Supreme Court GAOL FOR BURGLAR

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30536, 3 September 1964, Page 24

Supreme Court GAOL FOR BURGLAR

“No Grounds For Appeal” There were no grounds at all for an appeal, and he thought the sentence entirely appropriate, Mr Justice Macarthur said in the Supreme Court yesterday to John Ferguson, aged 29, a workmanpainter, who sought leave to appeal against a sentence of two years’ imprisonment on two charges of burglary, imposed- in the Magistrate’s Court on July 9. Mr I. C. J. Polson appeared for the Crown, and Ferguson was not represented. His Honour said he had considered Ferguson’s application for legal aid, but he did not consider it a proper case for legal aid. Since early 1963, Ferguson had been convicted on several occasions of crimes involving dishonesty, his Honour said. Over-indulgence in drink appeared to have become a major problem for Ferguson, and it was something he had to master. Burglary had become far too prevalent, and sentences imposed for burglary had at least to some extent to serve as a deterrent to others, his Honour said. Appeal Dismissed His Honour dismissed an appeal by David Francis White, aged 29, a storeman, against conviction and sentence of one month’s imprisonment imposed in the Timaru Magistrate’s Court on a charge of being idle and disorderly. Mr Polson appeared for the Crown, and White was not represented. His Honour said that there were no grounds for an appeal against conviction, as White had pleaded guilty in the Magistrate’s Court. Dealing with the appeal against sentence, his Honour said that the maximum sentence on the charge was three months’ imprisonment Twice previously in the last four years White had been convicted of the same offence. White had been a thorough nuisance in Timaru, and he had better get a job and stick to it. Further offences of the same type would probably lead to his being sentenced to the maximum.

Cloth, if it has prevented many crimes, has also smothered many virtues.—Charles Caleb Colton.