MAGISTRATE’S COURT Man Sentenced To Four Years Imprisonment On 16 Charges

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32127, 24 October 1969, Page 6

MAGISTRATE’S COURT Man Sentenced To Four Years Imprisonment On 16 Charges

Bernard John Peter Jordan, aged 26, a driver, was sent to prison for four years when he appeared before Mr E. S. J. Crutchley, S.M., in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday for sentence on eight charges of false pretences, three of burglarly, three of unlawfully taking motor vehicles, one of theft and one of assaulting a constable in the execution of his duty. Mr W. A. Wilson, for the accused, said that Jordan realised that with his bad record and the number of charges prison was inevitable. He had committed his first offence at the age of nine and had been in an ’ out of institutions,since he was 13. The offences had been committed while he "was on the run.” Jordan had an obsession about cars and had 31 previous convictions for unlawfully taking cars. Many of the burglaries were committed so that he could get cars. All the vehicles involved in the present charges had been recovered undamaged, Mr Wilson said.

The Magistrate said that Jordan had been released from prison in July and he had started offending in August. No-one was prevent-

him from earning an honest living. He had now embarked on false pretences and these were offences that were likely to be repeated. He had a good intelligence. “The number and type of these offences requires the Court (o impose a substantial term of imprisonment because society must be protected,” the Magistrate said. (Before Mr E. S. J. Crutchley, S.M.) DRIVING CAUSED DEATH Christopher John Brown, aged 21, a greaser,, was convicted and fined $lOO. ordered to pay witnesses’ expenses ot 532, and disqualified from driving for one year when he appeared on a charge of careless driving, causing the death of Bichard Clive Le Tessier, aged 32, on July 4, in Riccarton Avenue. He pleaded guilty and Was represented by Mr J. F. Burn. Sergeant V. F. Townshend brought evidence that Brown had left a hotel at 10.15 p.m. on the day of the accident. As he drove along Riccarton Avenue, his car struck a van, knocked over two cyclists, and came to rest against a tree, 70 feet from the road. A passenger was killed outright when flung from the car.

Wayne Anthony White, aged 21, a joiner, said he was in the passenger seat of Brown’s car. Le Tessier was between him and Brown. When they stopped at Tuam ?Street at the Hospital corner lights, a friend, Terry

Mulligan, was stopped In his car beside the pi. The defendant’s car accelerated to about 45 miles an hour, the witness said. Mulligan’s car, which took off more quickly, was out of sight. Witness called the defendant a “mad ’’ in an attempt to induce him to slow down.

The car. a heavy American V 8 model, started to slide as it rounded a bend by the United tennis courts, the witness said. Brown tried to steer out of the slide, causing the car to skid to the other side of the road. Witness saw headlights approaching, and remembered nothing more until he regained consciousness lying in the park beside the car, which was jammed against a tree with the motor revving loudly. Rodney Robert Thrower said he was behind the defendant’s car at the Tuam Street lights. The defendant accelerated to what he' estimated as about 60 miles an hour. At a bend further along the road, he found two boys knocked off their bicycles, a van with a damaged front, and the defendant’s car, which had flattened the park railing and smashed into a tree. Le Tessier was nearby. Dr Leonard Lawrence Treadgold. a pathologist, said he examined Le Tessier’s body on July 5. The cause of death was severe interna! injuries.

Mr Burn elected to call no evidence, and submitted that no proof of careless driving existed. The defendant remembered nothing of the incident, and the only evidence of excessive speed was from a driver many yards behind. He suggested that a jammed accelerator pedal had caused the slide and the subsequent career of the vehicle. “It is quite clear on the evidence that when the defendant’s car struck the van, it was well on the wrong side of the road —and it seems it got there because of the slide,” the Magistrate commented when giving his decision. FINED $ll5 ' Brian John Barnes, aged 18, a fishmonger, appearing for sentence on a charge of assaulting Derrick Somerville on October 7 was fined $lOO, half the fine to go to the complainant, and ordered to make restitution of $l2. On a charge of resisting a constable, he was fined $l5. Mr W. A. Wilson, who appeared for Barnes said the incident was a classic case of a young man having too much to drink. Thd complainant was one of a group of youths walking on Cashel Street, and in his intoxicated state Barnes thought the complainant was jeering at him and he lashed out at him. Barnes had since apologised to the complainant and had offered to pay for his dental repairs. He had made considerable efforts to prepare for the future and had acquired a section. He was most ashamed of the whole affair. FINED $lOO lan James Watkins, aged 36. a bosun, was fined $lOO when he appeared for sentence on a charge of theft of liquor valued at $15.80, the property of Holm and Company, Ltd, at Auckland on October 10. Mr H. J. B. Quigley, for the accused, said he had lost his job in the ship. He was a first offender. “It is of great, regret that you appear before the Court on a serious charge after having no previous convictions, not even for a traffic offence,” the Magistrate said. “You are essentially an honest person but succumbed to temptation, but the Court must take a serious view of pilfering/’

