MAGISTRATE’S COURT Cannabis seeds were found in flat

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32539, 24 February 1971, Page 17

MAGISTRATE’S COURT Cannabis seeds were found in flat

A young man found in possession of cannabis seeds and tablets of prescription poisons listed under the Poisons Act was convicted on three charges and remanded on bail to March 2 for sentence when he appeared before Mr K. H. J. Headifen, S.M., in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday. He was David Alan Checkley, aged 21, a factory hand.

Checkley, who pleaded guilty to the three charges, was represented by Miss J. M. Manson.

Sergeant R. B. Kench said that a party of drug squad detectives on February 2 searched premises at 69 Ferry Road where the defendant lived. In the defendant’s bedroom a tin containing two hypodermic syringes, a large number of hypodermic needles and a bottle containing 182 cannabis seeds were found. The tin also contained a capsule of one prescription poison and 158 tablets of another poison. Checkley told the police he had not used the seeds himself, but on some occasions he had given some to friends who wanted to grow cannabis plants. He said he had bought eight of the tablets from a friend the previous evening for 10c each. He had bought the capsule and the other 150 tablets for 10c each a few months ago for his own use.

RECEIVING A man who pleaded guilty to a charge of receiving 25,000 cigarettes and other goods worth $5OO on January 23 knowing they had been dishonestly obtained was convicted and remanded in custody to March 2 for sentence. He was Henry Charles Gardner, aged 32, a shoemaker (Mr L. M. O’Reilly). Sergeant Kench said that at 4 a.m. on January 23 the police found that a door in the premises of Parke’s Food Store, Sockburn, had been forced and a large quantity of goods stolen. The number of a car seen in the area a short time previously was given to the police, and about 15 minutes later the car was stopped in Harper Avenue.

Gardner and another person who had already appeared in

court were in the car,with the goods stolen from the store. The other person admitted having committed the burglary. Gardner said he had had nothing to do with it.

THEFT ADMITTED A young man who stole six bottles of beer worth $1.60 from the Bower Hotel on January 14 while attending a party which had “gone dry, 7 ’ rang the police and confessed the theft before leaving the party, Sergeant Kench said.

The defendant, whose name was suppressed, was discharged without conviction under section 42 of the Criminal Justice Act. He was represented by Mr D. J. Boyle. Sergeant Kench said that the defendant telephoned the police at 2 a.m. on January 15 and confessed that he had stolen the beer from the Bower Hotel about 10.45 p.m. the previous day. The defendant said he had taken advantage of a structural defect between a sliding door and the wall of the bottle store. Sergeant Kench said the defendant had since paid for the beer. The defect in the door had been repaired. Mr Boyle said that the defendant had had far too much to drink at the party.

BORSTAL A youth who had pleaded guilty to a charge of setting fire to a hay bam near the Engelfield pop festival on February 6 was sent to Borstal when he ap6 eared for sentence. He was [ichael Francis Davison, aged 17, unemployed. The Magistrate said he had a duty to impose a sentence in the interests of the protection of public property. RECEIVED CROCKERY John Alfred Jenner, aged 34, a ship’s carpenter (Mr J. R. Milligan), was convicted and fined $5O when he pleaded guilty to a charge of receiving crockery worth $50.44 on or about November 20 knowing it had been dishonestly obtained. Sergeant Kench said that Jenner was a passenger in a car searched by the police on a Lyttelton wharf on February 21. A large quantity of crockery was found in the boot. Jenner told the police he paid a girl $4O for the crockery, which was later found to have been pillaged from the Port Auckland. He said he had a good idea the crockery had been stolen. DISORDERLY

A man who arrived at the door of a house in Rawson Street at 11.20 p.m. on January 15, brandished a large carving knife and told his daughter-in-law he had killed the canary and would kill some person if he did not get some satisfaction, pleaded guilty to a charge of behaving in a dis-

orderly manner. He was Frederick Tui Walker, aged 64, a linotype operator. Sergeant Kench, who read these facts to the Court said that Walker was ‘ almost drunk” at the time. A dead canary, cut almost in two, was' found in his house.

