MAGISTRATE'S COURT Two Years Imprisonment For Eleven Burglaries

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32032, 5 July 1969, Page 16

MAGISTRATE'S COURT Two Years Imprisonment For Eleven Burglaries

"Burglary is a very prevalent offence at the moment and these particular offences were bad ones of the kind,” Mr W. F. Brown, S.M., said in the Magistrate’s Court yes; terday when imposing a sentence of two years imprisonment on Brian Richard Williams, aged 23, a driver. Williams (Mr A. P. C. Tipping) had previously been convicted on 11 charges of burglary involving property worth $4078.51 between January and June. Mr Tipping said financial difficulties were the basic reason for the chain of offences. The defendant’s creditors were pressing him. The Magistrate said he could see no possible excuse for the very serious offences the defendant had committed. Many of them involved large sums of money. He said the public interest had to be considered, and the penalty include some deterrent aspect. The minimum sentence he could consider was two years imprisonment. PERIODIC DETENTION

Frederick Vintiner, aged 23, a carpenter, was sentenced to periodic detention for six months, fined $2OO, ordered to make restitution of $240 and released on probation for 18 months when he appeared for sentence on a charge of stealing a boat, outboard motor and trailer valued at $1230 on April 19. He was represented by Mr R. L. Kerr.

The Magistrate said any further conviction for dishonesty could only mean imprisonment

Detention tor four months in the adult' periodic detention centre was imposed on Robyn Ewen James Kempthorne. aged 30. a taxi-driver (Mr G. B. Lascelles). when he was sentenced on a charge ot stealing an overnight bag and contents valued at *l2 at Lyttelton ofr June 19. Mr Lascelles said the defendant had had a fair amdunt of liquor to drink at the time of the offence. "This was a mean and deceitful offence of its kind.” the Magistrate said. “You will go straight to prison if you appear on a charge of dishonesty again.

“If you luufi any brains ati all you will do something about this alcohol/* Hi said. DEFERRED SENTENCE Appearing for* sentence on charges of being idle and, disorderly, stowing aud committing a breach dt probation, Marion Regina Sweeney* aged 22. a fruit picker <Mr E. T. Higgins>, wqs ordered to. come Up tor sentence in 12 months if called on. The Magistrate ,styd< she had been tn prison or hospital with Infective hepatitis for the month. She wduld not be able to drink for -a- year because of her recent illness and this would lessen the chance of her getting into trouble again. PROBATION AND J*INE Robert Cooper.: aged 18. labourer 1 (Mr -W, A. Wilson), was released on probation for one year and fined $2O when he was sentenced on a charge of unlawfully interfering with a truck on June 8. He had previously been convicted.

RELEASED.ON PROBATION A man whose name was suppressed (Mr W. A. Wilson), was convicted and released on probation for 12 months when he appeared for sentence on a charge of the theft of ID long playing records valued at $87.75 on June 6. He was also ordered to live and work where directed and to take such medical of other psychiatric treatment as directed by the probation officer. Mr Wilson said that the offence was committed after the man took an overdose of prescribed drugs combined with alcohol. He was also in a state of depression. The man also suffered from some psychological and emotional disturbance for which he had spent several days in hospital last year after he had voluntarily presented himself for treatment. STOLE MONEY “It is vital for you to maintain a record* for honesty/’ said the Magistrate when discharging a youth whose name was suppressed when he. appeared for sentence on a theft of milk bottle money totalling 65c on March 23. The youth was discharged from custody to July 18 for sentence with a view to being discharged without conviction. He was ordered to pay $2O towards the cost of the prdsecution. The Magistrate said that the probation officer’s report showed that the youth had some difficulties in his home life and. had to rely largely on his sister. When he left her he bad found it difficult to settle without any family and it was theri that he had got into the present trouble. t TRAFFIC OFFENCES In traffic prosecutiona brought by the Ministry of Transport convictions were entered ahd fines imposed as follows, with costs of $5 in each case:— Exceeded 40 miles an hour: B. L. Crook, $2O (failed to produce driver's licence, $6). Exceeded axle weight: B. L. Tozer. $lO (exceeded certificate of loading. $3). (Before Mr H. J. Evans, S,M.) THEFTS ADMITTED Gavin Edgar William Kinsman. aged $2, a press hand, and a girl whose name was suppressed. were convicted and remanded on bail to July 18 for sentence on four jeint charges of theft, three further charges of , theft against Kinsman alone and four further charges of theft against the girl. Both pleaded guilty to all charges and were represented by Mr R. J. Allan. The girl pleaded not guilty to one charge of theft and was remanded on ball to July 24 for a hearing. Sergeant G. F. Davidson said that on June 19 the defendants went into Millers, Ltd, to have lunch. Kinsman removed a brassiere from a stand and put it under his jersey. After having lunch the defendants were about to leave when they were approached by a store detective. Kinsman had the brassiere, a pair of panty hose and a pair of socks under his jersey. Thi.girl admitted shielding him while he took the articles. Their .flat was searched and a quantity of stolen property was found. The charges included theft of socks, clocks, cigaretes,* nylon briefs, a bracelet,, jerseys, a

