MAGISTRATE’S COURT Psychiatric Treatment Ordered For Man Who Started Fires

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32011, 11 June 1969, Page 9

MAGISTRATE’S COURT Psychiatric Treatment Ordered For Man Who Started Fires

A man who set fire to a houseand a garage in Hastings Street on April 1 was sentenced to three years probation with special conditions when he appeared for sentence before Mr E. S. J. Crutchley, S.M., in the Magistrate's Court yesterday. Sidney Frank Toon, aged 46, a checker (Mr A. Hearn), was admitted to probation with the condition that he apply immediately for admission to Sunnyside mental hospital as a voluntary patient, and he was directed to take such medical and psychiatric treatment as recommended by the probation officer. Mr Hearn said that extensive psychiatric tests had shown Toon to be of borderline intelligence, having an intelligence quotient of 79. The doctors, however, did i.ot consider him to be certifiable at present In 1953, Toon had been assessed as having a mental age of eight or nine, and had spent six years in a mental hospital as a mediumgrade feeble-minded person. “The accused cannot help the type of person he is,” Mr Hearn said. “He is a man who has struggled through life with what he was born with. He can do nothing about his inadequacies, and whatever he has done, he has a very diminished sense of responsibility.”

Because of Toon’s mental state, and his poor physical health, no useful purpose could be served by sending him to prison, Mr Hearn said.

“His level of mental health should be preserved as best it can. In the circumstances, I submit the just, humane, and common-sense course would be to allow him to take treatment in a mental hospital,” Mr Hearn said. “Normally this offence would bring a sentence of imprisonment,” the Magistrate told Toon. “I would not otherwise hesitate to impose imprisonment, but you are certainly in need of treatment “This offence caused considerable concern among the people who live in the area, and it would not be just to suppress your name. The residents are entitled to know who lit the fires, and accordingly no suppression will be ordered.” CHARGE DISMISSED A charge of careless driving against Eric Stanley Baxter was dismissed. Baxter (Mr J. 11. Wilson) was charged after an accident at 1.15 a.m. in Foremans Road, in which his car struck a parked truck, the owner of which was subsequently convicted of having no rear red light. Dismissing the charge, the Magistrate said that conflicting evidence about street lights in the area made it unsafe to enter a conviction. (Before Mr W. F. Brown, S.M.) BORSTAL "The risk of leaving you in the community at this stage is too great,” the Magistrate said when sentencing Phillip Taihoa Carroll, aged 17, a freezing worker (Mr D. H. Stringer), to Borstal training on a charge of assaulting Constable B. W. Goodwin on June 2. He had previously been convicted. The Magistrate said the public interest had to be considered by the Court in a serious charge of this kind. "In your own interest and in the interest of the community a sentence of Borstal training is the most appropriate.” He said the defendant’s past offences included burglary, assault, fighting, theft, disorderly behaviour, resisting arrest and obscene language. Mr Stringer said liquor played a major part in the defendant’s offending. He tended to seek out trouble when he had been drinking. DISORDERLY

A young woman who admitted having lived on the streets and slept in alleys for the last month was convicted and remanded in custody to June 17 for sentence on charges of being idle and disorderly on June 9 in that she had insufficient lawful means of support, and theft of a deerskin purse valued at $1.30 from McPhail and Fisher, Ltd, on the same date.

The defendant, Susan Mary Barbara Gallagher, aged 17, an unemployed factory hand, pleaded guilty to both charges. Detective Sergeant B. J. Preston said the defendant dropped the deerskin purse when she called at the C. 1.8. office with a companion on June 9 to inquire about some stolen property. She then admitted having stolen it from a bag shop. The defendant said she had been unable to keep a job since coming to Christchurch from Auckland in December. She had lived on the streets and slept in alleyways for a month. The defendant was in a dirty and unkempt condition, Detective Sergeant Preston said. INDECENT FILM A man, whose name was suppressed, was remanded on bail to June 18 for sentence on a charge of offering an indecent document—an 8 mm. film—for sale on May 9. He pleaded guilty. Detective Sergeant Preston said that on May 7 a complaint was made to the Christchurch vice squad by a 27-year-old woman, who said that she had been shown an indecent film bv the defendant about a month before. When interviewed the defendant said that he had bought the film from an unknown man at Lyttelton about six months previously. The defendant said that he had asked the manager of a Christchurch photographic studio to buy the film for $4O, but he had declined. A few days later he had shown the film to the manager’s companion, the complainant, in the hope that she would be able to persuade him to buy the film.

