Magistrate's Court Man Caught After Street Chase Admits Four Charges

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30116, 27 April 1963, Page 14

Magistrate's Court Man Caught After Street Chase Admits Four Charges

Brought down by a flying tackle in the Post Office Savings Bank after a chase along Hereford street, Elliot John Weston, alias Hector Alexander Moffat, offered no resistance, Detective-Sergeant J. W. Wooders told Mr A. P. Blair, S.M., in the Magistrate's Court yesterday. The accused, aged 29 (Mir D. H. Sitringer), pleaded guilty to four charges of false pretences in Wellington and Christchurch on March 28 and Miarch 29, and not guilty to one charge of false pretences. He was convicted and remanded in custody to May 3 on the charges to which he pleaded guilty, and remanded to the same date on the disputed charge. The offences involved the issue of valueless cheques for which the accused received a diamond ring, a radio, and furniture to a total value of. £123 2s 6d and money to the value of £59 4s 6d, DetectiveSergeant Wooders said. Goods and money to the value of £ 100 Os 6d had been recovered.

Although the accused had a birth certificate in the name of Elliot John Weston, the real Weston was a farm manager in the North Island. The accused told the police that he came from Shanghai, spent three years in a Japanese prison camp and went to Australia in 1948 after living in Hong Kong. He had a long list of convictions in Australia, and there was a warrant out for his arrest, DetectiveSergeant Wooders said. WOMEN CHARGED

Pleading guilty to four joint charges of false pretences on March 29 and March 30, Catherine Carol Tobias, aged 24, and Annette Heather Brokenshire, aged 20, were convicted and remanded on bail to May 3 for sentence.

Tobias was also remanded to the same date on a charge of being party to an offence of false pretences with Elliot John Weston, alias Hector Alexander Moffat, at Wellington on March 29. She pleaded guilty. Mr G. T. Mahon appeared for both accused. The accused arrived in Christchurch from Wellington in the company of a man named Moffat, DetectiveSergeant Wooders said. Brokenshire claimed she was given £5 by Moffat and told to open a bank account She received a cheque book and Moffat gave her three cheques which she tendered as payment for clothes in three city shops. “The clothing was for Brokenshire,” said DetectiveSergeant Wooders. “Tobias is a female impersonating a male and does not wear female clothing.”

The accused were interviewed at Temuka and frankly admitted the offences’ said Detective-Sergeant Wooders. It was suggested they had acted foolishly rather than criminally. Brokenshire had little idea of how to operate a bank account. DISORDERLY BEHAVIOUR A woman who threw a parcel of greasy paper containing meat at a traffic officer was fined £5 when she pleaded guilty to a charge of disorderly behaviour on March 18.

Tile woman, Mary Rhoda Johnson, aged 50 (Mr D. H. Stringer), was given one month to pay the fine. At 3.45 p.m. two traffic officers were on duty at the main gates of Lancaster Park in Stevens street, said Sergeant C. D. McMeeking. They heard a window breaking and indecent language being used, and they reported it to a constable. Shortly afterwards toe accused approached the traffic officer and threw the meat at him. When interviewed the accused said she was intoxicated and excited about toe interview she had had with toe constable.

Mr Stringer said the accused could only apologise to toe Court and to the traffic officer She had no money and no job HID UNDER BEDS

Night staff found two men hiding under beds on the balcony of Ward I at the Christchurch Hospital at 2.20 a.m. on February 34, Sergeant McMeeking said. Pleading guilty to charges of behaving in a manner detrimental to the conduct of an institution, John Garrick Ferguson Pirie, aged 24, was fined £lO, and Frank Donald Pankhuret, aged 20, was fined £5. Pirie told the police that he had gone to see a man with whom he had made friends when he was a patient a short