skirt, false eyelashes, a book, gloves and handbags between May 15 and June 19 from Millers, McKenzies, Woolworths, Hay's and others. ASSAULTED WATCHMAN A youth who assaulted a watchman at Lyttelton on July 3, causing the watchman to suffer a black eye, bruises, lacerations to the head, and a c Ut which required nine stitches above the left eye, was convicted and remanded in custody to July 11 for a probation officer’s report and sentence on a charge of assault. Robert Charles Bourne, aged 20, a ship’s eighth engineer, pleaded guilty to the charge. Sergeant Davidson said that abouf 9.45 p.m. on July 3, the watchman was on duty near the container terminal at Lyttelton when Bourne entered the yarfl where new. cars were parked./ When the watchman asked Bpurne to leave, Bourne grabbed him by the shoulders, and butted him with his head, causing the watchman to fall and gash his head on a concrete block building. The watchman went into a building to telephone the police. Bourne- followed him. but ran off when he saw him on the telephone. When apprehended later by the police Bourne denied the assault.

CHARGES ADJOURNED A charge against Easter Motors, Ltd, of committing a breach of the .Hire Purchase and Credit Sales Stabilisation Regulations on February 18, on which the Magistrate was to have given his decision, was adjourned to July 22. The facts were given to the Court on Tuesday after a plea of guilty had been entered by Mr A. N. Maclean. On that day a charge against Derek Norman Goodwin of aiding Easter Motors to commit an offence was adjourned to yesterday. Mr W. A. Wilson appeared for Goodwin yesterday and said Goodwin intended entering a plea of not guilty. His case was adjourned to July 22 and the Magistrate said he would reserve his decision on Easter Motors until then. EIGHT CHARGES Pleading guilty to eight charges of theft between April 29 and June 4, a girl .whose name was suppressed (Mr I. J. S. Reeves), was convicted and remanded om bail to July 14 for a probation officer’s report and sentence. The charges included’ theft of a shirt, a dress, a nylon parka, a record cleaner, two u brassieres, a woollen jersey, 1 two petticoats and three long playing records worth a total • of $48.63 from Christchurch i shops. Sergeant Davidson said that all the property had been recovered. ASSAULTED WIFE Pleading guilty to a charge [ of assaulting Margaret Daphne i Marshall on July 3. Francis Brian Marshall, aged 25, a carpenter, was convicted and fined $l5. Sergeant Davidson said that after Marshall arrived home about 8.57 p.m. on July 3, he abused his wife; accused her of associating with other men and'then struck her four blows about the head. When the police arrived Mrs Marshall had suffered a severe bruise to the forehead and was in a distressed condition, Marshall had been drinking, but was not drtink. REMANDED Barry Lester Neiling, aged 23, an assembler, was convicted and remanded on bail to July 15 for a probation officer’s report and sentence on a charge of theft of a transistor radio, a watch and| assorted groceries worth a total of $57 on July 2. He pleaded guilty to the charge. Sergeant Davidson said that the articles had been stolen from a parked car. When interviewed afterwards by the police Neiling admitted that after drinking with a friend h«i had committed the offence. Property worth $3O had been recovered. DISORDERLY BEHAVIOUR A gin who threw a parcel containing six bottles of beer at a police car, smashing them over the boot of the car, after her boyfriend had been arrested, was convicted and fined $l5 oh a charge of behaving in a disorderly manner in Colombo Street on July 3. Christina Avis Barnes, aged 17,

