Magistrate’s Court Craving For Narcotics Given As Reason For Crimes

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30152, 8 June 1963, Page 15

Magistrate’s Court Craving For Narcotics Given As Reason For Crimes

Two young men who broke into two city businesses were motivated by a craving for narcotics. Detective-Sergeant J. W Wooders said in the Magistrate's Court yesterday Before Mr A P Blair. S M were Michael Smith, aged 23 and Robin Paul Slessor. aged 23. both represented by Mr G R Lascelles.

Smith and Slessor pleaded guilty to a joint charge of breaking and entering; Smith pleaded guilty to being in possession of opium; and Slessor pleaded guilty to charges of breaking and entering and being a rogue and vagabond in that he was found without excuse in enclosed premises They were remanded in custody to June 14 for sentence.

Interviewed on May 24. Smith admitted being in possession of opium, and handed over about half an ounce. Detective-Sergeant Wooders said. Smith said he had been addicted to opium for two years after having been introduced to it by an Australian who, he said, had now left New Zealand.

Between April 28 and April 29. the Craft Centre, a shop at 116 Springfield road, was entered and goods valued at £33 were stolen: Both accused said they stole the property to get more money to buy drugs, Detective-Ser-geant Wooders said. Between February 26 and February 27, Slessor broke into the premises of Dental and Medical Supplies, Ltd., 800 Colombo street, and took articles and a large quantity of morphine drugs, to a total value of £49 4s 4d. “Slessor admitted he was solely responsible for this offence. He said that he had once’ been addicted to opium, and although he had broken that addiction, he had become addicted to morphine.” Detective - Sergeant Wooders said.

Slessor told the police that he used a libtle of the morphine and destroyed the rest. An extensive search for the morphine had been unsuccessful. Both men had previous convictions, Detective-Sergeant Wooders said. Restitation of £46 13s 4d was sought. NUMEROUS CHARGES ADMITTED Norman Twentyman Anderson, aged 18 (Mr G. Parry). Errol Keith Shields, aged 18 (Mr L. H. Moore), and Mark James Mokau Waaka, aged 19. all unemployed, were convicted and remanded in custody to June 14 for sentence on numerous charges. Anderson and Shields were jointly charged With wilfully' setting fire to the Christchurch South Intermediate School on May 23. They’ were also jointly charged with burgling the Waltham Primary School dental clinic on May 21 and theft of £1 5s from milk bottles on May 20. The three accused were jointly charged with burgling the Christchurch South Intermediate School on May 23. Anderson also faced four charges of theft during May, and charges of sending explosives through the post at Greymouth on April 22 and breaking and entering a tool sited on the premises of Lane. Walker, Rudkin, Ltd., on May 15.

Waaka and Anderson were jointly charged with burgling the premises of the Sydenham Bowling Club on May 17 and taking a heater and other articles.

AU the accused pleaded guilty to aU charges. Detective-Sergeant Wooders said that- the accused and other youths who would appear in another Court were living in a flat in Scott street at the time of the offences.

On or about April 22, a police officer at Greymouth received a letter containing a .303 bullet wrapped in a piece of paper. A sample of Anderson’s writing was obtained, and Anderson said he sent the bullet as a joke. At 5 a.in. on May 23 the Christchurch South Intermediate School was seen to be on fire. It was found the school had been burgled and two fires deliberately set. A heater had been set against a desk in the principal's office and another fire set on the landing of the stairs. Damage of £4410 was done to the school. A record player which was stolen from the school was found in the accused’s flat. Anderson had found a heater, which he plugged in and set against a desk with papers around it, said Detective-Ser-geant Wooders. The accused returned to their flat and waited for the sound of fire engines. They heard nothing, so went back to the school and lit the paper around the heater. They all had previous convictions TWO YEARS' GAOL

Two years’ gaol on each of four charges of burglary was imposed on Thomas Sydney Brown, aged 41, a workman, when he appeared for sentence. On a charge of committing a breach of probation, in that he failed to report, to which he pleaded guilty. Brown was sentenced to three months’ gaol. AU the gaol terms are to be concurrent. The Magistrate said he could do nothing but send Brown back to prison, where he had already spent most of his life. FINED £6O Maureen Ann Folland, aged 19, a nurse (Mr R. G. Blunt), was fined £2O on each of three charges of false pretences. She pleaded guilty She was charged with using a fictitious name to purchase goods to the value of £33 Ils 6d on a fictitious account on May 30, and a similar charge to the value of £3 8s lOd on May 31. Detective-Sergeant Wooders said that Folland told the police she wanted night clothing before she returned home to Australia. She had booked her return by air on June 12 She arrived in New Zealand on September 29 on a working holiday

Mr Blunt asked that she he fined, as she was booked to fly home She came from a good home in Adelaide. CONVERTED CAR After being chased by a police car along Colombo and Ki'more streets, the driver of a converted car made a U-turn in Park terrace to avoid the police, said Detective-Sergeant Wooders The police blocked the other car’s path, and it struck the police car a glanc.ng blow and mounted the footpath. The driver ran off but was apprehended. James Arthur Brooking, aged 21. a workman (Mr L. H. Moore), pleaded guilty Uh* lawfully taking a car valued at £5OO on June 1. He was convicted and remanded on bail to June 14 for sentence. Detective-Sergeant Wooders said the owner of the car reported to the police that his car had been taken from a drive in Briggs road Restitution of £l2l was asked for to pay for damage to both cars SHOT SHEEP