Walker was convicted and placed on probation for one year on the special condition that he takes out a prohibition order.

FINED $lOO Leslie Charles Montgomery, aged 18, a labourer (Mr W. C. C. M. Janus), was fined $lOO and ordered to pay restitution of $2O when he was sentenced on a charge of burglary of a neighbour’s house on January 5. He had pleaded guilty and been convicted. “If this doesn’t sink in, Montgomery, and you continue to offend, institutional training will be inevitable,” the Magistrate said. 12 CHARGES Paul Robert Boby, aged 29, a signwriter (Mr G. T. Mahon), was sentenced to periodic detention for six months, to be followed by one year on probation, when he appeared on 12 charges of false pretences between September 2 and September 18. Boby had pleaded guilty and been remanded for a medical examination with a view to a detention sentence. POISONS OFFENCE Richard Charles Thomas, aged 18, a commercial cleaner (Mr S. G. Erber), was placed on probation for two years when he was sentenced on a charge of possessing capsules of a prescription poison on February 2. Thomas was ordered to live and work where directed by the probation officer and not to associate with persons not approved of by the probation officer. REMANDED “I can assure you that tills is the last occasion on which you can expect to be left in the community ... I am doing this largely because you are showing some signs of helping yourself,” the Magistrate said when John Reginald Valentine White, aged 34, a pipe grader, appeared for sentence on a charge of stealing scrap brass and copper worth $50.38 between January 25 and February 14. The Magistrate said that White had a long list of convictions. He remanded White on bail to March 2 for a medical examination with a view to a sentence of periodic detention.

INDECENT ASSAULT Raymond Neil Barnett, aged 24, a driver (Mr D. J. Hewitt), pleaded guilty to two charges of indecently assaulting a woman in December and January and a charge of burgling a Colombo

Street flat on January 22. He was convicted on all charges and remanded in custody to March 3 for sentence.

Sergeant R. S. Morgan said that the offences arose from Incidents in which the defendant broke into flats occupied by two young women. On each occasion Barnett threatened the woman with a sharp kitchen knife while he indecently assaulted her. OBSCENE EXPOSURE David Eric Bell, aged 21, a , machine serviceman, was fined . $lOO and placed on probation for I two years when he was sentenced l on a charge of obscene. exposure i in Riccarton Domain on Feb- ■ ruary 15. > Bell had pleaded , guilty and • been remanded for sentence. INDECENT ASSAULT Terrence Eric Gilchrist, aged 25, unemployed (Mr P. G. Bense- ; man), was convicted and remanded in custody to March 2 for sentence when he pleaded ' guilty to a charge of indecently assaulting a girl aged eight years on January 23. ASSAULTED SON On a charge of assaulting his nine-month-old son on February 7 at Otira, Joseph Dennis Ward, aged 27, a railwayman (Mr C. A. McVeigh), was placed on probation for two years and ordered to take medical or psychiatric treatment as directed by the probation officer. Ward was appearing for sentence, having pleaded guilty and been convicted. STOLE TV SET On charges of stealing a television set worth $157.50 in January and failing to return a rental vehicle on time on January 19, Mervyn John Harkness, aged 23, unemployed (Mr M. J. Glue), was convicted and remanded on ball to March 4 for sentence. He pleaded guilty. INDECENT ACT A man, whose name was suppressed, pleaded guilty to a charge of doing an indecent act on December 6 with intent to insult or offend two 14-year-old girls. He was convicted and remanded on bail to March 4 for sentence. The defendant was represented by Mr P. G. S. Penlington. CHARGE DISMISSED A charge against Arthur George Rotchfort, a truck-driver (Mr C. B. Atkinson), of careless driving causing injury to Raymond Carter at Mina on October 14 was dismissed. Rotchfort pleaded not guilty. MISCELLANEOUS OFFENCES In miscellaneous police prosecutions convictions were entered ; and fines imposed as follows, with ; costs of $5 in each case: ■ Failed to give way: Robert

Edward Mayers, $25, disqualified for three months from February 25; Michael Kenneth Bamford, $2O, ordered to attend driving lectures.

