MAGISTRATE’S COURT Attack On Youth “Smacked Of Gangsterism”

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30398, 24 March 1964, Page 11

MAGISTRATE’S COURT Attack On Youth “Smacked Of Gangsterism”

“This affair has very ugly Implications. It smacks of gangsterism which this country should be well free of. I don't like the idea of anyone being threatened because he has gone to the police or threatens to go to the police,” said Mr A. P. Blair, S.M., in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday.

Alexander Stewart Marshall, aged 23, a draughtsman, and Gordon Murray, aged 19, a machine operator, were both convicted on charges of assaulting Kerry Clifford Gibbons with intent to injure and assaulting his father, Geoffrey William Charleston Gibbons on March 15. They were remanded to March 26 for sentence. They were granted bail at £2OO with two sureties of £lOO and were ordered to report daily to the police. Marshall and Murray pleaded not guilty and were represented by Mr R. G. Blunt.

Kerry Gibbons, aged 17, a sandblaster, said about 11 a.m. on March 15 he was at his firm's premises in Hayton road. He saw two boys, one of whom was under a car. He appeared to be trying to remove the shock absorbers. He telephoned his boss and the police arrived. The boy under the car was John Arthur, aged 14. The police took him home.

Marshall came to the yard about 11.30 p.m. and threatened him. Gibbons said. Marshall told him he was going to give him a hiding for sending his 12-year-old brother to gaol. He ordered Marshall to leave the property or he would likely be “up” for trespassing.

That night when he returned home after going to the pictures the two accused banged on the front door. Murray said: “Come down here, I want to speak to you.” “Murray grabbed the front of my shirt with both his hands and butted me in the face with his head. My nose started to bleed and Marshall came up and grabbed me from behind. My father came out and ordered them to leave,” said witness.

“They knocked me to the ground and one of them sat on me and had me by the throat throttling me. The other one kicked me in the head several times when I was down. I was flat on my back and my mother grabbed the one sitting on me by his hair and pulled him off. The incident lasted about 10 minutes,” Gibbons said.

He suffered a cut lip, his cheeks were swollen and there were bumps on his head from the kicks. Murray had kept saying: “The next time I see you you’ll get more.” He kept backing away and the fight finished in his parents’ bedroom.

“While I was lying on the floor in the bedroom Murray kicked me in the head. Blood was pouring from my nose and my lip was bleeding. My shirt was badly torn and 1 was very dazed,” said Gibbons.

To Mr Blunt, Gibbons said that some parts of the place where he worked looked like a dump to an ordinary person. The car had the wheels and differential removed. John Arthur had told him he was looking for a pedal for his' cycle. He did not telephone the police. He understood that no further action was to be taken by the police in regard to the boy. Both accused gave evidence that Gibbons had pushed both of them first. There was an unusual background to the case and some unusual characters were involved, the Magistrate said. It was clear that the accused had sought out young Gibbons with some persistence, and one of them had threatened him earlier in the day. Marshall considered he had some grudge against him because of the incident involving the boy. Arthur. “I do not accept that young Gibbons started the fight,” said the Magistrate. “I have no doubt that both accused went to his home with the express purpose of intimidating him, and that they were prepared to use force and did so. ‘I find that the accused intended to knock young Gibbons about unless he did what ’hey said. 1 find that the charge involving the father is also proved.” the Magistrate SaiH ’ergeant V. F. Townshend, woo prosecuted, said Marshall

had previous convictions, the last of which was for assaulting his wife. YEAR'S GAOL

“You have done little work and you have not tried to make a go of it, so you appear for sentence on the original charges,” the Magistrate said when sending James Dennis Scott, aged 24, a soldier, to prison for 12 months on six charges of false pretences, one of breach of probation and one of driving while disqualified.

Mr M. J. Glue, who appeared for the accused, said when referring to Scott’s venture into a spray-painting business that his ambitions might well have outstripped his abilities. He had got himself deeper and deeper into the mire. Scott’s way of life indicated the need for discipline and there was no alternative to sending him to gaol, the Magistrate said. CHARGE DISMISSED A charge against Michael Vincent Sullivan, aged 17, a clerk, of fighting in Cathedral square on March 15, was dismissed. He pleaded not guilty. Evidence was given that two constables saw Sullivan and Kevin Ronald Roley fighting near the Post Office. Sullivan said he was merely defending himself after being attacked. (Before Mr W. M. Willis, S.M.) TWO MONTHS’ GAOL “Strong-arm tactics seem to be a feature of your life, don’t they?” said the Magistrate when imposing a sentence of two months’ imprisonment on Graeme Charles Talbot, aged 22, a window cleaner, when he pleaded guilty to a charge of assault. At 1.15 a.m. on December 14 Noel Richard Lloyd called at the Central Police Station and claimed he had been assaulted, said DetectiveSergeant Lee. Talbot said he got tired of Lloyd pestering him at a party for money so he took him outside and punched him. MONTH’S GAOL FOR BOOKMAKING The legislature considered bookmaking a serious offence when it made imprisonment mandatory for a second offence, said the Magistrate when he sentenced Raymond Robert Thomas, a motor trimmer, to one month’s gaol on a charge of bookmaking. He pleaded guilty and was represented by Mr M. G. L. Loughnan. An appeal has been lodged. Detective-Sergeant D. C. Lee said inquiries were made by the police into suspected bookmaking at the Black Horse Hotel, Lincoln road. On March 21 Thomas was interviewed by detectives and he was found in possession of material used for bookmaking. He admitted taking bets while working as a part-time barman at the hotel. Thomas said he had taken about £9 or £lO during the day and that represented roughly an average day’s takings during the previous six months, Detective-Sergeant Lee said. Thomas told the police that he had not been taking bets on his own behalf but was acting as an agent for a person he did not wish t< name. He was paid Is 6d in the £ commission and he used this for cigarette money. He had been making about 15s each Saturday.