The defendant admitted that the film was indecent. Detective Sergeant Preson said Mr B. S. McLaughlin, who appeared for the defendant, said that the defendant was

, married with young children. If his name was published he would lose his job. The woman ' had not made a complaint - until a month after she had seen the film. The Magistrate made an order for interim suppression of the . defendant's name and ordered that the film be destroyed. BURGLARY A youth who stole cigarettes valued at $15.52 from a service station in Warrington Street gained entry to the premises by removing a sheet of plywood from the wall of an adjoining flat where he was visiting with a friend. Detective Sergeant Preston told the Court. The defendant, Robert Maurice Timlick, aged 19, an unemployed labourer (Mr L. M. O’Reilly), pleaded guilty to the charge of burglary of Neville’s Service Station on June 8. He was convicted and remanded on bail to June 17 for sentence. Detective Sergeant Preston said a quantity of cigarettes was found in the defendant’s possession when his room was searched on June 9. The defendant admitted taking them with another youth the previous evening when they broke into the service station. Cigarettes valued at $11.78 were recovered and restitution of $3.72 was sought. PERIODIC DETENTION Phillip Toby Kemp, aged 17, a forestry worker, was sentenced to periodic detention at the Bristol Street centre on charges of assaulting a constable and fighting in Canterbury Court hall on June 2. He had previously been convicted. The Magistrate said the defendant had a poor work record and his response had been poor while on probation. “You need a good sharp shock but the probation officer thinks periodic detention may be the appropriate course,” he said. FINED $75 Warren Darcy Broughton, aged 21, a student, was fined $75, was ordered to pay medical expenses of $6.30 and his driver’s licence was cancelled for six months on a charge of driving when the proportion of alcohol in his blood exceeded 100 milligrams. He pleaded guilty and was represented by Mr L. M. O’Reilly. Detective Sergeant Preston said that at 1.40 a.m. on May 4 a Transport Department traffic officer saw a car being driven by Broughton in Riccarton Road in an erratic manner. The vehicle was exceeding the speed limit and used the wrong lane at traffic lights. A blood sample taken at the Central Police Station revealed that Broughton had 125 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood. Mr O’Reilly said that Broughton was a first year student at university. After leaving school he had worked for four years as an agricultural contractor and had driven a large number of miles without ever having a traffic conviction. DISCHARGED

Murray Charles Parsons, aged 20, a dairy worker, and Henry Roland Hudson, aged 17, a student (Mr I. J. S. Reeves), were each discharged from custody and the hearing in respect of their conviction and sentence adjourned until September 9 when they appeared for sentence on six joint charges of wilfully damaging letter boxes on June 1, and a charge of disorderly behaviour In Shirley Road on the same date.

The Magistrate said he adjourned the hearing with a view to discharging the defendants without conviction under the Criminal Justice Act provided they were of good behaviour in the meantime, paid restitution of $9 each, and paid $5O towards the costs of prosecution.

Mr Reeves said the incident started with one of the defendants inadvertently knocking over a letter box. They then started pushing others over and as a result spent nine hours in the police cells. "They wish to make a public apology for their acts, which were the result of excessively high spirits caused by alcohol. They have already suffered considerable humiliation and punishment,” Mr Reeves said. FINED $lOO Russell George Peterson, aged 24, a foreman (Mr G. T. Mahon), was convicted and fined $lOO and disqualified from driving for six months when he pleaded guilty to a charge of driving in Hereford Street on May 8 with an excessive blood alcohol content. Detective Sergeant Preston said the defendant was seen to drive on to the incorrect side of the road and then drive down the centre of the road for 200 yards. A breath alcohol test was postiive and a test taken 25 minutes later at the police station was also positive. A blood test taken gave an alcohol content of 180 milligrams per 100 millilitres of blood. THEFT Susan Dawn Kirton, aged 17, an unemployed machinist, was convicted and remanded on bail to June 17 for sentence on three charges of theft in May and June. She pleaded guilty to the charges of stealing a driver’s licence and transistor radio valued at $ll on or about May 4. stealing two pairs of nylon panties valued at $2 on June 9, and stealing an overcoat valued at $l5 on June 8. Detective Sergeant Preston said the defendant admitted taking the licence and radio from a parked car in May. She took the coat from a car parked in a driveway on June 8, and the panties from a display bin in Fashion House the next day. He said the police had been unable to trace the owner of the coat.

FAILED TO REPORT On a charge of failing to report while on probation at Wellington on May 21, John Lindsay White, aged 17, unemployed, was convicted and remanded on bail to June 17 for sentence. He pleaded guilty. REHEARING A rehearing was granted and the conviction previously entered set aside when Gary Frank Patterson, aged 24, a storeman, appeared for sentence on a charge of being found without lawful excuse in the Princess Margaret Hospital Nurses’ Home on June 1. He was recharged with the offence and pleaded not guilty. He was remanded on bail to June 25. Mr G. R. Lascelles, who appeared for the defendant, said Patterson was not represented by counsel at the original hearing. The defendant wished to change bis plea as a result of seeking legal advice.

