FOUND NOT GUILTY

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30055, 13 February 1963, Page 10

FOUND NOT GUILTY

Alternative Charges John Simons Edwards, a workman (Mr A. R. Cottrell), was found not guilty by a Supreme Court jury yesterday on a charge of breaking and entering with intent to commit a crime, or alternatively receiving a jersey, valued at £4, knowing it to have been dishonestly obtained. Mr Justice Wilson was on the Bench. Mr C. M. Roper appeared for the Crown. About 8 p.m. on October 24, the manager of the Aranul Service Station in Pages road left the premises with all the windows and doors fastened, said Mr Roper. When ha returned the following day about 8.15 a.m., he found the glass iecr door broken and the bolt forced. Someone had entered the door and gone through the urawers in the office. A two-piece suit and a jersey were stolen. The accused was interviewed by the police after he had been seen wearing a jersey similar to that stolen, said Mr Roper. The accused claimed he was given it by another man. but he could not remember this mans name or description For Edwaru«. Mr Cottrell said It was well known that Maoris were free and easy in lending and borrowing property, and it was not surprising if the accused had been lent the jersey. This type of borrowing often happened among Maoris. There was no evidence of how the persey had been stolen or by whom. The accused claimed he got it from a pakeha. said Mr Cottrell. He asked the jury to note that another man had been convicted of the theft of the same clothes from the Aranui Service Station. After the jury returned with its verdict, his Honour acquitted the accused.