The bets were taken to oblige friends who came into the bar, Thomas had said. When searched he had £l4. He was a married man living apart from his wife. In January, 1956, he was convicted of a similar offence, said Detective-Sergeant Lee. Mr Loughman said Thomas was a motor trimmer on his own account. He had been bookmaking only in a very small way and was operating as an agent. He got enough to keep him in cigarettes. Since the advent of the T.A.B. bookmaking was not such a serious offence, Mr Loughnan said. The previous offence had been committed eight years ago. FOUR YOUTHS CONVICTED Kevin John Higgins, aged 20. a workman <Mr R. G. Blunt). Anthony Allan Grant, aged 18, an apprentice plasterer <Mr M F. Hobbs), William John Provls, aged 21, a workman, and Murray George Hume, aged 23, a workman, jointly charged with attempted burglary on March 8, were convicted and remanded to March 26 for sentence. Higgins and Grant were allowed bail. Higgins was also charged with receiving cigarettes on or

about March 5. Hume and Provis were charged with committing a breach of probation at Westport on March 6, and jointly charged with unlawfully taking a car on or about March 4, burglary on or about March 4, and burglary at Reefton on February 29. Hume was further charged with theft of £l5 worth of tools at Reefton on February 29, unlawfully taking a car on or about March 1, and burglary at Leithfield on or about March 2. Provis was further charged with theft of a record player at Motueka on or about February 29 and theft at Westport on the same date. All accused pleaded guilty to all charges. FINED £25 “I wouldn't have struck him if he hadn't abused me,” said William George Chapman, aged 22, when he pleaded guilty to a charge of assault on March 22. Chapman was fined £25. At 1.30 a.m. Chapman approached a youth sitting in a parked car near the pie-cart in Cathedral square, said De-tective-Sergeant Lee. Chapman made himself objectionable and when asked to desist punched the complainant. He had previous convictions. STOLE MONEY "Go back to your job and don’t indulge in any more stupid offences like this,” the Magistrate told John Augustus Godfrey, aged 18, an apprentice iron moulder, when he appeared on a charge of stealing 5s 3id on March 21. Godfrey pleaded guilty and was fined £5. Godfrey was seen taking money from milk bottles In Armagh street at 1.50 a.m., said Detective-Sergeant Lee. He offered no explanation for the offence. “COULD PASS FOR 21” "This boy could pass for- 21 anywhere. If he is only 16 I’m a Dutchman,” said the Magistrate when dismissing a charge against Archibald Charles Spittle, aged 50, licensee of the Heathcote Arms Hotel, of supplying liquor to a minor •on February 5. Spittle pleaded not guilty and was represented by Mr W. F. Brown. THEFT OF LETTERS

“This letter turned out to be an expensive one,” the Magistrate said when he fined Graham Ray Drabble, aged 18, a wire worker, £5 on a charge of theft of a letter valued at 3d. Drabble pleaded guilty. Ralph Underwood Kellow, aged 35, was remanded on bail to April 6 on a charge of driving while under the influence of drink or drugs on March 21. He pleaded not guilty. David William McDonald, aged 21, was remanded on bail to April 9 on a charge of wilfully damaging a car on March 15 and a charge of assault with intent to injure on the same date. Pua Parai, aged 23, was remanded on bail to March 26 on a charge of assaulting a female on March 21. A youth, whose name was suppressed (Mr M. J. Glue), was remanded on bail to April 6 on a charge of theft of a record player valued at £3O, at Dunedin, between May 14 and May 17. Charles Nicholls, aged 29, was remanded on bail to April 6 on a charge of ship desertion at Wellington on October 27, 1961. Appearing on a charge of theft of copper wire valued at £23 3s 3d on March 20, Kenneth Reuben Brown was remanded on bail to April 6. LIQUOR OFFENCES Two youths who were questioned in the bar of the Dominion Hotel by Sergeant J. P. O’Kane on February 7 admitted being under age. Kenneth Graham Marshall, aged 20, was fined £3 and Maxwell Lee Wilby, aged 19, who had a previous conviction, was fined £4 on a charge of being on licensed premises when a minor. Richard Francis Wells, aged 20, was fined £lO for being on licensed premises when a minor and £5 for giving false particulars of his age. Sergeant O’Kane said at 5.56 p.m. on February 21 he visited the United Service Hotel. He asked Wells his age and he said 22. He became very insolent and when asked how many beers he had had he replied about 45. He was warned about giving false information. The Magistrate said Wells, who said in a letter he was a university student, made an eloquent plea, but it was wasted because of the number of previous convictions he had for this type of offence. Graeme Alexander Adams, aged 18. was fined £4 on a charge of drinking liquor in a public place, the car park at New Brighton. Terence Andrew Harper, aged 18. and Brian Gray, aged 17, were each fined £4 on a charge of drinking liquor in the South Brighton Domain. LIQUOR NEAR DANCE John Raymond Ballock, aged 17. Gary John Boyce, aged 17. and John Spencer Slocombe, aged 19. were each fined £4 on a charge of being in possession of liquor near the Surf City dance at South Brighton on February 29. Slocombe, who was in possession of a car, had his driver’s licence cancelled for three months.