a line assembler, pleaded guilty to the charge.

OFFENSIVE MATTER For casting offensive matter in Samuel Street on May 31, George Murray Waerea, aged 34, a driver (Mr D. H. Stringer), was convicted And fined $l2. He pleaded guilty to the charge.

FIGHTING Two men were each convicted and fined $l5 on a charge of fighting in Colombo Street on July 3. The defendants, Benjamin Smith, aged 22, a slaughterman, and John Arthur Hawley, aged 22, a carpenter, pleaded guilty to the charge. Sergeant Davidson said the defendants started fighting on the footpath and continued fighting on the roadway when a constable requested a group of persons loitering outside the Club Tavern to move on. Several scuffles developed at the time.

EXCESS ALCOHOL Thomas Alfred Hammond : aged 45, a watersidcr, was convicted and fined $6O, disqualified for 18 months, and ordered to pay medical expenses of $10.50 on a charge of driving in the Lyttelton road tunnel on May 31 with an excessive blood-alcohol content. He pleaded* guilty and was represented by Mr A. K. Grant. Sergeant Davidson said the defendant’s car had been seen to weave from side to side in the tunnel. A blood sample 200 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood. Mr Grant said the defendant had been adjusting his car heater and this caused him to weave slightly. He had been under considerable emotional strain and had been drinking more than usual. ESTREATMENT An application for the estreatment of bail money totalling $lOO was granted when Victor John Tansey. aged 25, unemployed, failed to appear in answer to his bail on a charge of theft of a side drum and set of cymbals valued at $6O on February 12. The application was granted jn respect of the defendant's own. recognisance of $5O and the $5O bond entered into by his surety, Garry Martin Tansey, a brother. Formal evidence was given that the defendant had been remanded on bail to March 7 when he appeared on February 13 and pleaded not guilty to the charge. The defendant failed to appear and it was believed that he had gone to Australia. T INDECENT ASSAULT Oh charges of indecently assaulting a girl aged nine and indecently assaulting a boy aged eight, a man whose name was suppressed (Mr G. R. Lascelles), was convicted and fined $5O on each charge. He pleaded guilty. Sergeant Davidson said the man was travelling on a North Canterbury bus on May 14 when the offences occurred. On his rare trips to Christchurch he drank heavily and on this occasion he was under the influence of liquor. He was elderly and had a heart complaint and when working in the country he did not drink. FINED $45 Robert Allan Harris, aged 33, a water’ ranger . (Mr D. H. Stringer), was convicted and fined $3O on a charge of assaulting C. P. Collins at Kirw'ee on June 15 and $l5 on a charge of trespassing. Harris pleaded guilty to both charges. Mr Stringer said the matter was essentially a domestic dispute. Harris thought his de facto wife, with whom he had been living for seven years, was living with the complainant. AIDED STOWAWAYS Jeffrey Hamilton, aged 19. a deckhand, and Mathew Patrick Conlon, aged 21, a seaman, were each convicted and fined $2O, in default of immediate payment 12 days imprisonment, when they pleaded guilty to a charge of aiding a person to stow away on the m.v. Essex at Wellington on July 2. Sergeant Davidson said each defendant obtained a visitor’s pass for a girl-friend at midday. The visitors were supposed to leave the ship at 6.3.0 p.m. but were still on board when it sailed at 7 p.m. DISCHARGED

William Brian Anderson, aged 35, a charge hand, was dis-

charged without conviction when he pleaded guilty to a charge of obtaining a meal valued at $1.30 by a false pretence on July 3. Sergeant Davidson said the defendant had a meal in the Shanghai Cafe about 7 p.m. and left without paying. When stopped outside by the proprietor the defendant refused to pay. He claimed he had paid the waitress during the meal. “I was drunk and would like to go back to that place and apologise,’’ the defendant told the Court.

