MAGISTRATE’S COURT Man Fined $90 For Using Hall For Gaming Evening

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32076, 26 August 1969, Page 16

MAGISTRATE’S COURT Man Fined $90 For Using Hall For Gaming Evening

When police raided a public hall a game of unders and overs was found to be in progress and other gambling material was found, Mr K. H. J. Headifen, S.M., was told in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday when Russell John Dowler, aged 42, a commercial cleaner, appeared on a charge of using a hall as a gaming house. Dowler (Mr R. N. Wilkes) was convicted and fined $9O and an order to destroy the gaming equipment was made. Dowler pleaded guilty to the charge.

At 1 a.m. on August 2 the police were told that a gaming evening was being held in the England Street Hall, said Sergeant J. D. Farrow. At 1.45 a.m. the police entered with a search warrant and found about 15 persons present. Most of the persons were standing round a table where a game of Unders and Overs was in progress. The defendant was interviewed and he admitted being responsible for running the games and said that earlier in the evening he had run a Crown and Anchor game. A Crown and Anchor mat was found in the hall, as was a blackboard with horses' names on it which was being used for a Calcutta Sweep. The defendant had a bankroll of $412, proceeds from the night’s gambling. Of this $3BO was to have been paid out as prize money in the Calcutta Sweep.

Books of raffle tickets and a raffle drawing drum were found, as well as a bottle of whisky, tins of biscuits and a lambskin rug which were to have been used as prizes. The defendant said he was raising funds for a local boxing club to send a team overseas, but inquiries showed that the defendant had no connection with' a club, said Sergeant Farrow. Mr Wilkes said the club concerned denied being involved because the defendant had already been in touch with them and told them to deny any connection with the gaming activity.

The evening was in fact being held to raise money to send a team of young boxers to Australia, said Mr Wilkes, The defendant had been associated with boxing throughout New Zealand for many years. The offence was one that went on al! the time. The defendant was “taking the rap” for everybody associated with the particular evening of the charge. “The Gaming Act provides heavy penalties for this sort of behaviour. Whatever the purpose of the activity I can only regard it as serious,” said the Magistrate. fined two Fay Rosina Moir, aged 36, a warehouse assistant (Mr S. G. Erber), was convicted and fined SlOO on a charge of having a prescription poison in her possession. She pleaded guilty. Sergeant Farrow said that on July 29 members of the police vice squad searched the defendant’s flat and found two tins containing 916 tablets of betaaminoprophybenzine. The defendant, who worked for a drug firm, had volunteered the hiding place of the drugs to the police when they arrived. The search had been made after Information was given to the police that the defendant had the drugs.

At the time of the search Moir had told the police that she had been asked by another woman to take the drugs because a third person was using them and both women were concerned that the third person would become addicted. Moir said that she had taken possession of the drugs some months before the search and they had not been touched since. Mr Erber said that the offence concerned two others, one of whom had been charged with theft of drugs from the warehouse where they worked. ‘‘This is not a case that has led to any form of drug abuse,” he said. ‘‘The defendant has neither taken the drugs herself nor handed them on. Why she did not destroy them is something she cannot answer. She was frightened to take them to the police because of being charged, and she could not return them to the warehouse in case the employers thought she had taken them.” There was no allegation that Moir had taken the drugs from the warehouse and her employers were prepared to contlne employing her, Mr Erber said. "Nevertheless, this is a serious offence and I will treat it as such,” said the Magistrate imposing the fine of 3100. An application for suppression of name was refused. 327 TAXI FARE An unemployed waitress who took a taxi from Waimate to Christchurch and was unable to pay the fare of 327 was convicted- and remanded oh bail to September 1 for sentence on a charge of failing to pay a taxi tare and a charge of being idle and disorderly. Shirley Browne, aged 25; pleaded guilty to both charges. Sergeant Farrow said the police were called to an address m Cashmere Road at 10.45 p.m. on August 23 and a taxi driver said that Browne had refused to pay for hiring his taxi from Waimate.

