Magistrate’s Court £20 Of Bail Estreated For Failing To Appear

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31061, 17 May 1966, Page 9

Magistrate’s Court £20 Of Bail Estreated For Failing To Appear

It was the duty of a person on bail to appear when required and not to offer excuses for being unable to do so, Mr K. H. J. Headifen, S.M., said in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday when hearing an application for the estreatment of bail bonds against Colin Malcolm Hardaker, aged 27, a carpenter, and his mother, Eva Grace Field, both represented by Mr K. N, Hampton. Hardarker had been granted bail of £75, and his mother had acted as surety. He was arrested at Greymouth on February 14 after he failed to appear in the Christchurch Magistrate’s Court for a hearing earlier that day.

Hardaker said that on Sunday, February 13, he missed the only rail-car to leave Greymouth for Christchurch. He discovered that there was no other transport that day and the next rail-car left on the Monday morning. He reported to the Greymouth police station, where he was told to start walking. At 4 a.m. on February 14 he set out to hitch-hike to Christchurch and got to Reefton. There he got in touch with his lawyer in Christchurch and told him he would not be able to appear. On his return to Greymouth, he again reported to the police station, and was arrested. In evidence, Mrs Field said she had never had trouble when standing surety for Hardaker before. She was away' from Christchurch that week-end for health reasons.

The Magistrate said that Hardaker’s failure to appear arose solely through his own negligence, although the steps he took were reasonable. Too often bail was treated as a matter of course, and entering into a surety was not a matter to be taken lightly. Courts in the past took a very serious view of failure to appear. He ordered the estreatment of £l5 in respect of Hardaker’s bond and £5 in respect of Mrs Field’s bond. “I think such a substantial reduction is justified,” the Magistrate said. CHARGE ADMITTED William John Mclntosh, aged 21, unemployed, was remanded on bail to May 23 for sentence on a charge that, having received £lO from Joseph Molnar to be paid to the St. Albans Service Station Ltd., he fraudulently applied £8 16s to another purpose. Mclntosh, who was represented by Mr L. M. O’Reilly, pleaded guilty. Sergeant J. M. Phelan said that on March 21 Molnar gave Mclntosh £lO to pay a firm for the hire of a motorvehicle, and asked him to return the vehicle, obtain a receipt, and return the change. The accused agreed to do this that evening. On March 22 Molnar saw Mclntosh with the rental car at Burnham. Mclntosh claimed that he had paid the hire charge, and gave Molnar £1 4s change. When the accused was unable to produce a receipt Molnar got in touch with the rental firm and found that the bill had not been paid. . Mclntosh told the police that the matter had arisen through a misunderstanding. Later he admitted that on his dismissal from the Anny on March 21 he had got into considerable financial diffi-

culties and had decided to keep the money to pay for a flat and property to furnish it. When arrested, Mclntosh had £7 10s in his possession, which he admitted was part of the £lO he had been given by Molnar. Restitution amounted to £1 6s, Sergeant Phelan said. FOUND ON SHIP Anne Nina Paki, aged 29, a factory worker, pleaded guilty to charges that on May 14 she refused to leave the overseas ship Elin Haven after being ordered to do so by a constable and that she was found on the ship unlawfully. Detective-Sergeant B. I. S. Kimber said the chief officer of the ship told the Lyttelton police that there was trouble in one of the cabins. It was found that Paki had travelled in the ship from Wellington. She was asked to leave, but said she would go when she felt like it. After repeated warnings she had to be removed from the ship. Paki had 4s in her possession, he said. Paki was remanded in custody for sentence on May 23 FINED £lO Roy Joseph Moase, aged 51, a cook, pleaded guilty to a charge of being found unlawfully on premises on May 16. He was convicted and fined £lO.

Detective-Sergeant Kimber said that the proprietor of a boarding-house in Fitzgerald avenue returned home to find Moase asleep in his bed. Moase said that he had thought the boarding-house was where he was lodging. Inquiries showed he had not been booked in anywhere. Moase had a long list of convictions, he said. To the Magistrate, Moase said he had a job in Culverden which was still open to him. He had been trying to keep off liquor in the country, but had been in town for a few days and had been drinking.

IDLE AND DISORDERLY Pahi Sheila Webber, aged 19, unemployed, was convicted and remanded in custody for sentence when she pleaded guilty to being idle and disorderly. Detective Sergeant Kimber said that at 2.30 a.m. on May 16 the police searched a ship at Lyttelton and found Webber in bed with a seaman. She told the police that she liked being on ships. DRUNKENNESS Hugh Menzies McDonald, aged 50, a marine engineer, pleaded guilty to a charge that on May 15 he was found drunk in Manchester street, having been convicted of the same offence twice in the previous six months. He was convicted and fined £3, in default four days’ imprisonment. FORCED DOOR Reuben Theodore, aged 21, a freezing worker, pleaded guilty to a charge that on May 16 he wilfully caused £5 worth of damage to a door, the property of Graham Ritchie. He was convicted and, fined £lO, and ordered to make restitution of £5. Detective Sergeant Kimber said that Theodore called to see his girl friend at her flat,! and on being refused entry forced the door. FINED £5 Robert Scott Mclntyre, an engineer, aged 22, was fined £5 for interfering with a truck at Lyttelton on May 16. He pleaded guilty. ON RACECOURSE John George Foley, aged 25, a salesman, was fined £4 for being unlawfully on a racecourse. He pleaded guilty. Daniel Tinirau, aged 34, a workman, also pleaded guilty to being found unlawfully on a racecourse, and was fined £5. LIQUOR FINES Found on hotel premises after hours, Annie Stanbury, Colin Bolcher Stanbury, Doreen Violet Grant, Edwin George Grant, and Steve Louros were each fined £3.