MAGISTRATE'S COURT Man Gaoled For Nine Months On Charge Of Bigamy

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32222, 14 February 1970, Page 17

MAGISTRATE'S COURT Man Gaoled For Nine Months On Charge Of Bigamy

William Myles was sentenced to nine months imprisonment when he appeared for sentence before Mr W. F Brown, S.M., in the Christchurch Magistrate’s Court yesterday on a charge of bigamy. Myles, aged 35, a department manager, had earlier pleaded guilty to marrying Frances Anne Watson at Mount Maunganui on November 4, 1967, at the time already being married. In his original statement read to the Court by SeniorSergeant F. G. Mulcare, Myles said his wife of the second marriage had not been aware of his marital status, but counsel (Mr D. H. P. Dawson) said this was not the case. Senior-Sergeant Mulcare said that if this was true there seemed to have been a deliberate attempt to obstruct the police at that stage. Under oath, Myles said he had told his “second wife” that he was married with one child, but separated, about a month before their marriage “I told the police she did not know because I did not want to get her into trouble,” he said. “I mean, we have a son —what would happen to him?” The Magistrate said that he was not satisfied that the “second wife” was fully aware that Myles was married at the time the offence was committed. For these reasons, he proposed to deal with i penalty putting aside the: special provisions for excep-] tions to the general penalty. | Under Section 206 of the! Crimes Act (1961) a bigamist: was liable to a maximum of I seven years imprisonment. I If the second party was aware! of the defendant’s marital i status this was reduced to I two years. “The offence was a bad | one,” the Magistrate said. “I should certainly not have con-1 sidered the question of main-' tenance raised in the state-1 ment of facts, but I cannot! forget that you re-married in I New Zealand only monthsafter leaving your legal wife!; In Australia. You must have, been aware that divorce!' formalities could not have! been completed. “It is obvious that, in the [ public interest, this kind of I, offence must be discouraged,!) and I take the view that the! 1 only appropriate penalty is i imprisonment” l< Mr Dawson submitted that ■ the Magistrate should disre- j gard all reference to the maintenance owing to the I first wife, and the sugges- J tion that he deserted her. The j action was forced on him by 1 a maintenance order that was ] in excess of what he was > i

earning. BURGLARY CHARGE ! Fakanui Tuhura. aged 20. a timber worker, was sentenced' to periodic detention for six months and placed on probation for 18 months when he ,: appeared for sentence on a\ charge of burglary. Special conditions of proba-• tion were that he take out a prohibition order, undertake any medical and/or psychiatric treatment deemed necessary, and make restitution of $94 for a damaged window. For Tuhura. Mr D. M. Palmer said that one thing was clear from the medical and psvchiatric reports placed before the Court—Tuhura had a problem. It was a problem involving not only excessive drinking, but also a character disorder and quite a low intelligence. He was the sort of person who would respond best to, and most needed, the supervision of the probation officer and the guidance of the warden of the detention centre. The Magistrate said that Tuhura had broken into Hay’sWright Stephenson. Ltd. by smashing a window with a bottle and had stolen a television set valued at $150.36. Apart from one conviction for burglary in July. 1967. there were none other of a serious criminal nature. “ft did occur to me that it wn»»d be best to send you to Waikeria. where at least you would be under some discinline.” the Magistrate said "But from the health point of view this is not suitable As this is your first major offence I don’t think prison or Borstal fs the appropriate sentence.” NAME SUPPRESSED A man. aged 21. whose name was suppressed, was discharged under section 42 of the Criminal Justice Act when he appeared