Browne was located. She said she had hitch-hiked from Dunedin to Waimate after giving up a housekeeping job. She knew she could not pay for the taxi and she had only 3c in her possession. She had no work and no place to sleep. Sergeant Farrow said there might be other matters before the Court when files arrived from other parts of the country. ASSAULT ADMITTED A student who pleaded guilty to assaulting two women was convicted and remanded on bail to September 1 for sentence. Sergeant Farrow said that at 11.30 p.m. on August 12 the defendant, whose name was suppressed, and another youth arrived at the Oxford Terrace house where the two women, both in their 40s, lived. One of the complaintants answered the door to the two youths and was asked by the defendant if another party was in. As the complainant moved from the door the defendant pulled out a knife with a three inch and a half blade. The complainant backed down the hallway as the defendant advanced, the knife pointed towards the woman’s stomach. At the end of the hall the complainant dashed into a side room and shut the door. At this stage the second complainant came Into the hall from another side room and accosted the defendant. He menaced her with the knife and pushed her back into the

room before he and the other youth left. Asking for suppression of name for the defendant, Mr Ether gald that there was a medical history to the offence. REFUSED BLOOD TEST "I refused the blood test because I was sober,” said Alexander Gilchrist, aged 32, a ; bushman, when pleading guilty to a charge of refusing to give a blood specimen on August 23. He was convicted and fined 3100 and disqualified for IS months. Gilchrist was driving in Manchester Street at 10.55 p.m. on Saturday when he ran into the rear of a line of vehicles stopped near Lichfield Street, said Sergeant Farrow. A traffic officer asked Gilchrist to make a breath test but he failed to Inflate the bag.

At the police station he refused to give a blood specimen on what he claimed were religious grounds.

STOLE HUBCAP Bruce Murray Shaskey, aged 18, an apprentice mechanic (Mr P. J. Thompson), was fined 310 when, he pleaded guilty to a charge of stealing a hubcap. Sergeant Farrow raid Alan Keith Goodwin had seen Shaskey, a passenger in a car of the same model as Mr Goodwin’s remove a hubcap from his car at 11 p.m. on June 5 in Riccarton Avenue. Shaskey, when Interviewed said he had committed the offence because someone had taken a hubcap off hie car the previous night. Wayne Russell Amos, an 18-year-old factory hand (Mr R. N. Wilkes), was lined 310 when he pleaded guilty to receiving the hubcap. Sergeant Farrow said Amos had hidden tho hubcap at his flat and later thrown it in a sewage pond at Bromley. Appearing on a similar charge John Needham, aged 18, an apprentice carpenter (Mr M. J. Glue), was fined 810. He said Needham had admitted driving tho two previous defendants into town with the intention of taking a hubcap.

SHOPLIFTING A girl and a woman, both of whom were seen by a store detective packing pairs of pantlhose into their handbags, appeared on charges of theft to which they pleaded guilty. Mr W. A. Wllgon appeared for both. They were convicted and remanded on bail to September 1 for sentence.

Jennifer Irene Mewsell. aged 18. a waitress, pleaded guilty to a charge of theft of seven pairs of panti-hose, valued at 315.22, from D.1.C., Ltd, and to a charge of theft of gloves and tea towels, valued at 33.28, from Beaths. Ltd, both on August 22, Jeanette Smith, aged 25, a nurse aid, pleaded guilty to a charge of theft of three pairs of panti-hose, valued at 35.49. from D.1.C., Ltd, on August 22. Sergeant Farrow said that at 5.45 p.m. a store detective saw the two in the D.I.C. standing at a counter, stuffing packs of panti-hose into their handbags. They left the store without attempting to pay. When stopped in the street by the detective both denied taking anything, but returned to the store with the detective, who telephoned the police. When Messell’s bag was searched the goods from the other store were found and she had admitted taking them without paying. FINED 330

A woman, whose name was suppressed, was fined a total ol 339 when she appeared on two charges of then. She pleaded guilty. Sergeant Farrow said the woman had been seen by a shop security officer to put four packets of soup in her bag at 510 p.m. on July 25. The officer followed her from the store - and saw her repeat the procedure with a part bolt of material in another shop. When he approached her and identified himself, the woman, a foreigner, had difficulty in understanding him. She spoke very little English, but later apologised tor her actions through her husband. She had no explanation for committing the offence. OBSCENE LANGUAGE s Gerald Garth Scott, aged .24, a railway labourer, was convicted and fined 315 on his plea of guilty to a charge Of using obscene language in Wordsworth Street on August 23. Sergeant Farrow said that the police were called to a house in Wordsworth Street at 5.50 p.m. on August 23 where a fight was in progress. Scott Was ordered to leave the premises and then used the language complained of a number of times. BURGLARY ADMITTED

