MAGISTRATE’S COURT Gaoled For Two Years For Theft And Forgery

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31041, 22 April 1966, Page 14

MAGISTRATE’S COURT Gaoled For Two Years For Theft And Forgery

Any kind of leniency was out of the question, said Mr H. J. Evans, S.M., in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday when he sentenced William Mahu, aged 27, to two years’ imprisonment on nine charges of theft, three charges of forgery, and one of committing a breach of probation. Mr R. L. Kerr, for Mahu, said that according to a medical report Mahu’s difficulties seemed to be psychotic. Since 1953 he had had little time out of Borstal or prison, and consequently little chance of rehabilitation. Early this year Mahu embarked on a series of thefts and forgeries, said the Magistrate. He obtained two Post Office box keys and stole money and cheques amounting to £205. None of it was recovered. Mahu had a long list of convictions for dishonesty going back as far as 1952, said the Magistrate. CHARGE DISMISSED A charge of theft of three pairs of shoes against Marie Elizabeth Mae Musson, aged 32, a factory hand (Mr A. Hearn), was dismissed. She pleaded not guilty. Suppression of name was refused. FINED £5 In a reserved decision the Magistrate convicted and fined Oswald Garland Blackler, a land agent, £5 on a charge of failing to stop at traffic lights on August 13 last. Blackler had pleaded not guHty. (Before Mr E. S. J. Crutchley, S.M.) THEFT AND FORGERY Barry John Guest, aged 24, a truck driver, and Elizabeth Frances Guest, aged 25, his wife, were remanded on bail to April 28 for sentence. Barry Guest pleaded guilty to charges of stealing a Government superannuation cheque valued at £l3 14s, the property of Mary Anna Campbell and uttering a forged cheque by causing the Edgeware Service Station to act upon it as genuine. Elizabeth Guest pleaded guilty to charges of stealing a cheque and to two charges of forging a cheque. Sergeant V. F. Townshend said that a woman who went to the North Island to live let her house to the two accused. She arranged to have her mail readdressed to her new address but she did not receive two cheques and it was found that ithey had been cashed and that the signatures on them had been forged. The accused were evicted from the house for nonpayment of rent. Restitution amounted to £27 Bs. The accused said that they were short of money for food, firing, and the family. Mr J. F. Burn, who appeared for the accused, said-they had • four young children. THEFT AND FALSE PRETENCES James Henry Carey, aged 32, unemployed, pleaded guilty to a charge of theft of goods valued at £27, and to a charge of obtaining £22 by a false pretence. He was convicted and remanded to April 28 for sentence. Sergeant Townshend said that Carey had been living with a woman in a flat in Christchurch but after an argument had moved. On March 8, the day after . he left the flat, Carey was seen by a neighbour to return to the flat, let himself in with a key, and later leave with a washingmachine and vacuum cleaner. The following day he visited the flat again and took a refrigerator, an electric motor and a : radio. i Sergeant Townshend said that • on March 3 Carey cashed a : valueless cheque for £22 at the Eastern Hotel. Carey had said i In his statement to the police • that he had taken the cheque form from • his solicitor’s office and signed it with a false name. BURGLARY Clive Leslie Victor Irvine, aged 17, unemployed (Mr G. R. Lascelles), and Clive Bruce Topping, aged 18, unemployed, were remanded in custody to April 28 for sentence. The Magistrate made an order that they be kept apart from adult prisoners. They pleaded guilty to joint charges of breaking into Pannell’s Shoe Store in Cashel street, the De Luxe Milk Bar in High street, Kendall Electric Shop in Kendall avenue, and Milligans Radio, Ltd., in Colombo street, and unlawfully taking a truck, valued at £3OO, the property of Five Star Motors, Ltd. Topping pleaded guilty to a charge of breaking and entering the shop of Sedley Wells,

Ltd., in Tuam street. Irvine pleaded guilty to charges of wilful damage of a pane of glass, valued at 17s Id, the property of the Post Office at Alexandra, breaking and entering the premises of lan R. Little. Ltd. in Colombo street and the shop of Sedley Wells, Ltd. in Tuam street.

