SUPREME COURT Four Years Gaol On Receiving Charge

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32352, 18 July 1970, Page 9

SUPREME COURT Four Years Gaol On Receiving Charge

“In my opinion you are a man who has gone into the business of receiving stolen metal,” said Mr Justice Wilson in the Supreme Court yesterday when sentencing Alfred Harold Pilling, aged 37, a scrap-metal dealer, to four years imprisonment on three charges of receiving metal, knowing it to have been stolen. Pilling last week was found guilty by a jury on the three charges: That on January 8 at Christchurch he received from Malcolm Robert Kinnaird 31 gunmetal ingots valued at $372; That on January 14 at Web lington he received from Maurice Pimm 60 metal ingots valued at $720; And that between December 30 and January 5 at Picton he received from Pimm and Raymond Bernard Williams six tin ingots and 2001 b of impure tin ingots valued at $B2O. Pilling had pleaded not guilty and was represented by Mr M. J. Glue. Mr N. W. Williamson appeared for the Crown. Mr Glue asked his Honour to accept the probation officer’s view that Pilling was a man who “fell in with rogues through failing to keep his eyes open,” He said that Pilling might be a fool in some respects, but he was not a knave.

Pilling was virtually a first offender, he had never been a big-time operator, his business was ruined, and he had lost practically everything as a result of , the convictions. “His one great virtue is that be is not afraid of hard work and can'turn his hand to practically anything,” said Mr Glue. His Honour said he was not prepared to accept the recommendation of the probation officer. It was his impression that Pilling was the central figure around whom certain persons with criminal records revolved.

“It is said that you are a first offender,” said his Honour. “It is true that it is the first time you have been convicted of this offence, but the smooth operation of this business and the skill with which you disposed of the metal which you received so that it could not be recovered convinces me that this was not the first time you have engaged in this type of business.

“You have been, I think, doing this for some considerable time, and this is the first time that you have been

caught and Convicted,” said his Honour. Deferred Sentence Leonard Francis Gillespie, aged 51, a Social Security beneficiary (Mr E. T. Higgins), was ordered to come up for sentence within three years if called upon when he appeared for sentence on a charge of theft of a quantity of brass rods on December 25 His Honour said that the jury had recommended leniency, Gillespie was already serving a nine months prison sentence, bis health was far from good and although the offence warranted an additional term of imprisonment he would accept Gillespie’s assurance that he was finished with criminal activities. Two Years Gaol Two years imprisonment was imposed on Henry Kino, aged 22, a painter (Mr C. A. McVeigh), when he appeared for sentence on a charge of burglary of the Kaiapoi premises of Blackwells, Ltd, on May 4 and two charges of car conversion. Kino last week pleaded guilty to the charges. Mr McVeigh said Kino had spent 60 of the last 73 months in some form of institution or other. He had a very low intellectual capacity. Periodic Detention Frederick Charles Miles, aged 33, a refuse collector (Mr McVeigh), was ordered to attend the adult periodic work centre for the maximum period of 12 months when he appeared for sentence on a charge of burglary of the garage of Rockey Point Services, Ltd, Port Hills Road, on June 8. Miles last week pleaded guilty to the charge. Mr McVeigh said that Miles played a tacit role in the burglary. He was a very easily led person and had gained nothing from the crime, merely acting as an “unpaid taxi driver.” His Honour said that notwithstanding Miles’s bad record, he would accept the senior probation officer’s report that a sentence of periodic detention should be imposed. Appeal Dismissed An appeal by Brian John Davidson, aged 21, a workman (Mr R. F. Powell), against a sentence of six months imprisonment imposed on him for driving while disqualified was dismissed. His Honour noted that it was Davidson’s fourth conviction for driving while disqualified.