time previously. Both he and Pankhurst had been drinking, Sergeant McMeeklng said. Mr S. H Wood, for both men. said the hospital was, in some ways, a second home for Pirle. There was no stealth The men marched tn boldly. Although both had been to a party they denied being drunk. The maximum fine under the section was £lO, Mr Wood said. In view of some of the serious offences covered by the section. he suggested nominal fines. “Frankly, I doubt if the maximum fine is enough,” the Magistrate said. "Nurses and patients are entitled to protection ” RANSACKED HOUSE Charged with burgling premises at 211 Ashgrove terrace on or about February 21, Simon Patrick CaUauan, aged 21 (Mr G. T. Mahon), was convicted and remanded in custody to May 3 for sentence. Callanan pleaded guilty. Tlie accused gained entry by means of an insecure fanlight while the complainant was on holiday, said Detective-Sergeant Wooders. Although the house was ransacked nothing was reported missing. An application for bail which was made by Mr Mahon was refused. The Magistrate said that only in exceptional cases would burglars be allowed bail. ASSAULT Charged with assaulting his wife on February 27, Neil Howard MacPherson. aged 56, a shopkeeper, pleaded guilty and was fined £ 15. The Magistrate refused suppression of MacPherson’s name because he was not eligible. • If the offence happened again he would send MacPherson to prison. the magistrate said. THEFT AS SERVANT Ellen Mary Hensley (Mr D. H. Hicks), pleaded guilty to a charge or stealing £1 12s 6d from her employer. Woolworths (New Zealand). Ltd., on April 11. Sergeant McMeeking said the offence was committed at 6.15 p.m. in the firm's High street branch, where the accused had been employed casually for six months. Mr Hicks said that two children were involved and asked for suppression of name. This was refused, and the accused was fined £lO and ordered to pay restitution of £1 12s 6d. DELIVERED RIFLE Saying that William James Chammen had already received enough punishment, the magistrate convicted and discharged him on a charge of delivering a rifle to another person without a permit. Chammen, aged 19. took his brother-in-law's rifle and gave it to another person with whom he went shooting at Harewood on November 22, Sergeant McMeeking said. When Chammen tried to stun a rabbit with the butt of his rifle, it discharged, injuring him in the thigh. Chammen, who appeared on crutches, pleaded guilty. BURGLARY Smashing a window valued at £2O, two youths entered a Fitzgerald avenue tobacconist’s shop and stole cigarettes, DetectiveSergeant Wooders said. Pleading guilty to charges of breaking and entering the shop on April 25 were Brian Leslie Cleary, aged 20, and Donald Alexander Boyd, aged 19, both represented by Mr L. H. Moore. Boyd also pleaded guilty to a charge of taking a bicycle on April 25 and guilty to a charge of breaking and entering a fruit shop in Hills road on April 25. Both were remanded in custody to May 3 for sentence. Refusing an application by Mr Moore for a remand for Cleary under the Mental Health Act, the magistrate said: "We don't want to go cluttering Sunnyside up." STOLE T.A.B. TICKET A fine of £l5 was imposed on Garry Edward Thomas, aged 23 (Mr D. H. Stringer), when he pleaded guilty to stealing a T.A.B. ticket worth £5 18s 6d on February 28. Detective-Sergeant Wooders said the complainant reported the loss of the ticket to the T.A.B. and later the same day the accused presented toe ticket for payment. He claimed he had been given the ticket by a Maori named Tuki. Mr Stringer said a plea of guilty had been entered because toe person who had given Thomas the ticket could not be found and Thomas’s story could not be substantiated. BURGLARY Charged with burglary at Plcton on April 24, Kenneth Hayward, aged 39, a truck driver, was convicted and remanded in custody to May 3 for sentence. He pleaded guilty. Hayward was interviewed by toe police after he tried to sell a truck tyre to a garage in Havelock, said Sergeant McMeeking. It was found the tyre belonged to a carrying firm in Plcton where Hayward had formerly worked. He said he took the tyre as he wanted money to get to Christchurch.

ASSAULT On a charge of assaulting his wife of April 25, Martin Kihi. aged 27, pleaded guilty and was convicted apd fined £l5. Detective-Sergeant Wooders said that when police arrived at Kihi’s home he was seen on toe floor, trying to beat three women who were holding him down. The accused, who admitted the offence, said he had become wild when his wife danced with another man at a

party earlier in the evening, Detective-Sergeant Wooders said. OBSCENE LANGUAGE

On a charge of using obecene language in Cashel street on April 35, Anthony James Mangan, aged 23, was convicted and fined £l2. Mangan, who pleaded guilty, had several previous convictions. Sergeant V. F. Townshend uid. SIX MONTHS' GAOL

Louis Leslie Harrison, who admitted offences committed in the North Island In December and January, was sentenced to six months' imprisonment.

