MAGISTRATE’S COURT Two Men Convicted Of Stealing Scrap Wire

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31908, 8 February 1969, Page 18

MAGISTRATE’S COURT Two Men Convicted Of Stealing Scrap Wire

Gavin Charles Hamilton, aged 30. a scrap metal dealer, and Peter Francis Arnold, aged 23, a truck, driver, were each convicted and fined $2O by Mr E. S. J. Curtchley, S.M., in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday on a charge of stealing scrap wire valued at $3, the property of Henry Jacob, on October 26. They were represented by Mr M. G. L. Loughnan and pleaded not guilty.

A charge against each of being a rogue and vagabond on the same date was withdrawn. The hearing began on Thursday. Mr Jacob gave evidence that he was at home about 12.50 a.m. and had seen a car pass his house several times. He I went outside and saw the car stop by his gate. Two men left the car and entered his yard. He called the police and later identified scrap metal in the boot of the car as having come from his yard. Constable L. J. Bruce said he went to the complainant’s house with a police dog. He i saw a man, with a torch, sort- ; ing through a 44-galion drum |of scrap, and wearing a glove on one hand. Another man was standing a few yards off. The men said their car had broken down and they were looking for a spanner. ! Detective Constable W. R. Withers said he interviewed the defendants on the night I concerned. He also tested the car, and found no fault with it. The defendants had told him they went to the prem- ' ises to ask for use of a telephone and, not receiving any answer at the door, had I ! looked for a spanner in the ’ yard. In evidence, Hamilton said he wore the glove to protect his hands when working. The other glove must have been lost that day. Mr Loughnan submitted that the charge could not be upheld because the defendants had given a lawful excuse for being in the yard. “It would be a lawful excuse if you expected to find a telephone at the bottom of a 44-gallon drum full of scrap metal,” the Magistrate said, rejecting the submission. In finding the charge

proved, the Magistrate said he accepted Mr Jacob’s evidence that he saw the defendants clearly enter his yard and move about the yard. The story of car trouble was not substantiated, and if the defendants were on the premises for the reason they gave, they had taken an excessively

long time knocking on the door. The scrap found in the car established the charge beyond doubt.

I On a charge of careless , driving on September 15, . Arnold was convicted and dis- ; charged. ! TRAFFIC CASES I In prosecution brought- by . the Transport Department, convictions were entered and lines ’ Imposed as follows. With Court costs of S 3 in each:— Carelessly used motor vehicle: 1 Michael Jackson Hart, $3O; lan I Harold Pattison, $25 and licence . cancelled for three months , (charge reduced from one of driving in a dangerous manner). Proceeded from stop sign : when way was not clear: HerI bert Stanley Grenfell, Court . costs, and witness’s expenses. , (Before Mr W. F. Brown. S.M.) DISCHARGED “Don’t be so stupid in future and get led into an affair of ‘ this kind again.’’ the Magistrate said when ordering Douglas Costas Bllinor, aged 17, A seaman, , to pay costs of $l5 on a charge of theft of 200 cigarettes valued at $3.30 from the Shaw Savlll and Albion Company at Napier on January 10. Ellinor pleaded guilty to the charge and was discharged without conviction under section 42 of the Criminal Justice Act on immediate payment of costs. Senior-Sergeant F: G. Mulcare said members ofc the crew of the m.v. Doric broke Into a locker on the vessel and took a quantity of cigarettes during a voyage between Lyttelton and Napier. The defendant was one of those involved. The defendant at first denied taking cigarettes, but he admitted the offence when his fingerprints were found on a carton which he had returned when inquiries were being made. RECEIVING On a charge of receiving 200 cigarettes valued at $3.30 from s. J. Newman on January 18, knowing them to have been dishonestly obtained, Charles Alfred Dart, aged 43, a seaman, was convicted and fined $2O, in default of immediate payment 10 days imprisonment. ’ He pleaded guilty. Senior-Sergeant Mulcare said the defendant received the cigarettes from a deck boy knowing they had been stolen. THEFT A youth, whose name was suppressed. was remanded on ball to February 14 for sentence on charges of theft of seven glass jars, valued at $1.40, and unlawfully interfering with a car on October 27. He pleaded guilty. Senior-Sergeant Mulcare said the defendant and a companion took the jars from a parked car about 2 a.m. after- breaking fuel leads In the engine and pulling out distributor wiring. Damage amounted to $28.40. SUPPRESSED A woman, whose name was suppressed, was remanded on bail to February 14 when she pleaded guilty to charges of theft of clothing valued at $22 from a Christchurch shop On January 29, and theft of clothing valued at $lO from another shop on December 24. Senior-Sergeant Mulcare said the defendant got in touch with ' the police and voluntarily confessed to stealing the clothing. I

In both cases she put clothing in a duffle bag and left the store without paying. DETENTION Gary Kenneth Southern, aged 17, a post maker, was sentenced to detention centre training when he appeared for sentence on eight charges of burglary, one charge of attempted burglary, -• and one charge of unlawfully taking a motor vehicle. He had previously; been cdhVieted. The offences were committed in Christchurch; Wellington and Kaikourv. between October 22 and-January ft. FOUND IN BAR On a charge a! being a minor found In. a hotel bar, Felicity Smith, aged 19. a receptionist, was convicted and fined $B. She pleaded guilty by letter. TRAFFIC OFFENCES In police traffic prosecutions convictions were entered and fines imposed as follows, with costs of $8 tn each case:— Failed to give way at pedestrian crossing: Edward Michael Drake. $25, disqualified for three months.

,„E ai3ecl V e ‘ ve w, y at "tan: William James Harvey Coop, Flo. Failed to comply with traffic l!£ hts: *<taineld Alan Harris, $25, disqualified for three months. ,top at taaffic lights: Gilbert Moxon, $lO, disqualified for one month. „.J’P ab, « , t 0 Bt °P within half visible distance: George Cecil Garbert, $3B. (Before Mr J. D. Kinder. S.M.) DISMISSED The prosecution has not been a J le to establish a case,” said the Magistrate when dismissing a , char B e against Charles Robert Turner, aged 31, a driver (Mr K. N. Hampton), of unlawful sexual Intercourse with a girl then aged 12 years six months at Springfield on Decernbcf.. *•• Thmer pleaded not guilty to the charge. ARSON CHARGE The hearing of depositions in a charge of araon against Roderick Paul Brown, aged 23. an unemployed workman (Mr R. L. Kerr), began yesterday before Mr R. H. Harris add Mr J. C. Cottrell, Justices of the Peace. The hearing was adjourned to February 14, after nine of the 15 witnesses for the prosecution had given evidence. Brown pleaded not guilty to a charge of wilfully setting fire to a building at 39 Springfield Road on April 20 last year. Detective Sergeant R. G. MeMeeking said that on April 19 and 20 last year, the Fire Brigade was called to three fires at Flat 2, 39 Springfield Road. The first fire occurred about 8.58 p.m. on April 10, the second about midnight on the same day and the third about 11.47 p.m. on April 20. On April 22, at 7.45 p.m. the police who were investigating the fires, called at the address. They found some petrol spread at the back of the fiat and out on the porch. It was in respect of the third fire that Brown was being charged. The prosecution would call 15 witnesses and 29 exhibits would be presented, he said.

Evidence would be given concerning the three fires and the finding of petrol on the porch. A police fingerprint expert would also give evidence that the defendant’s fingerprints were found on petrol tins, said Detective Sergeant McMeeking.