Sergeant Townshend said that a third person involved would appear later. Property valued at £309 2s had not been recovered. REMANDED IN CUSTODY “The community is getting sick and tired of burglary offences and you will all spend the week in custody, but 1 will make an order that you be kept apart from adult prisoners,” the Magistrate said when he remanded Barry William Wright, aged 18, a factory hand, John Milton Smith Oakley, aged 17, unemployed, and Kerry Joseph Garrett, aged 17. unemployed, to April 28 for sentence. The three pleaded guilty to joint charges pf breaking and entering the premises of MeHargs Food Centre in Colombo street and the surgery of Selwyn Carson in Colombo street. Oakley pleaded guilty to a charge of false pretences Involving a valueless cheque for £3, and Garrett admitted a similar charge Involving a valueless cheque for £l3 10s. THEFT AS SERVANT Geoffrey Miles, aged 35, a clerk, was remanded on bail to April 28 for sentence on a charge of theft as a servant of £lO, the property of the Metropolitan Trotting Club on April 9. He pleaded guilty. Sergeant Townshend said that Miles was employed at the Addington raceway as a turnstile attendant. He disconnected the numbering device on a turnstile for a period and put the admission money in his pocket. Miles said he needed the money for specialist treatment for his family. Six attendants had been stealing from the club. DROVE UNDER INFLUENCE Basil Joseph O’Malley, aged 40, a wood machinist (Mr W. F. Brown), was fined £35, and his driver’s licence was cancelled for three years, when he pleaded guilty to a charge of driving under the influence of drink or drugs on April 8 tn Blenheim road. Desmond Francis Wyatt, aged 1, a driver, was fined £4O and disqualified from driving for three years when he pleaded guilty to a charge of driving under the influence of drink or drugs on the Main South road on April 2. STOLE HUB CAPS Denis Murray Drinkwater, aged 20, a butcher’s assistant, pleaded guilty to a charge of stealing four hub caps valued at £l2, the property of Gary Andrew Lang. Sergeant Townshend said that the hub caps were stolen from a car parked at the Christchurch Speedway on February 26. Drinkwater was convicted and remanded to April 28 for sentence. . FOUND BEGGING Charged with being idle and disorderly in that he was found begging in Manchester street on April 7, Harold Herbert Baxter, aged 57, unemployed, was convicted and ordered to appear for sentence within 12 months if called upon. He pleaded guilty. DISORDERLY Lynette Joy Yeatman, aged 19, a machinist, was convicted and ordered to come up for sentence within 12 months If called upon on a charge of disorderly behaviour on March 15 in Cathedral square. She pleaded guilty. Mr R. G, Blunt appeared for Yeatman. TRESPASS Arthur Te Mete, aged 32 a bus driver, was fined £7 on a charge of wilfully trespassing at premises at 483 Moorhouse avenue on March 25. He pleaded guilty. ASSAULT Norman Lewis Taylor, aged 43, a metal-dealer, was convicted and fined £5 after pleading not guilty to a charge of assault on Bruce William Mote. Taylor said he saw Mote, a 12-year-old schoolboy, and two other children in his garden, which had twice won prizes. He denied hitting Mote but said he might have flicked him on the chin with his finger when '‘te'lMng him off.” He said he was quite angry and waving his hands around, but did not at any time use a closed fist. SUSPENDED SENTENCE Peter Maxwell Kellaway, aged 20, a salesman, pleaded guilty to a charge of unlawfully taking a motor-car valued at £lOO. and to a charge of driving without Sergeant Townshend said that both charges arose from an incident after a party on April 8. Kellaway, with the owner of the car and their girl-friends, left the party about 8.30 p.m. and while they were standing on the footpath an argument and a fight developed. The owner of the car went to telephone the police, and while he

was away Kellaway drove the car away.

Mr R. K. Godfrey, for the accused, said that it was not really a case of conversion. After the argument Kellawav drove the car about 250 yards out of sight and returned to the party.