FINE AND PROBATION Thomas Hone Te Heu Heu, aged 19, a salesman, was fined $5O and was admitted to probation for a year when he appeared for sentence on a charge of theft as a servant of two pairs of pyjamas and a lantern valued at $15.60. the property of the New Zealand Farmers’ Cooperative Association of Canterbury, Ltd. The Magistrate said that it was a great pity that Te Heu Heu was before the Court because he had no previous convictions but this was a very serious charge. (Before Mr W. F. Brown, S.M.) YOUTHS STOLE BREAD

Four youths who each pleaded guilty to two charges of stealing 14 loaves of bread were convicted and remanded on bail to October 30 for sentence. They are Philip Edward Wilson, aged 18. a naval cook, John James Cpllen, aged 18, a machine assembler, Wayne Leslie Morgan, aged 17. a machine operator and James Edward King, aged 18, a naval radio operator (Mr D. M. Palmer). Morgan was also charged with driving in a manner which might have been dangerous and with having no driver’s licence. On the licence charge he was convicted and fined $lO and disqualified from driving for six months. At 1.20 a.m. yesterday a police patrol saw youths walk out of

a yard in Colombo Street carrying loaves of bread, said SeniorSergeant F. G. Mulcare. The youths were approached, but' they made off in a car. They were stopped in Tennyson Street after reaching a 1 speed of 65 miles an hour along Colombo Street, travelling on I the wrong side of streets and; cutting corners. Morgan was driving, and he admitted hav-1 ing no driver's licence. Fourteen loaves of bread■ were found in the car. Cullen I said they had taken them to ! eat with some pies they had bought. King had not gone into the factories but had acted as look-out. FALSE STATEMENT Trevor George Waslcy, aged 33, a service station attendant, was fined SIQ on a charge of making a false statement when obtaining a permit for a .303 rifle. Senior-Sergeant F. G. Mulcare said that when Wesley applied for a permit for the rifle at the Arms Office at the Central Police Station he said that it came from his father’s estate. Inquiries by the police revealed I that the rifle had been registered by Arthur Rumbald Car-1 ter White, of Muller Station,! Seddon. Wasley admitted having found the rifle in a shed on a farm. Wasley told the Magistrate that he had found the rifle in a shed on a farm owned by his mother. It was an old model and he wanted it for a wall piece. BURGLED MOTEL Charged with the burglary of a motel room at the Aranui Motor Hotel on October 15, Derek George Bennett, aged 44. unemployed, pleaded guilty. He was convicted and remanded on bail to October 30 for probation report and sentence. Senior-Sergeant Mulcare said that when the occupier of the room returned there at 10.20 p.m. she found the defendant inside. He had entered through a partly-open window. The defendant, who was holding a jemmy bar. made off when discovered. A marquisite watch, pearl earrings, and $7 in cash had been taken. Shortly afterwards a police patrol noticed the defendant driving down Pages Road without lights. The patrol car followed the defendant until he collided with a taxi at the New Brighton roundabout. The defendant said he remembered going to the motel, but could not recall going inside. He was under the influence of liquor but was not drunk.

The watch and earrings, valued at $2OO, had not been recoverd, said Senior-Sergeant Mulcare. For the defendant, Mr W. A. Wilson said the degree of intent was relatively small. He had been released that day from Hanmer, where he had been undergoing treatment for drug addiction. Before committing the offence he had had some liquor and drugs. There had been no premeditation. BURGLARY ADMITTED William Joseph Albert Reeve, aged 17, unemployed, was remanded in the custody of the Salvation Army until October 30 for sentence on charges of burglary and being idle and disorderly in that he had insufficient lawful means of support. He pleaded guilty to both charges. Senior-Sergeant Mulcare said that Reeve entered the house of Oliver Cunningham, aged 82, who lived alone near Stillwater. He took a transistor radio valued at $lO from the kitchen. When seen by the police Reeve admitted the offence and said that he had left his home at Reefton to come to Christchurch after an argument with his parents. At 12.30 a.m. on October 16 a security officer saw Reeve going into shop doorways, and when approached he said he was looking for somewhere to sleep. He had 2c in his possession.

(Before Mr H. J. Evans, S.M.) IDLE AND DISORDERLY Caroline Agnes Kelly, aged 26. was convicted on a charge of being idle and disorderly at Lyttelton on July 8, and was ordered to come up for sentence within 12 months if called upon. The case had been adjourned to yesterday after she first appeared in July. The defendant had a long list of convictions for this type of offence, but had made good progress in the last three months. She had a job and appeared to realise that it was time for some stability in her life, said the Magistrate.

MISCELLANEOUS CASES In miscellaneous cases brought bv the police, convictions were entered and lines imposed as follows, with costs $5 in each case:— Reckless driving: Walter Henry Lewis Kerr. $BO and disqualified from driving for two years (no warrant of fitness, costs only). „ Careless use: Eric Hoar*. $l5: Walter' Restall, *l5 and ordered to take driving test. , Unauthorised registration plates affixed to vehicle: Adrian James Mayberry, aged 18, *o. Minor found in bar: Pau! Francis Le Beau, aged 17. $B. Minor drank liquor In public place: Robin Francis Glen, aged 18. $10: Clarence Jeffrey Williams, aged 20, *lO.