l-1 for sentence on two charges of attempting to gain credit by ■r forging a Post Office Savings a Bank pass book. r . i Counsel (Mr D. J. Boyle) said ► [the probation officer’s report £ Indicated the man was of intel- • ligence only sufficient to allow f him to exist in the community. The Magistrate said that in view of the man s mentality the •‘ only appropriate course was to r discharge him without conviction. PROBATION ’ A girl aged 18. whose name i- was suppressed, was released [.lon probation for two years and ordered to make $5O restitution when she appeared for sentence t on two charges of false pretences. J The Magistrate said that the J girl, a first offender, had had 1 an unsettled family life, and at P times had required psychiatric I. treatment. 1 It was’ felt that the proper ' sentence should be probation, 2 to give her one chance. “But 'don’t appear again.” the Magistrate said. CHARGE REDUCED -1 A charge of careless driving I against Samuel John Bates, . aged 39. a grocery manager, t was dismissed after it had been I I reduced from one of driving in a dangerous manner. Bates (Mr > K. N. Hampton) pleaded not • guilty. The Magistrate reduced the charge because he con- - sidered the evidence he had 1 heard was not sufficient to support the major charge. . Barry Alexander Hooper and i lan Francis Connor, the I drivers of the two cars » involved in the alleged offence, said they had been forced to ’ the centre of Riccarton Road ) by Bates’s manner of driving. Bates had collided with Mr M Connor’s car but, after some - argument, drove off at the J approach of a traffic officer. • Bates said in evidence that » the two had cut in front of 1 him. He said that he had i driven off because it had been ;i agreed to sort things out at Jthe Central Police Station. ! where he waited for 10 !minutes. He had not seen thei . I traffic officer. STOLE RADIATORS David William McDonald, aged ’27, a truck driver (Mr D. H. [Stringer), was fined $lOO, i released on probation for 12 j months and ordered to take out a prohibition order for that period, and ordered to return the stolen property, when he appeared for sentence on a charge of stealing 12 radiators [ valued at $6O from Robert Ernest Scott on February 3. I “You have a bad list. Most [of the offences indicate an j over-indulgence in alcohol and ■an element of irresponsibility,” [said the Magistrate. CHARGES DISMISSED A charge of driving carelessly on September 7 against [Reginald Roger Storer, a car ; salesman, was dismissed. Storer It Mr C. B. Atkinson) pleaded not I guilty. Traffic Officer P. R. Hosking said he had seen Storer swing [wide as he made a left-hand turn from Fendalton Road to Clyde Road, continuing for some distance on his incorrect side. ;He then cut two following corners. This was denied in evidence, by Storer, although he admitted cutting the second corner. He said he had been forced to do ; this by a car pulling out from < his left. i A charge against Paul William < Harrison, aged 21. a meat inspector, of cutting a corner , was dismissed. Represented by Mr A. Hearn, he pleaded not guilty. Traffic Officer Hosking said ‘ he had almost collided with . Harrison when he made his

iturn, but this was denied by Harrison. I Mr Hearn said the position of the defendant at the time of the alleged offence was in dispute, and the traffic officer had destroyed the evidence by moving the offending vehicle ■before measurements were taken. (Before Mr P. L. Molineaux, S.M.) THEFT AS SERVANT “The defendant is a mature person in a position of respon sibility. If he likes to throw away his reputation for a car ton of glasses there is no use in his coming to Court expecting to drive this underground.’’ the Magistrate said when re fusing to grant suppression of name to a man charged with theft as a servant. The defendant, Colin Demmocks. aged 38, a shift fore man (Mr G. T. Mahon), pleaded guilty to a charge of theft as a servant of two dozen and a half glasses valued at $22.50 on ' January 6. The name of the : complainant company was sup ' pressed on Mr Mahon’s appli- i cation. He was convicted and remand-1 ed on bail to February 20 for sentence. Sergeant J. D. Burrell said | the defendant was seen by a . , security officer carrying a car-| . ton of exclusive glasses inten j ded for Expo 70 in Japan. He I then put the carton down and < , ran from the area. The defendant admitted to the ! police he intended to put the carton in his car. Sergeant Burrell said the de , fendant had been employed by • the company for nine years and I was held in high esteem. Mr Mahon said the defendant | was so highly thought of by ■ the company that it intended to i • retain his services, notwith-; I standing the offence. Publica- I I tion of his name. however I I would make this difficult. •