The Magistrate ordered the defendant to pay costs of $5, pay for the meal, and to “do what you have just said you want to do.’’ TRAFFIC OFFENCES In police traffic prosecutions, convictions were entered and fines imposed as follows, with costs of $5 in each case: Careless use of motor vehicle: Gavin John Bailey, $l5; Thomas Clifton Jose, $2O Failed to give way: Brent I Patrick Bartholomew, $2O, dis-, qualified for three months. LIQUOR OFFENCES Minor found in bar: Cherl Yvonne Blay, $10; Karen Bar-i bara Blay, $lO. (Before Mr J. D. Kinder, S.M.)' FINED $125 Fines totalling $125 were imposed on Geoffrey Charles Barr, aged 18, a slaughterman (Mr W. H. McMenamin), when he appeared for sentence on two charges of assault at Hornby on March 15. Mr McMenamin said that the first assault on a young girl was a foolish rather than a sinister act. Barr had been drinking but was not drunk. The second assault on an older man could also be attributed to drink. He asked that the offences be treated as an isolated outburst for which Barr was genuinely sorry. The Magistrate said that the assault on the man was a deplorable display of arrogance and bad temper. As a result the man had spent 10 days in hospital and 12 days off work. With regard to the assault on the girl the Magistrate said that he did not believe that Barr harboured any evil intent, but the Court had a duty to ensure that young girls could go in the streets without being molested by men. (Before Mr E. S. J. Crutchley, S.M.) FELONIOUS INTENT Lional Gilbert Joyce, aged 24, a storeman (Mr M. J. Glue), charged with being a rogue and a vagabond in that he was a suspected person frequenting a public place with felonious intent on June 9, was convicted and placed on probation for 18 months.

He was ordered to take psychiatric treatment and to pay $9.75 witnesses expenses. Joyce pleaded not guilty. The Magistrate said It was established that Joyce was a suspected person with just and proper cause, and that he had frequented a public place. The charge was proved beyond doubt. Evidence was given by two residents of a girls’ hostel of seeing Joyce in his car parked outside the hostel on three or four nights a week for several months. It was parked on the wrong side of the road and the motor was left running all the time. The girls also gave evidence! of seeing Joyce perform cer-i tain actions in the car. (Before Mr K. H. J. Headifen, S.M.) ESCAPED FROM CUSTODY “It is not up to you to take the law into your own hands by making a nuisance of yourself at the police station,’’ said the Magistrate when convicting Thomas Michael Brown, aged 21, a tyre builder (Mr P. M. James), on a charge of escaping from lawful custody on May 31. Brown, who pleaded not guilty, was fined $3O. On a further charge of wilful trespass on the premisesi of the Central Police Station and neglecting to leave after being warned to do so on May 31. he was convicted and fined $2O. For being foun(l without lawful excuse in an enclosed yard in Chancery Lane on the same dav he was convicted and ordered *to pay Court costs. He pleaded guilty to these two charges. Sergeant W. W. Maloney said that about 2.30 a.m. on May 31, Brown came into the Christchurch Central Police Station

with a group of youths, demanding to see a friend who had been arrested earlier that night. The youths were asked to leave the station and after two warnings they did so with the exception of Brown who stood in a doorway and placed a hand on either side of the door frame. Sergeant Maloney said that he told Brown he was under arrest and began to drag him back into the watchhouse., Suddenly one of the youths who had been at the station earlier hit him in the eye and he was forced to release Brown. Brown then ran out of the station and was chased by a police constable along Hereford Street. Oxford Terrace and through Cathedral Square to Chancery Lane where he was found in an enclosed yard. Brown said that he ran away because he did not want to get the blame for the assault. '