On the charge of taking the car Kellaway was convicted and ordered to come up for sentence within 12 months if called upon. He was fined £5 for having no driver's licence. DISCHARGED Raynor John Moylan. aged 20. a student, was discharged without conviction under section 42 of the Criminal Justice Act on a charge of using obscene language in Bealey avenue on April 6. Sergeant Townshend said that at 1.15 a.m. plain-clothes Solicemen in a patrol car saw oylan sitting on the wall in front of Rochester Hall, a student hostel in Bealey avenue. When the constables approached Moylan and asked him what he was doing Moylan swore at them. Mr E. O. Sullivan, for the accused, said that Moylan had been approached by a man intending to molest him, and he thought the policemen had the same intention. He did not hear the police identify themselves. The language was a slip of the tongue. WARRANTS ISSUED A bench warrant for the arrest of James Roderick Reid, aged 21. a painter and paperhanger, was issued when he failed to appear on charges of assaulting Robert William Grossart on January 22 and wilfully damaging property belonging to Shirley Annette Dalton to the value of £3O. A warrant was also Issued for the arrest of Howard John Saint-Clair, aged 22, a salesman. on a charge of assaulting Michael Skokandich on October 6. (Before Mr E. A. Lee, S.M.) FINED £3O, BARRED Trevor Joseph Flannigan, aged 18, an apprentice panel-beater, was convicted and fined £3O and disqualified from driving for 18 months after pleading not guilty to two charges of driving in a manner that might have been dangerous. The charges were heard together. Detective Sergeant A. G. I. Rodgers said that Flannigan had been “drag-racing” at 2.30 a.m. on January 16. A few hours later Flannigan rolled his car over when driving at an excessive speed. The Magistrate said that although nobody apart from Flannigan was endangered, it was the potential danger that must be considered. CHARGE DISMISSED Malcolm William Moody, aged 24, John Oliver Cummings, aged 22, and Raymond Allan Rolston, aged 20, all soldiers, pleaded not guilty to a charge that between April 1 and April 2 they stole from a road roller parked on the Main West road near Lake Pearson two six-volt batteries valued at £l6 the property of the Ministry of Works. Mr S. G. Erber appeared for all three soldiers. The Magistrate, dismissing the charge, said that evidently the three had been stuck in their motor-car miles from anywhere when their battery failed. Clearly what they had done was not right, but the question was whether they had intended to return the batteries. He had some doubt, and they would have the benefit of it. SHOPS NOT CLOSED For failing to close shops, the following were fined:—L. R. French, £3; R. H. M. Aitken, £5; Cornerways (Chch.) Ltd., £8; B. H. Cunard, £5: Jack Kirwan Hillary. £5; Henry Hughes, £8; G. M. Langley, £5; Keith Pring, £8: Redcliffs Food Store, Ltd., £5; H. P. Sloan, £3; S. W. Smith, £3; Stuart Walton, Ltd., £5. TRAFFIC CHARGES The following were fined on traffic charges: Exceeded 30 miles an hour in tunnel. —Richard Katene, £6; lan Bryan MacGregor, £3. No driver’s licence.—Owen William Curtin, costs. Overtook in tunnel.—David Arthur Ford, £5; John Headley Mines, £3; Kenneth John Pycroft, £3: Alan Douglas McCaffrey, £3. FINED £2 For failing to send a child to school Alfred Haywood was fined £2. NOXIOUS WEEDS For breaches of the Noxious Weeds Act Paul Bohumil Krejei was fined £l5 and Maurice Edward Collier £5. (Before Mr H. Rosen, S.M.) CARELESS DRIVING Roderique John Arthur McKenzie, aged 26, a night security officer (Mr R. L. Kerr), pleaded not guilty to a charge of careless driving on December 18 in Memorial avenue. He was convicted and fined £7 10s. Constable P. R. Kavenagh said in evidence that McKenzie’s van struck a heavy concrete memorial plaque on the median strip. The van was lying 70ft from the point of Impact on its roof, and the plaque had been shifted 34ft. McKenzie smelt of liquor, but was dazed and badly cut about the face, so was not interviewed. McKenzie in evidence said that he swerved to avoid a dog, and a television set in the rear of the van moved. He reached back to steady it and took his eyes from the road for about 10 seconds. As he turned his right foot pressed on the accelerator. His action had forced the van to veer to its right, and he struck the plaque. Five hours before he had had four or five soz. beers and a meal afterwards. WARRANT ISSUED Robert Alister Bergman, aged 18, a workman, and Garry Malcolm Hutton, aged 18, a workman, failed to appear when charges against them were called. Bergman was charged that on February 27 he assaulted Geoffrey Charles Barr and that he used obscene language in Greers road. Hutton was charged that on February 27 he assaulted Gaye Robena Bailey and that he used obscene language in Greers road. After submissions by Mr M. G. L. Loughnan, who appeared for Bergman, the charges against Bergman were adjourned till May 2. Warrants for the arrest of Hutton were Issued. FINED £7 Margaret Blair, aged 29, a housewife (Mr A. B. Harman), pleaded not guilty to a charge of stopping her car in Deans avenue without giving reasonable notice of her intention, and guilty to a charge of having no warrant of fitness. She was convicted and fined £5 on the first charge and disqualified for two weeks. For having no warrant of fitness she was fined £2.