MAGISTRATE’S COURT £80 Fine On Youth Who Drove Under Influence

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30368, 18 February 1964, Page 8

MAGISTRATE’S COURT £80 Fine On Youth Who Drove Under Influence

Ranald lan AttwelT, aged 19, a ship’s steward, who pleaded guilty in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday to a charge of driving while under the influence of drink or drugs, was convicted and fined £BO by Mr A. P. Blair, S.M. His driving licence was cancelled for three years. When Attwell drove his car in Bealey avenue on February 15, the car swerved and travelled at a high speed after it had hit thd kerb, (Sergeant V. F. Townshend said. TWO MONTHS’ GAOL

Shirley Ruth Phillips, aged 22, who appeared for sentence . for stealing goods valued at £25 19s 6d on November 26 at Wellington, was sentenced to two months’ imprisonment and’ ordered to return the stolen property. SUSPENDED SENTENCE Appearing for sentence on a charge .of breaking and entering at Lyttelton on February 5, Walter Clifford Te Koeti, aged 31, was convicted and ordered to come up for sentence if called upon in 12 months. Te Koeti told the Magistrate he would undergo medical treatment at the Sunnyside Hospital THEFT “You are on the brink of prison, and I am going to let you decide whether or not you go to prison,” the Magistrate told Kenneth James Melville, aged 19 (Mr M. J. Glue), when he appeared for sentence on charges of theft on October 24 and between November 1 and 4 of goods valued at £3 15s and £ll 6s. The case against Melville was adjourned until August 10, and he was ordered to make restitution of the amounts. YEAR’S GAOL

One year’s imprisonment was imposed on Eric Ramsay Dacombe, aged 40 (Mr W. A. Wilson), when he appeared for sentence on a charge of indecently assaulting a girl under the age of 12 years on January 27. The Magistrate said that his primary duty was to protect children from such assaults. The accused’s offence was a most serious molesting of the child. LIQUOR OFFENCES

Charged with supplying liquor to a minor, Brian Jones, aged 21, a motor mechanic, was fined £3. John William Miller, aged 20, a mechanic, was fined £3 on a Charge of being found in a public bar on January 4. CHARGES DISMISSED Two charges against Roger Jack Camden, aged 23, of false pretences involving £ 10 by the issue of valueless cheques on September 24, 1963, were dismissed. He pleaded not. guilty to both Charges. The Magistrate said that although the accused had acted ’ stupidly there was some doubt whether he had intended to defraud the complainants. Evidence was given that the accused signed a cheque under an assumed name I which he used when booking into, a city hotel. He used his own cheque book. The cheque was dishonoured under the name he had signed. A second cheque was signed with his own name. The accused, in a statement to the police, said he thought the cheque would be paid in spite of his using an assumed name, because it had come out of his book. Mr J. G. Leggat, for the accused, said he had used another name when entering the hotel because he was a prohibited person. He had then used this name when signing a cheque for accommodation. SUSPENDED SENTENCE Joy Mary Roberts, aged 17 (Mr S. J. Erber), was convicted of using obscene language in Cathedral square on February 16, and was ordered to come up for sentence if called on within six months. Sergeant Townshend said the language was used after police had arrested one of a group of young persons in the Square. Mr Erber said that the accused was a reasonably normal girl until she started drinking. She went too far when under the influence of liquor.. INSULTING LANGUAGE Noeline ■ Heather Arthur, aged 17, was fined £8 when she pleaded guilty to a charge of using insulting language in Oxford terrace on February 15. Mr M. J. Glue, for the accused, said she had made a “rather unladylike observation” to the custodian of the Centennial Pool. The words were used on the spur of the moment. INDECENT LANGUAGE On a charge of using indecent language in Cathedral square on February 16, Michael Francis Baker, aged 19. a timber worker, was fined £lO. He pleaded guilty. OBSCENE LANGUAGE Qn a charge of using obscene language in the Kainga Hall while a dance was in progress, Morris Michael Jacobs, aged 18. a freezing worker, was fined £l2. He was also fined £7 on a charge of assaulting Graham James Cosgrove. Jacobs pleaded guilty to both charges. Sergeant Townshend said that Jacobs asked a girl for a dance and she refused. He asked her why, and when he did not get what he considered a satisfactory reply he spoke to one of the male members of the group. He then struck Cosgrove oh the face and kicked him. He also used obscene language loudly and repeated it several times. INSULTING LANGUAGE “This was a piece of most shocking behaviour,” said Sergeant Townshend when Anthony Lyn Smith, aged 18, a workman, pleaded guilty to a charge of using insulting language. He was fined £l5. At 6.15 p.m. a man was riding a power-cycle in Colombo street and his 11-

year-old daughter was a pillion passenger, Sergeant Townshend said. He stopped at the corner of Bealey avenue. Smith gave a wolf whistle, and the man told him his daughter’s age. He then made the insulting remark. He had been drinking, but was not drunk. CHARGE DISMISSED

