant Townshend said the bicycle was taken from Worcester street, and when the complainant recovered it it was stripped of parts.

Roy McArthur, aged 27, a rubber worker, was remanded on bail until January 26 for sentence after he had pleaded guilty to stealing a bicycle, valued at £l5, between November 13 and November 28. FINED £lO

On a charge of stealing two dozen bottles of beer valued at £2 4s from Quill Morris, Ltd., on or about October 25, Trevor Phillip Pearce, aged 27, was fined £lO. He pleaded guilty. Sergeant Cleary said that after a complaint that lager beer had been taken from Quill Morris, Ltd., detectives interviewed the accused and he admitted the offence. His reason he gave was that he wanted to take liquor without paying for it. INDECENT ASSAULT

Derek Raymond Carson, aged 29, single (Mr G. T. Mahon) admitted having indecently assaulted a 12-year-old boy in the St. Albans public conveniences on January 13. He was remanded on bail to January 26 for sentence.

Sergeant Cleary said Carson told the police he met the boy at a 5 p.m. theatre session and arranged to meet him later at another theatre. The offence occurred when he accompanied the boy on his way home. SHOPLIFTING Ngaire June Davison (Mr H. W. Thompson) admitted stealing articles valued at £2 Ils 7d from Wool worths at Riccarton on January 8. An application for suppression of name was refused and she was remanded on bail to January 26 for sentence. CHARGE ADMITTED

George Tanner McLaughlin, aged 31, pleaded guilty to a charge of being idle and disorderly at Christchurch on January 18 and was remanded in custody until January 26 for sentence.

Sergeant Townshend said the accused was seen walking down Ferry road at 11 a.m. He was roughly dressed and unkempt. When questioned he said he had slept outside the previous few nights and had no regular job since before Christmas. He had borrowed money from friends when he needed it. NAME SUPPRESSED Appearing for sentence on a charge of theft from a dwelling on December 27 and breaking and entering and theft between December 1 and December 31, a 21-year-old woman, whose name was suppressed, was released on probation for two years on each charge and ordered to make restitution.

Mr L. G. Holder, who appeared for the woman, said she had an unfortunate family background. She was brought up in an orphanage and recent help she had given her sister had depleted the money she had saved towards her intended marriage in Australia. PROBATION BREACH

One month’s imprisonment was imposed on Henry Naeroa Grace, aged 26, a workman. when he pleaded guilty to a charge of committing a breach of probation. A probation officer told the Court that Grace was released from prison in Wellington on July 17 on probation but failed to comply with the terms of his probation. WILFUL DAMAGE ADMITTED

Paul Thomas Allen, aged 16. a factory hand, was fined £5 and ordered to make restitution of 10s when he appeared on a charge of causing wilful damage to conveniences in the Botanic Gar-

dens on October 8. Alien admitted the charge. TRESPASSED ON RACECOURSE On charges of trespassing on the Rangiora racecourse while a race meeting was being held there on December 16, Cecil Herbert Halligan and Michael James Hobcraft were each fined £5. SUSPENDED SENTENCE Hugh Walker Williams, aged 36, was convicted on a charge of assault on December 21 and ordered to come up for sentence again in six months if called on. He appeared on remand and was represented by Mr J. H. F. Macfarlane. LICENSEE FINED

William Donald Smart, licensee of the Imperial Hotel, was fined £5 on a charge of selling liquor after hours on October 13, and Hugh Parker Williamson, a barman at the hotel, was fined £lO on a charge of supplying liquor after hours. Both defendants pleaded guilty through Mr A. D. Holland. ON LICENSED PREMISES

Stuart Howiison, Bruce Delabere, John Michael Powell, and Donald Francis Tuffin were each fined £3 when they were jointly charged with having been on licensed premises after hours on October 13.

Graeme Michael Bogue was fined £3 for being found unlawfully on licensed premises.

Lawrence Clark and Archibald Wylie were each fined £3 on charges of being found unlawfully on licensed premises on November 17. MINOR IN HOTEL

Jacqueline Berge was fined £3 on a charge of being on the licensed premises of the Carlton hotel on November 25, being a person under the age of 21. YOUTHS FINED

On a charge of drinking liquor in a public place ,on December 1, Kenneth Charles Climo, aged 18, was fined £5 and had his driver's licence cancelled for three months. On a similar charge Ashton Clifford Salter, aged 19, was fined £5. FINED £lO

Allan Wallace West was fined £lO for neglecting to return Army property. He was ordered to make restitution of £2 5b 7d. DAMAGED WIDOW

Murray John Cassidy, aged 30, was fined £6 and ordered to make restitution of £7 for wilfully damaging a neighbour’s window on November 26. Cassidy did not appear. TRAFFIC CHARGE Raj Kes Gopi, aged 23, was fined £5 for failing to give way when turning from Worcester street into Woodham road on October 18. REMANDED

Dawn Rosalie Yeatman, aged 17, charged with burglary and shopbreaking at Rakaia on or about January 6, was remanded on bail until January 26.