Proceeded from stop sign before way clear: Hamish Beetham Nolan Williams, $25, disqualified for one month; Kerrigan James Elliot Shaw, costs only. Exceeded 30 miles an hour: Stephen Sayer Kerison, $l5. Drove carelessly: Neil William Swift, $5O.

Owned dog which attacked a person: William Albert McCullan, $lO, ordered to destroy dog. Consumed liquor in hotel while under age: lan Pitts, $lO (gave false information, $10). Found in hotel while prohibited: Frederick George Joyce, $lO. (Before Mr H. J. Evans, S.M.) ASSAULT CHARGE Charges of assault and of resisting a constable in the execution of his duty, against Maurice Charles Moore, aged 30, a driver (Mr J. Callaghan), were adjourned to today after the evidence had been heard. Seven witnesses gave evidence. Moore pleaded not guilty. The complainant, Cecil Thomas Rochford, aged 56, a barman, said when he came on duty about 5.45 p.m. he recognised the defendant, who had been banned from the hotel by the previous licensee.

"I asked him if he had obtained permission from the new boss to drink, but I was abused for my efforts,” said the witness. “I then picked up a glass and put it on the tray. I don’t know whose it was—it may have been the defendant’s.”

The witness said that he was punched in the eye by the defendant, who then vaulted the bar counter and “plastered” him. The other barman and the police arrived and intervened.

Constable G. L. Washington said he arrested Moore and escorted him to the police car. When asked to get into the car Moore became violent.