Harruon aged 23 a prison inmate, pleaded guilty to breaking and entering a dry-cleaning business at Aramoho on December 21, obtaining credit bv fraud at a Taihape hotel on January 27. and false pretences at Taihape on January 27.

He was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment on the first charge and one month's imprisonment on each of the other two charges, to be served concurrently, THREAT TO KILL

After pleading guilty to a charge of threatening to kill Stanley James May on March 13, Wayne Maurice Carstairs, aged 22 (Mr R. G. Blunt) was remanded for a week to Sunnyside, before sentence. PEERED IN WINDOWS

Charged with peering into a house window at night on April 25. a man, whose name was suppressed was fined £3O. He pleaded guilty Detective-Sergeant Wooders said the accused went to the side window of a house at 1.30 a.m. and. putting his hand through an open window, partly raised the blind. The complainant heard the blind being raised Her girl friend looked out and a man ran off along the street Police, who happened to be on the street, arrested him.

The accused gave the Magistrate written submissions. The Magistrate said that as the consequences of publication of name could be very drastic he would order suppression. STOLE LIQUOR Pleading guilty to stealing £6 12s worth of liquor on April 24. David Samuel Rutledge, aged 26, was convicted and remanded on bail to May 3 for sentence. Detective-Sergeant Wooders said the barman of a hotel noticed bottles missing from the private bar at 6.10 p.m. He made Inquiries and toe accused was pointed out in the wine and dine section of the hotel. When interviewed the accused said he had noticed the private bar was unattended so he took 11 bottles and put them in a friend's car GAOL FOR THEFT

After warning John Ariki Davis that he Was getting himself "in line for a long term," toe Magistrate sentenced him to 14 days imprisonment. Davis, aged 28 had nothing to say when he appeared for sentence on a charge of theft on April 18. FINED £5 EACH

Melvyn Frank Adams, aged 20. a storeman, and Trevor John Peters, aged 25, a warehouseman pleaded guilty to stealing wire baskets containing pot plants valued at 19s 6d each, from Zenith Seeds, Ltd., in Armagh street on March 24 Sergeant McMeeking said both said they had taken the baskets as a joke. The property had been returned. Adams and Peters were convicted and fined £5 each. TOOK BICYCLE The accused told a constable that because he had no means of transport home lie took a bicycle from a stand in Colombo street, said Detective-Sergeant Wooders when Lionel Ralph Gilbert Joyce aged 18. a labourer, pleaded guilty to unlawfully taking a bicycle, valued at £lO, on April 26. Joyce was remanded on bail to May 3 for sentence. STOLE RIFLE "1 am inclined to believe it was a schoolboy escapade." said the Magistrate when discharging a youth under section 42 of the Criminal Justice Act. The youth, whose name was suppressed, had pleaded guilty to a charge of stealing a rifle between December 8 and December 25. STOW. MUTTON Barry Reginald Price, aged 29. was fined £5 and ordered to make restitution of £1 8s when he pleaded guilty to stealing a side of mutton at Kaituna on April 4. Price took the meat from a service station at Kaituna where the complainant had arranged J 9 be sa >d Sergeant McMeeking. Price was interviewed at Little River and he admitted taking the meat and hiding it under a log near toe road. The meat was unfit to eat when recovered. FAILED TO RETURN PROPERTY On a charge of failing to deliver Army property, Noel Roger Margan was fined £1 and ordered to make restitution of £l7 15s Id. SUSPENDED SENTENCES After pleading guilty to being idle and disorderly on April 24, John William Cavenagh. aged 30, was convicted and ordered to come up for sentence if called upon in six months. Charged with assaulting Albert Roy Collins on February 22, Walter Desmond Wesley (Mr M. J. Glue), was convicted and ordered to come up for sentence If called on in 12 months.