Under financial and emotional pressure, a man yielded to a sudden impulse when he

shot a sheep, Mr R. G. Blunt said. The man, whose name was suppressed, pleaded guilty to a charge of theft of a sheep at Rakautara on June 1. He was convicted and fined £lO, and ordered to pay £2 10s restitution. Detective-Sergeant Wooders said the man shot the sheep, skinned it in the bush, covered the offal and skin with leaves, and took the meat home. The meat was found in his refrigerator. THEFTS ADMITTED Using duplicate keys, Dorothy Wilson Port, aged 43. entered rooms at a Christchurch house and stole £3 10s and a packet of cigarettes, Detective-Serg-eant Wooders said. Later, when police searched Port’s room, they found several opened letters addressed to another person. One contained a bank draft for £lB 17s 9d. which Port had cashed. Port pleaded guilty to three charges of theft. She said she stole to help her daughter. She was remanded on ball to June 14 for sentence. GAOL SENTENCE Telephoning an old people's home. Robert Hector Kerr, aged 27, a rubber worker, used obscene language and made improper suggestions. Sergeant B. O. Read. said. Kerr, who had nothing to say. pleaded guilty to a charge of using obscene language over the telephone. He was sentenced to seven days’ imprisonment.

FALSE PRETENCES A married woman. Mary Elizabeth Davidson, aged 31. obtained shoes and stockings worth £l6 2s 9d from a city store by falsely representing that she had an account in the name of J. Johnston, of Ashburton. Sergeant Read said. Davidson pleaded guilty to a charge of false pretences. She was convicted and fined £lO and ordered to pay restitution of £lO 13s. BOOKMAKING

A fine of £6O was imposed on Frank Walter Pinchen aged 46. unemployed (Mr L. H. Moore), when he pleaded guilty to a charge of carrying on business as a bookmaker on May 25. Detective-Sergeant Wooders said Pinchen was found in the bar of the New City Hotel accepting. bets from patrons. Pinchen said he kept Is 6d in every pound, but he declined to name his principal. He had taken £l2O when apprehended.

Mr Moore said Pinchen had been dismissed from a factory when the firm reduced its activities. He foolishly accepted an illegal type of job when he found himself out of work.

FALSE PRETENCES By telling an 80-year-old woman he was to receive £lOO from the estate of his mother, Thomas Gardiner Campbell, aged 46, unemployed, obtained board at 30s a week for a year under false pretences. Detec-tive-Sergeant Wooders said. Campbell, pleading guilty to two charges of obtaining credit by fraud and two charges of false pretences in Auckland and Christchurch between April 1 and May 15, was remanded in custody to June 14 for sentence. TREATMENT ORDERED Roger Graham Hall, aged 22. a workman (Mr M. G. L. Loughnan), was remanded to the Sunnyside Hospital for a week, after conviction on charges of carrying, at Dunedin on February 6. a letter threatening to kill a person; theft of a transistor radio at Christchurch on March 1; and four charges of unlawfully taking motor-cycles at Christchurch and Dunedin between March 5 and 23. On all charges he pleaded guilty. DAMAGED TAXI When a taxi-driver refused to take him to a hotel to fill a keg with beer, Vai- Arapai. aged 24, a workman, slammed the front door of the cab and kicked the rear side of the car, causing damage to the extent of £5, the Court was told. Arapai. pleading not guilty to a charge of causing wilful damage at Christchurch on June 6, was convicted and ordered to pay restitution and to pay £5 towards the cost of the prosecution. He was ordered to come up for sentence If called on within 12 months. TWO YEARS' PROBATION It was very rare for a person with a record such as hers to be given such a chance, but she appeared to be making a real effort to break her past associations, the Magistrate told Margaret Mortimer, aged. 38. a housewife (Mr M. G. L Loughnan), appearing for sentence on two charges of burglary at Christchurch on May 5 and May 23. Mortimer was placed on probation for two years. Nothhad been taken from the premises entered, said Mr Loughnan. She had been married since the offences. DISMISSED

An information alleging peeping, against a man whose name was suppressed, was dismissed.