f “The defendant nas never y been convicted of an offence of s dishonesty before,” he said. . INTERFERED WITH POLICE CAR ; Richard Waata, aged 19. a v process worker (Mr D. M ' Palmer), pleaded guilty to a v charge of unlawfully interfering with a police car and was 1 find $25. e Sergeant Burrell said that on 0 February 5 at 10.30 p.m. a con- • stable was returning to the police car he had parked out side a hotel in Sydenham, when e he noticed Waata trying to open J the front left hand door. When 3 questioned by the Constable 3 Waata said that he had wanted e to have a look inside the car. - Waata was affected by liquor at the time said Sergeant Bur e rell. 3 Mr Palmer said that Waata’s t actions involved curiosity rather c than anything sinister. “Curiosity can become a r crime if you carry it too far,” • said the Magistrate. • ASSAULTED WIFE Raymond Christie Earl Coster, aged 24, a welder (Mr D. J. R. Holderness), pleaded guilty to J a charge of assaulting his wife, . Josephine Waihara Coster, on . December 21. He was convicted i and remanded on bail to Febru i ary 20 for sentence. r Sergeant Burrell said the de t fendant began insulting his 1 wife and tearing her clothes - off at 3 a.m. after they had 1 bidden farewell to some visit - ors. He swung her about the kitchen and she struck her head 1 on the window. e The window broke and the s complainant suffered head lace- . rations which required stitch- > ing. 1 WILFUL DAMAGE On a charge of wilfully damr aging a telephone handset on b February 12, John Frank Timu b aged 19, unemployed, was convicted and fined $2O and ordered t to pay restitution of $9.70. He f pleaded guilty. 1 Sergeant Burrell said the dei fendant admitted he could have t broken the handset when he dropped it in a Cathedral ) Square call box about 10 p.m SHIP DESERTION Kevin John Carter, a seaman (Mr D. M Palmer), was fined l $5O and released on bail pend • ing his deportation on a charge . of absenting himself without ■ leave from the m.v. Cumber - land at Port Chalmers on November 11. He pleaded guilty 1 Mr Palmer said the defendant ! realised he had acted foolishly. He gave himself up to the police voluntarily FINED $lOO John Piki Ormand, aged 23, an engineer’s labourer, was convicted and fined $lOO and dis qualified from driving for a further period of one year when he pleaded guilty to a charge of driving while disqualified in Montreal Street on January 24. VEHICLE OFFENCES Anthony Larry Roy Momo, aged 17, an unemployed bakehouse labourer, pleaded guilty to charges of unlawfully interfering with a motor-cycle, unlawfully getting into a motorcar. unlawfully taking a motorcycle and stealing a pair of sunglasses on February 7. He was convicted on all charges and remanded on bail [to February 20 for sentence. TOOK CARS Peter Thomas Davey, aged 18. an unemployed labourer, was convicted on each of three , charges of unlawfully taking a j car and remanded in custody to , February 20 for sentence. He pleaded guilty to each harge. LIQUOR OFFENCES Consumed liquor when under age: Peter James Devlin. $6; Leslie Wayne Smith. $B.

Found in hotel after hours, f Bert Raymond Avery, $lO. REMANDED I Ronald Gilbert Cribb, aged i 37, a hospital orderly, pleaded guilty to a charge of being a i rogue and vagabond and was ■ convicted and remanded on • bail to February 20 for a probation report and sentence. i Sergeant Burrell said that at 9.35 p.m. on February 12 Cribb i was found in the front passage of a house in Grafton Street. i The front door had been closed i but not locked. When quesi tioned by the police, Cribb said ’ that he did not know why he I had gone there. He had been . drinking but was not drunk. ‘ said Sergeant Burrell. TRAFFIC OFFENCES On traffic charges brought by ! the police, fines were imposed as follows, with Court costs of $5 on each charge. Failed to yield right of way: Leo Blackburn Carr, $l5. Careless use of motor-vehicle: Robert Bruce Carpenter. $2O. • (Before Mr H. J. Evans. S.M.) ' DROVE DANGEROUSLY [ A man who was said to have raced with another car at speeds of about 70 miles an hour in Carlyle Street, skidded across Colombo Street and . crashed through a metal rail- [ ing. He was fined $lOO, disquali--1 fied for two years and ordered to pay $2O witness expenses. Reginald Lewis Dutton, aged 38, a machinist, pleaded not guilty to dangerous driving and was represented by Mr M. J. Glue Senior-Sergeant Mulcare said the defendant was travelling west on Carlyle Street towards Colombo Street at 11.45 p.m. on September 12. His speed was estimated by witnesses to be about 70 miles an hour. He failed to slow as he approached Colombo Street and skidded across the road, narrowly missing a car travelling south on Colombo Street. The defendant’s car mounted the footpath and crashed into a metal railing on the west side of the Colombo Street overbridge. The Magistrate said that he regarded the offence as a bad one of its kind, notwithstanding the defendant’s good driving record. He accepted the evidence of a witness who said he saw two cars travelling virtually abreast at a greatly excessive speed. (Before Mr M. C. Astley, S.M.) ALTERED WARRANT Richard Duncan Cameron (Mr G. R. Lascelles), who pleaded not guilty, was fined $25 on a charge of unlawfully altering a warrant of fitness. On a charge of driving without a warrant of fitness he pleaded guilty and was fined $6. Senior-Sergeant Mulcare said that the defendant was stopped in New Brighton at 9.40 p.m. on September 10. The warrant of fitness was found to have been issued for a different make of car from that which Cameron was driving. Inquiries were made and it was found that the warrant had been altered from December 21. 1967. to December 21. 1969. It was said in evidence that Cameron had found an old warrant of fitness sticker on his front lawn and had later put) it in the window of his car. Cameron had told the police that he could not afford thei time off work to take his car: to a vehicle testing station.

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