A charge against Elizabeth Margaret Perriton, aged 20, married (Mr R. Flesher), of using obscene language in Cathedral square oh February 16 was dismissed. She pleaded not guilty. DISORDERLY BEHAVIOUR John Hunter, aged 40, pleaded not .guilty to a charge of behaving in a disorderly manner in Manchester street on February 8. He was convicted and discharged. The , Magistrate said the fact that the accused did not recognise the’ person who gave evidence of the disorderly behaviour indicated the accused had had too much to drink. THEFT

Phillip David Harris, aged 21 (Mr M. J. Glue), was ordered to come up for sentence within 12 months if called upon when he appeared for sentence on two charges of theft involving goods valued at £ll 7s 3d. DRUNKENNESS

On a charge of being found drunk at Harewood on February 16 Norma Marion McEvoy, aged 24, was fined £2. She had a previous conviction for drunkenness in the last six months. REMANDED Appearing on a charge of assaulting a policeman on December 14, John Grieg Miller, aged 23, was remanded on bail to February 24. On a charge of receiving stolen goods valued at £4 on January 6, Charles Broughton, aged 55, was remanded on bail to March 5. Conrad Lawrence Thain, aged 17, was remanded on bail to February 20 on charges of behaving in an offensive manner on January 26, and theft of . an electric guitar valued at £5O on February 18. Graeme Charles Talbot, aged 22, was remanded on bail to February 24 on a charge of assault on December 14. Robert Zimala, aged 58, was remanded in custody to February 25 on a charge of threatening to kill Josephine Murray on Februa-y 15. Kevin Dudley Thornton, aged 22, was remanded on bail to February 20 on a charge of stealing a suitcase and clothing valued at £3l ss. (Before Mr E. A. Lee, S.M.) SIX MONTHS’ GAOL “You have had every possible assistance and encouragement in the past, but you did nothing to help yourself,’’ said the Magistrate when sentencing John Reginald Valentine White, aged 27, to six months’ imprisonment on a charge of stealing a bicycle, valued at £lO, bn February 6. White was appearing for sentence. “You have brought a great deal of distress add unhappiness on a family which otherwise has every reason to be proud of its achievements,” the Magistrate said. “You have a considerable record for dishonesty, and this type of theft is quite prevalent in Christchurch,” FINED £35 Francis Macintosh Pitts, aged 37, a ship’s greaser, was fined £lO on a charge of stealing goods valued at £3 Is lOd at Lyttelton on February 9. ■ He was appearing for sentence. Pitts was also fined £25 on a charge of theft as a servant of linen valued at £4, the property of the Union Steam Ship Company. He pleaded guilty. Senior-Sergeant G. M. Cleary said that Pitts, who was a greaser in. the Hinemoa, was found in possession of linen belonging to his employers. Mr H. W. Thompson said that Pitts was being hard pressed because he had fallen behind on payments for his house. The Magistrate: That seems hardly an excuse when he was earning £9O a month and the payments amounted to £3 a week. Mr Thompson said that Pitts had earned that money only since he had returned to the • sea. REHEARING GRANTED “Having heard the evidence I am satisfied that Detective Dalzell could not have done riiore for the accused. I am certain he would have got a solicitor for the accused if he had been asked. If the application for rehearing was made solely on that ground it would be dismissed,” said the Magistrate. “However, there seems to have been some misunderstanding, and it appears that it was suggested by Detective Dalzell and no plea would be taken in court the morning after the accused’s arrest. Because of that the rehearing will be granted.”

John Edward Waite, aged 34, was granted a rehearing of a charge of theft as a servant of goods valued at £4 on January 6. He was remanded on bail to February 20. Mr J. H. F. Macfarlane appeared for Waite. ASSAULT John Joseph Foley,, aged 23, a salesman, was convicted on a charge of assaulting Phyllis Kennedy on February 1, and was remanded to February 20. A charge of assaulting Whero Hiko Pu on the same date was dismissed on payment of £3 witnesses’ expenses and £1 10s costs. . Foley pleaded not guilty to both charges, -which had been part heard earlier. The Kennedys were provoked into protesting by Foley’s mconsiderate and irritating use of a car horn outside their home, the Magistrate said. They asked him to stop his nonsense. Foley had said he just got out of, the car because he

did not know what they were going to do to him. Mrs Kennedy weighed Bst and her husband was a sick man. He accepted the evidence of Mrs Kennedy. Mr A. Hearn appeared for the accused. REMANDED Peter John Joseph Turner, aged 20,. was remanded to February 20 for sentence on two charges of burglary. Senior-Sergeant Cleary said he had been instructed to offer no evidence on a charge of threatening to kill, and he asked that it be withdrawn. The Magistrate granted the application. (Before Mr K. H, J. Headifen, S.M.) DROVE UNDER INFLUENCE Thomas Duncan Gordon, aged 54, a service manager, was fined £4O, and his driver’s licence was cancelled for three years, on a charge of driving under the influence of drink or drugs on December 7. He pleaded not guilty, and was represented by Mr B. McClelland. A traffic officer on point duty in Wrights road at 6.40 p.m. arrested Gordon outside the entrance to the public car park at the Addington Raceway. Gordon was certified by a doctor as unfit to drive.