4 Moore in evidence denied striking the first blow. He said 3 that the other barman had given him a drink, warning him to see the proprietor about getting reinstated. When Mr Rochford rer lieved the other barman, he took * his glass and emptied it down the sink, telling him that he was ’ banned and to get out. J “I put my hand through to try and get it, then he struck me with the hose—a solid blow to the head. With that, I wasn’t • thinking properly. Without rea--1 Using, I was over the bar, in i a split second, and I hit him,” said Moore. Moore said he was not told ' that he was arrested until he was placed in the police car, and that he struggled because he was pushed from behind by a policeman. NARCOTICS DECISION A charge of possessing , cannabis, against Derrick James 1 Tatton. aged 22, a surfboard manufacturer (Mr M. J. Glue), was dismissed in a reserved , decision. Tatton had pleaded not guilty. The Magistrate said that the ] Narcotics Act did not define < “possession.” “But there are two elements 1 involved in the notion of pos- < session. One is the physical . fact of possession, the other the mental fact of the defendant’s knowing that the article is | physically possessed by him,” he < said. “The issue before me is 1 whether the second element is ] present. 1 must ask myself : whether the defendant Is to be J believed. In my opinion he is. J “I am persuaded that he had ‘ no knowledge of awareness of being physically in possession, 1 custody, or control of any J cannabis cigarettes at all,” said the Magistrate. . When the charge was heard ’ on January 19 Detective Ser- < geant Alan Ernest Cross, of the 1 Masterton C. 1.8., said that, ; acting on information received, 1 he went to the home of the ( defendant’s parents at Masterton and searched his room. He found seven cannabis cigarettes ' In the side pocket of a travel- I ling bag. In evidence, the defendant said he had been dumbfounded < by the discovery, and had I never seen cannabis before. He < had met a lot of people at the ‘ recent arts festival in Welling- 1 ton, and some talked about i smoking marijuana. The only , explanation he could give was that someone might have put it 1 in the bag when he left it for some days In a flat in Glenmore J Street, Wellington. He left that J flat because he was scared by ‘ talk among others there of 1 smoking cannabis. CHARGE DISMISSED t Matthew Bruce Carpenter, < aged 19, a shearer (Mr R. F. B. < Powell), pleaded not guilty to a I charge of using obscene langu- 3 age at the Englefield pop festival t on February 6. The charge was i dismissed. (Before Mr W. F. Brown, S.M.) FINED $7O Leslie William Broadhead, aged 68, a retired trust manager (Mr E. J. Somers), was fined $7O and disqualified for four months on a charge of careless use causing bodily injury. He had pleaded not guilty. (Before Mr J*. L. Molineaux, S.M.) i JUDGMENT SUMMONSES 1 The following orders were 1 made on judgment summonses: i Bruce Frederick ‘Augestine, ( labourer, Avonhead Road, to pay John Burns and Company, Ltd, 2 $87.79, in default 48 days im- J prisonment, warrant suspended \ while $2 a week is paid; Ken Baker, clerk, c/o State Advances . Corporation, to pay N. H. Peters 1 $19.50 (11 days or $2 a week); j W. D. Ball, labourer, Manurere i Street, to pay G. D. Webb $25.40 ! (15 days or $2 a week). 4 R. T. K. Britten, soldier. Bum- I ham Military Camp, to pay Ross H. Haynes, Ltd, $51.84 (29 days . or $2 a week); R. J. Brown, ’ workman, Rowley Avenue, to pay 1 McKay’s Hire Service, Ltd, $l4 ( (eight days or $1 a week); Leo- J nard Ernest Buckland, glass 1 beveller, Ferry Road, to pay J. J Askey $241 (three months of $2.50 1 a week). Barry Donaldson Caldwell, lab- 1 ourer, Buchanans Road, to pay J. Crewlow $16.93 (nine days or $2 1 a week); D. Cholmondeley, 1 driver, Hendon Street, to pay • Surefreeze Appliances, Ltd, $2B t (16 days or $2 a week); Brian ( Dudley Churcher, driver, Bell- < brook Street, to pay W. S. Dalgliesh $346.15 (three months or 1 $2 a week). D. J. Crampton, serviceman, Greenhaven Drive, to pay Alpine ( Sawmills, Ltd $62.04 (39 days or $2 a week); Ken Ferries, clerk, ■ c/o Andrews and Beaven, Ltd, to pay Alan Bailey $232.50 (three months or $lO a week); J. Hall, ‘ nurseryman, Cobham Street, to pay Brewster and Ragg Construe- . tion Company, Ltd, $34.62 (19 ’ days or $2 a week). I

A. Lynn, workman, Buchanans Road, to pay Gaeth’s Drapery $48.04 (27 days ,or $2 a week)i; Russell Man tell, labourer. Hawdon Street, to pay New Zealand Newspapers, Ltd, $85.45 (46 days or $2 a week); A. E. G. Payne, brickworker, to pay Tyre Sales and Services, Ltd, $32 (18 days or $2 a week). L. C. Pratt, Roswall Place, to pay Dominion Television Services, Ltd. $36.95 (20 davs or $2 a week); Robert Bruce Shepherd, electrician, Percy Street, to nay Beryl Faithful Shepherd $127.51 (68 days or $2 a week); T. V. Skilling, Momorangt Crescent, to nav Burwood Timber Company $13.50 (eight davs or $2 a week). T. Streeter, farmhand, Clarkville. to nay A. and D. McLean $156 47 (R2 davs or $2 a week’i: 4.. W. Svmnnds. Waterloo Rnad. ♦n nay M. J. and J. B. Hughes 53R.59 <2l davs or $2 a week).

R. 'T’awhai. labourer. Warbi’ngtnn Street, tn nav Alnine Saw’nills, Ltd. $12.02 fsevent davs or $2 a week): Robert Marshall Turner, labourer, to nay R«rnIwell Coal and Hardware, $25.40 (15 days or $2 a week).