Charged with unlawfully converting a motor-vehicle on January I, Roland Taniwha, aged 26, was remanded on bail until January 26. Thomas Joseph Kane, aged 58, pleaded not guilty to a charge of stealing a bicycle, valued at £lO, on December 2 and was remanded on bail until January 26. Eric John Prewer, aged 32, charged with assault at Christchurch on January 5, was remanded on bail until January 26. Charged with receiving property which he knew to be stolen at Lyttelton on December 29, Leslie Arthur Hanke, aged 37, was remanded on bail until January 26.

Clifford Jeffrey Leonard Humm, aged 18, pleaded not guilty to a charge of shopbreaking and theft on December 26 and was remanded on bail until January 26. Charles John Morrison, aged 29, was remanded until January 26 on a charge of receiving a stolen cycle, valued at £2B 10s, on January 11. His bail was renewed.

Rodney Allen Webb, aged 21, was remanded until January 26 on a charge of shopbreaking at Wellington on December 28. On a similar charge James Read, aged 20, was remanded to the same date.

On a joint charge of ware-house-breaking and theft on December 25. Frederick Charles Powell, aged 43, Frank Leitch, aged 43, Robert Courley, aged 25, and Alexander Hawood, aged 41, were all remanded on bail until January 26.

On a charge of breaking and entering at Rakaia on or about January 6, Brian Lloyd Jones, aged 20, was remanded until January 26. Bail was refused.

John Patrick Joseph Gray, aged 21, was remanded on bail' until January 24 on a charge of ship desertion at Wellington on July 7. Allan James Griffiths, aged 18, was remanded until January 26 on a charge of false pretences on January 9. Bail was allowed.

On a charge of breaking and entering on or about December 28. David John McCormick, aged 27, was remanded until January 26. On a charge of receiving

property he knew to be stolen on December 23, Frederick Ronald Carney, aged 31, was remanded on bail until January 26. (Before Mr A. P. Blair, S.M.) CHARGE DISMISSED

A charge against Elmer Noel Brockett, a Totalisator Agency Board agent (Mr C. B. Atkinson), of accepting a bet from a minor at New Brighton on November 18 was dismissed. Brockett pleaded not guilty. Constable G. Elvin said he saw Gordon Walton Cole purchasing tickets at the T.A.B. When questioned by the witness, Cole said he was aged 18. The witness said he then interviewed Brockett, who admitted having sold the tickets. In evidence Brockett said that during the day about 300 persons came to the T.A.B. He did not remember issuing tickets to Cole. He said he heard from a customer that a constable had “bailed up a young man outside.” He assumed Cole was that man referred to. “This is an unusual prosecution and it is only the second time such a case has been heard in New Zealand. There is no decided authority on the case,” said Mr Atkinson.

In dismissing the information. the Magistrate said there was some doubt whether Brockett knowingly took the bet, even though the youth was apparently under 21. COSTS ONLY Gordon Walton Cole, aged 18, timber worker, pleaded guilty to purchasing four 5s double tickets on November 18. He was ordered to pay costs of 30s. FINED £l4

Colin Joseph Cairns, aged 17, an apprentice joiner (Mr M. G, L. Loughnan), was fined £l2 on a charge of disorderly behaviour at New Brighton on November 18 He pleaded not guilty. Cairns pleaded guilty to drinking in a public place while a minor, and purchasing intoxicating liquor on the same date. He was fined £1 on each charge. “It is about time you started to grow up and stopped behaving like a barbarian. At your age you should keep away from drink and be doing a decent day's work,” the Magistrate said. Leonard Hampton Duffield, proprietor of the Pier tearooms, said that Cairns with two companions barged into the kitchen, yelling and screaming. They had been drinking, and Cairns threatened to "knock his block off "

Cairns said he had been playing the juke-bo-x bmpnly one recording when he put a in the machine. He sal® he asked for sixpence back and this caused an argument. He left when he was given the sixpence CHARGE DISMISSED

“Although I have not the slightest sympathy for the accused, he is entitled to justice and the benefit of the doubt,” said the Magistrate when he dismissed a charge against Richard Bernard McKernan, aged 39, a freezing worker, of assaulting his wife, Daphne McKenzie McKernan. on November 14. McKernan denied the charge and was represented by Mr N. G. Hattaway.

In evidence McKernan said he did not assault his wife but broke up a fight between her and another woman, Marjorie Dommisse. whom he had brought to the house. “You were stupidly provoking your wife when you took your mistress into the house.” the Magistrate told McKernan. (Before Mr E. S. T. Crutchley, S.M.) CHARGE AMENDED A charge against John Vincent Bryson of dangerous driving in Ferry road on October 15 was amended to a charge of negligent driving. On the amended charge, to

which Bryson pleaded not guilty, a conviction was entered, and he was fined £7 10s and his driver's licence was cancelled for one year. Further charges of failing to stop after an accident and failing to ascertain if anyone was injured in an accident were dismissed. The case continued yesterday after part of the evidence had been heard the previous day. Bryson denied all charges.

The defendant and two witnesses for the defence were deaf, and the defendant’s brother acted as an interpreter.