ROGUE AND VAGABOND Ralph Lionel Gilbert Joyce, aged 24, a storeman, was

remanded on bail to June 17 for sentence on a charge that he was deemed to be a rogue and a vagabond in that being a suspected person he frequented Chester Street. He pleaded guilty. Detective Sergeant Preston said that about 11.30 p.m. on Mondav a girl returning to the Helen Connon Hall Girls’ Hostel in Chester Street noticed a car parked on the, wrong side of the road. She realised that this was the car which had been parked in the same position on evenings for the previous two months and a half. The occupant of the car had performed acts of indecency in view of the girls at the hostel. When the police arrived they found Joyce seated in the front of the car with his overalls down around his knees and his jeans unbuttoned. He hurriedly sat up and began re-arranging his clothes. Joyce admitted having been in the locality on numerous occasions during the previous two months and a half and said that he had not committed any indecency on that evening but had done so in the past. Detective Sergeant Preston said. REMANDED Robert Gilbert John Lewis, aged 20, an unemployed freezing worker, was again remanded in custody to June 17 for sentence when he appeared for sentence on charges of unlawfully taking a car, theft of petrol, and failing to report at the work centre. The Magistrate said he proposed to sentence the defendant to detention centre training but no vacancy was avail able until next week. MISCELLANEOUS OFFENCES In miscellaneous prosecutions brought by the police, convictions were entered and fines im posed as follows: Drove in manner which might have been dangerous: H. Watson, $4O. disqualified for one jear, (no warrant of fitness. Failed to give wav to the right: D. S. McLennan, $2O; S Park. $25. Proceeded from stop sign be fore way clear: B. J. Garrett. $3O. Minor found in hotel bar: Philip John Foulkes, $8; Guy Leonard Tombleson. $7. Consumed liquor in hotel after hours: William Barry Lane, $lO. (Before Mr P. L. Molineaux. S.M.). COSTS REQUESTED A charge of careless driving, brought against Peter Elliot Hope, aged 54, an Air Force squadron leader, was dismissed An application for costs against the police was refused. Hope was represented by Mr J M WHson. Hope was charged after his car and another collided at the intersection of Idris Road and Glandovey Road Evidence was given that Hope had moved for ward from the stop sign as a Eolice car turned right across is path from the other side. Hope sdid he had been forced to stop by the police car, and had been unable to clear the intersection before being struck by a car coming from nis left "If the police car had been

travelling straight across, there would have been no collision,” the Magistrate said. "The defendant was entitled to assume he had the right of way.” Mr Wilson then applied for costs against the police, saying the prosecution was brought apparently. because a police car was involved. (Before Mr H. J. Evans, S.M.). TRAFFIC CASES In traffic cases brought by the Christchurch City Council traffic department, convictions were entered and fines imposed as follows, with costs $5 in each case:— Exceeded 30 miles an hour: G. A. Macdonald, $l2; R. La V Dowler, $7; R. V. Coutts, $11;' A. D. T. Malcolm, $7; D. H. Anthony, $10; E. T. Archer. $9; H. A, Arnold, $l6; R. V. Hall, $l2; B F. Witham, $10; M. C. Wilson, $l5; V. Blake, $lO (no driver’s licence, $2O and disqualified for three months); A. J. Butterfield, $10; C. J. Cammock, $10; D. M. Cross, $10; G. N. Douglas, $l2; D. I. Flowers, $10; P. A. Foord, $9: W. J. Hawker, $l2; M A. Hunt, $l3; W. A. Jarden, $l5; I. R. Lennon. $l2; N. Lunt, $lO (carried pillion passenger while restricted, costs and disqualified for three months; pillion passenger failed to wear helmet, costs only); K. J. McQuilkan, $10; J. H. Osgood, $9; P. A. Reid, $lO (no safety helmet, $5); S. F. Ripley, $9; A. H. Sandford, $4O; G. R. Turner, $l2; M. M. Wahanui, $l2; P. M. J. Walsh. $9; C. J. Wood, $l2; L. D. Harris. $l2; A. H. Sandford, $l4. Dangerous speed: O. F. Nuttridge, $6O and disqualified for one year; M. Nicol, $5O and disqualified for one year; A. W. Green, $lOO and disqualified for two years. Insufficient lights: R. R. Saunders, $7; T. Suszko, $lO (failed to keep left, $10); N. J. Barclay. $l3: D. J. Carroll. $lO and disq» tied for three months (obs ted traffic officer, $40); P. S. ...aclver, $lO. Careless use: H. J. Hooft, $25; G. A. Sawtell, $l5; B. H. Nimmo, $2O; G. Stagg, $l5. Failed to stop at sign: A. Galbraith, $5; J. J. Lilly. $5: R. J. E. Ivory. $25 and disqualified for one month; P. F. Jackson, $7. Used noisy vehicle: M. N. Cottrell. $25; D. W. Butler. $25 (used unregistered vehicle. $lO and disqualified for three months; no warrant of fitness, $5). Failed to stop at lights: B. J. Allan, $l2; R. N. David, $l6; R. A. Hunsche, $2O and disqualified for two months; A. J. Lewis, $25; L. A. P. McKenzie, $lO (no brakes on cycle), $10); G. N. Parker, $3O. Proceeded from stop sign before way was clear: W. Andrew. $2O. Failed to give way: M. R. Neilson. $2O; 8. T. Toth, $2O, and disqualified for two months; S. F. Clarke, $25; J. A. Duckmanton, $3O. Failed to keep left: B. M. Campbell, $9; W. Lyons, $10; B. D. Wilmer. $l2. Unable to stop in half distance between vehicles: C. D. Elston, $5. Failed to remove paint from road: L. C. D. Owens. $4O. No heavy traffic licence: M. J. Chappell, $5.