Kenneth Malcolm McDonald, aged 44, a tunneller (Mr W. A. Wilson), was convicted and remanded on ball to September 1 for sentence on a charge of burglary of the Fendalton Radio and TV Services on August 15. He pleaded guilty. An off-duty constable noticed a man acting suspiciously outside a shop in Memorial Avenue. said Sergeant Farrow. A watch was kept on the man and the police were called. The defanfiant was found in the shop filling a bag with electrical equipment. Jointly charged with Kenneth Malcolm McDonald, Desmond Bruce McDonald, aged 41, a steel placer (Mr M. G. L. Loughnan), elected trial by jury and was remanded on ball to September 3 for the taking of depositions. TRAFFIC CASES In traffic cases brought by the police, convictions were entered and penalties Imposed as follows, with costs 35 fin each case: Careless use: Garry John Sincock, 330; John Milton Campbell, 325; Graham Peter Morris, 320 and ordered to attend course of traffic lectures; Bryan Garry Green,.3lo and witnesses expenses 36. Failed to stop at sign: Donald Francis Preece, 330 and disqualified for six months. (Before Mr P. L. Molineaux, S.M.) FOUR MONTHS. GAOL Warren William Cane, aged 23, a car groomer, was sent to prison for four months and his driver’s licence was cancelled for a further year when he appeared for sentence.on a charge of driving while disqualified in Worcester Street, on April 9. On a charge of tailing to report an accident Cane was fined 340.

Mr W. A. Wilson, for the accused, said’ that there was no suggestion that Cane had left an injured person at the scene of the accident or that he was responsible for the accident. An ambulance had been called. He had not reported the accident because he was a disqualified driver. Cane had yielded to the temptation to deliver a customer's car. It was only a short journey. All his offences had involved the driving of motor vehicles, Mr Wilson said.

The Magistrate said that Cane had a number of convictions for driving- while' disqualified and had. been fined and sent to prison for the offence.

FINED, $75 ; Geoffrey Bay Michael Waring, : aged 28, an able seaman, was , fined-875 when he appeared for sentence on a charge of unlawfully taking a car valued at $l4OO, the property of 'William John Lowrie. Mr M. J. Glue, for the accused, said that the case fell into a special category. There was no intentional dishonesty on Waring'S part afid the offence arose from the rationalisation of a drunken man. He had driven only a short distance and when he sobered up he apologised to the girl involved in the Incident and did all he could to make amends. He realised that because of' liquor he had made a complete fool of himself. Waring was Studying 'to obtain his commercial pilot’s licence; The Magistrate said that the defendant took a young woman home in the early hours of the morning. After he had paid off the taxi he found that she had 1 disappeared inside the house. He climbed on to the roof , but fell off. After lying there for a time he got into a car, drove 1 a short distance and was apprehended by the police. CONVICTED AND DISCHARGED ‘ Harold John Wayne Harding, aged 23. a prison inmate, was convicted and discharged when he appeared for sentence on a charge of escaping from Sunnyside Hospital while on remand. The Magistrate said that Harding had been sent to Sunnyside Hospital after appearing in the Greymouth Magistrate’s : Court on charges of indecent assault on a young girl and threatening to do grevious ; bodily harm. He had been apprehended while walking back to the West Coast. As he was :

at present serving a term of 18; months Imprisonment on the two original charges he would he convicted and discharged. FAILED TO GIVE WAY Michael William Dobson, aged 19, a university student, was fined 839, was ordered to pay ■ witnesses’ expenses of 86.3,0 and his driver's licence was can. ! celled for ohe’month when he was convicted on a charge of falling to give way at the corner of Barbadoes and Cashel Streets on April 8. ' Dobson, who pleaded not guilty, was represented by Mr i A. M. Ireland. : XBefore Mr H. J. Evans, S.M.) RESERVED DECISION The Magistrate reserved his decision to today when Marion Orr Keyward pleaded not guilty to a,charge-of carelessly using a car .In Rata ’ Street on May 25. She was represented by Mr P. G. S. Penlington. i The complainant, William John Cyril Winsklw, and his mother, Josephine Winsklw, said in evidence that Heyward's car had changed direction without warning and collided with the front left of their vehicle. As a result of the collision Mrs Winsklw had suffered a broken wrist and hip. Mr Winsklw said Heyward had told him after the accident that she had failed to see him as she prepared to turn right Into her drive. Heyward said in evidence that she had switched her park lights on after visiting her husband at Princess Margaret Hospital because the evening was foggy. Although she had not seen Mr Winsklw. she had used her flashing Indicator lights.