Supreme Court Lyttelton Schooner Conversion Brings Gaol Term

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29766, 8 March 1962, Page 12

Supreme Court Lyttelton Schooner Conversion Brings Gaol Term

Robert Janies Barnett, aged 27, a marine engineer, was gaoled for three yeans and a half by Mr Justice Macarthur in the Supreme Court yesterday when he appeared for sentence on a charge of converting the schooner Kotiti, valued at £3OOO, at Lyttelton on February 11. He was also sentenced to imprisonment for three years, to be served concurrently with the other term, on a charge of false preteneces by obtaining from James Coulter Pateman a car valued at £725, and £lBO in money, by representing that a Jaguar car valued at £9OO was his own unencumbered property. He had been found guilty of this offence by a jury on February 19. He was gaoled for two years on a charge of theft by failing to account for the proceeds of sale of a car, to which he had pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court, for six months for theft of a radio receiver, valued at £25, for six months for the theft of a dinghy valued at £4O, and for six months for converting a dinghy valued at £2O. AU sentences are concurrent.

Imposing sentence, his Honour said the accused's actions not only Involved the owner of the schooner in considerable expense but cost the Government some thousands of pounds in conducting a full-scale air and sea search to apprehend him. He was liable to seven years’ imprisonment for the offence. His Honour said the series of crimes apparently began in June last year, when the accused was in need of money and resorted to false pretences to get it. On the eve of his trial in the Supreme Court on this charge he absconded and converted the schooner. His Honour said it was not the first tune the accused had faced charges of conversion, and his previous offence at Dunedin in 1957 involved a launch valued at £12,500.

The prison sentences on the present charges must be for a substantial term to deter the accused, and yet such that they would allow him to return to his wife and family still as a young man with the opportunity of becoming a useful citizen, his Honour said. Counsel fer Accused Mr A. D. Holland, for the accused, said the accused was in financial difficulties, and on the eve of his scheduled trial in the Supreme Court on the false pretences change on February 12, he panicked. He did not have the money to pay for the trial and decided to convert the schooner. He submitted that it was not a premeditated theft. His Honour referred to the fact that the accused had twice previously converted boats. Mr Holland said that one occasion was after the accused escaped from Borstal and the other after domestic trouble with his wife. These offences tended to support the fact that in a state of panic the accused decided to convert a boat and take to the sea.

Mr Holland said that the damage caused the schooner did not result from wilfulness or carelessness by the accused. It was caused when the naval launch drew alongside to apprehend the accused and his two companions. Other Offences Referring to the other charges of theft by failing to account, and false pretences, Mr Holland said the accused still maintained that he owned a converted naval craft valued at £6OOO in Australia, and that he had purchased it from proceeds of charter work. He had been unable to get an import permit for it, or sell it and bring the money into New Zealand. At the time he sold the

car which was the subject of the false pretences charge, the accused had arranged to

go to Australia with a crew and sail the boat back. He then intended to mortgage it and pay off the finance company which undertook the purchase agreement on the car. Had he been able to bring the boat back there would have been no charge. He cut short his trip and returned to New Zealand, where he was arrested on the charge of false pretences. Mr Holland referred to the accused as an “adventurer

who gets himself mixed up in trouble.” He said the probation officer’s report showed that he was a good worker when he settled down, and was capable of earning good wages. His present employer spoke highly of him. Mr C. M. Roper, for the Crown, said the accused had a tendency to involve innocent persons in his criminal activities and betray those who put their trust in him. The two men involved in the accused's escape in the Kotiti believed he had the right to sail it to Auckland. The ac-

cueed's actions inevitably led to great inconvenience and expense to others, particularly so in the case of the conversion of the schooner.

Again Remanded For Sentence

A claims assessor formerly employed by the South Island Motor Union Mutual Insurance Association was further remanded in custody for sentence tomorrow when he appeared before Mr Justice Macarthur in the Supreme Court yesterday. The accused, Richard Francis Rutledge, aged 26. is awaiting sentence on five charges of theft of cheques amounting to £523 10s from the association between February 2 and August 4 last year. He had been found guilty of the charges by a jury on February 22. His Honour said there was a further matter involving the accused in the Magistrate's Court tomorrow morning. He proposed not to impose sentence until this matter had been dealt with. Mr R. G. Blunt, for the accused, consented to the remand.