IJCF.NSING CHARGES Huki Roy O'Neil, aged 19. a carpenter, .and Waina Poua O'Neil, aged 17, an apprentice carpenter, were each fined £1 10s tor purchasing liquor on March 2 when minors. On charges of being minors on licensed premises they were convicted and discharged. Pleas of guilty were entered. Jack Nathan Conradie was convicted and discliarged on charges of giving a false name and address, being a minor on licensed premises, and being on licensed premises after hours. He pleaded guilty to toe first •wo charges and not guilty to toe last. Pleading guilty by letter to being minors drinking liquor in a public place, Lyndsay Maurice Robin, aged 20, a car painter, and Jan Bruce Wood, aged 19. were each fined £3 Graham Rov Drabble, aged 17, a factory worker, was fined £3 for being a minor purchasing liquor on January 11. He pleaded guiltv bv letter James Wilson, a bannan, was fined £3 on a charge of supplying liquor to a minor on March 2. A second charge was dismissed He pleaded not guilty to both charges. John Molloy Freeman. licensee of the Forester's Hotel, was convicted and discharged under Section 42 of the Criminal Justice Act on a charge of being a licensee supplying liquor to a minor on March 2. Freeman pleaded not guilty. A second charge was dismissed. DRUNKENNESS Alistair MacDonald, aged 36. was convicted and fined £2 on a charge of being found drank in the Shanghai Cafe on April 24. MacDonald was a statutory second offender. On a charge of being found drunk in England street on April 25. Charles Henry Gosney. aged 23, was remanded on ball to May 3 for sentence. He pleaded guilty. REMANDED A woman, whose name was suppressed, was remanded on bail to May 3 on 47 charges of forgery. She was represented bv Mr L. H. Moore. Patricia Maureen Crawford was remanded to May 10 on bail on charges of unlawfully taking a bicycle on February 21 and February 22. Bernard Denton, aged 36, was remanded on bail to May 3 on a charge of stealing a radio at Invercargill on April 22. On a charge of unlawfully taking a motor-cycle on March 33, Roger Graham Hall, aged 22 (Mr M. G. L. Loughnan). was remanded for two weeks to the Sunnyside Hospital. A remand for one week to the Sunnyside Hospital was ordered when Paul Ramsay Wilson, aged 18 (Mr M. J. Glue), was charged with assaulting a child under 14 years. Charged with committing arson on March 7. John Edward Coombes, aged 17 (Mr G R. Lascelles), was remanded for a week to the Sunnyside Hospital. Trial by jury was elected by John Arthur Tahere on charges of being found by night in an enclosed yard in Heaton street, and breaking and entering a shed in the yard, on April 12. He was remanded on bail to May 8. (Before Mr E. S. J. Crutchley, S.M.) t 4 DAYS' GAOL "In view of your age, because you are not a young man of 19 or 20. I cannot do anything but send you to prison," the magistrate said to James Raymond Sullivan, aged 30. a contractor (Mr R. G. Blunt), who appeared for sentence on a charge of driving while disqualified on April 6. Sullivan was sentenced to 14 days' imprisonment, and on a charge of failing to stop after an accident on the same day he was convicted and fined £lO. The term of his disqualification from driving was extended for a year. CHARGES DISMISSED Fouf charges of theft of tools from toe North Canterbury Hospital Board, against Clive Belmont Goodenough, aged 22. a hospital orderly, were dismissed Goodenough (Mr A. Hearn) pleaded not guilty. DetectiveSergeant Wooders prosecuted. The case depended on whether Goodenough intended to deprive toe owner of the tools, or borrow them, as he claimed, the Magistrate said. Goodenough's method of taking the articles was suspicious and indicated what might have been fraudulent intent.

But because of a very slight doubt he would dismiss the charges, the Magistrate said. SUSPENDED SENTENCE

On a charge of false pretences committed in 1961, Thomas Henry Allan Colliding (Mr J. G. who had been remanded for sentence previously. was convicted and ordered to come up for sentence within 12 months if ordered. Mr Leggat said the offence was committed while Gouldlng was on a drinking spree.