The offence was alleged to have occurred outside the partially open bedroom window of a woman employed at Coker’s Hotel on the evening of March 31. The Magistrate said he did not doubt the integrity of the witnesses, but they were young and. having been warned about Peeping Toms around the premises, probably approached this situation with bias. BROKE BOTTLES

Peter William Harvey, aged 21, Robert Wilson, aged 22. and Michael Hawley, aged 21. all employed at the Royal New Zealand Air Force Station, Wigram. were each fined £l5 for breaking bottles in the City Council reservoir. Cashmere Hills, on March 17. They pleaded guilty LIQUOR NEAR HALL

For having liquor near the Tai Tapu dance hall on April 20. Euan David Brown, aged 18. a student, and Kevin John Wright, aged 17, a meat grader were each fined £3. FINED £2O

A fine of £2O was imposed on Thomas Francis Roach after he

pleaded guilty to a charge of bookmaking on May 25. Detective-Sergeant Wooders said that Roach was seen accepting bets from patrons in a hotel bar. Roach told the police he was in debt and unable to work because of illness STOLE £l6 Charged with stealing £l6 on May 31, John Conel Wilkie, aged 35. a dye hand (Mr R. G. Blunt), was convicted and remanded on bail to June 14 for sentence. He pleaded guilty. A woman went to a store and on her return placed her purse on a chair in the kitchen, said Detective-Sergeant Wooders. Her husband brought Wilkie and his wife home and shortly afterwards the woman noticed £l6 was missing from her purse. She left the room and when she returned she found Wilkie and his wife had left. When Wilkie was interviewed at his flat he had no 'explanation to offer. He was living apart from his legal wife and living with a de facto wife and one child. ADMITTED CHARGES Pleading guilty to a charge of using obscene language in Cashel street on May 31 and escaping from lawful custodyon the same date. Daniel Tinsley, aged 25, a freezing worker, was convicted and remanded on bail to June 14 for sentence. At 6.40 p.m. Tinsley was waiting for a taxi when a patrol car went past, said De-tective-Sergeant Wooders. Tinsley used the language complained of. directing it at the P> "

police, and he was immediately arrested. When being searched at the police station he suddenly made off. He was caught in Cambridge terrace. GLASS ON ROAD Charged with throwing a soft drink bottle on Ham road on April 21, John Winstone O’Connor, aged 17, a grocer’s assistant (Mr G. T. Mahon), was fined £l2. He was fined £1 for having no wararnt of fitness. He pleaded guilty to both charges. UNREGISTERED DOG Pleading guilty by letter to keeping an unregistered dog on April 15. David Crowhen, a stock agent, was fined £1 10s. "TOO MUCH DRINKING" Appearing for sentence on three charges of theft on May 24, Lawrence William Conway, aged 23, a labourer, was fined £22 10s. The Magistrate said it appeared Conway had been drinking too much. ADJOURNED Trial by jury on a charge of unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl aged 14 years seven months at Christchurch on February 10 was elected by Clifford Percy King, aged 17, a printer’s assistant (Mr W. A. Wilson). The hearing was adjourned to June 26 REMANDED Three youths, each charged with unlawfully taking a motorcar at Gore on May 25 and theft at Tinwald on May 28, were remanded in custody to June 14. They are Martin Aramette, aged 22. Joshua Paul Dixon aged 20, and William James Henry Heaps, aged 20. After pleading not guilty to two charges of assault on June 6. Charles Norman, aged 26 a drainlayer was remanded on bail to June 14. Charged with unlawful sexual Intercourse with a girl aged 14 years seven months at Christchurch on February 10. a youth, whose name was suppressed (Mr A, D Holland) was remanded on bail to June 26. Edward John Goslin aged 29. was remanded on bail to June 14 on charges of assault, escaping from custody, and assaulting police oh June 1. Pleading not guilty to two charges of assault on June 6. Walter Karena, aged 33 was remanded on bail to June 14. David James MacMurdie Bruce, aged 58 a clicker, was remanded on bail to June 14 on a charge of using obscene language in Kipling street, on June 7. Bruce pleaded not guilty. (Before Mr E S. J. Crutchley. S.M.pr' THREE MONTHS’ GAOL "It is just impossible, the way you, haz/e been carrying on. said the Magistrate to Hilda Phillips, aged 21. unemployed, when she appeared for sentence on a charge of being idle and disorderly at Lyttelton on May 28. Phillips was sentenced to three months’ imprisonment. The Magistrate said she had twice previously been found on ships, and convicted of refusing to leave a ship and theft. PROBATION “It is a very great pity indeed that at your age of life this should happen,” the Magistrate told Maria Ann Williams, aged 25 a nurse (Mr R. G Blunt), when she appeared for sentence on a charge, of theft on May 10. She was placed on probation for two years and ordered to make restitution of £l9. NEGLIGENT DRIVING Appearing for sentence on a charge of negligent driving causing injury on March 16. Alan John Clode. aged 21. a workman, was fined £3O and disqualified from driving for 18 months. The Magistrate said that one of the reasons he asked for a probation officer's report was that he gained the impression that Clode did not seem unduly concerned by the incident After seeing the report he decided the case did not call for more than a fine CHARGES DISMISSED Charges against the Riccarton Working Men's Club (Mr R. A Young) of selling liquor after hours, illegally exposing liquor for sale, being open after hours and allowing liquor to be consumed on the premises after hours—arising from a police raid on the premises on November 24—were dismissed The ease was first heard on March 15 when decision was reserved THREE MONTHS’ GAOL Three months’ imprisonment was imposed on James O'Brien, aged 56. a labourer, when he appeared for sentence for false pretences at Christchurch on May 14