MAGISTRATE’S COURT Man obtained $l000 by forgery and fraud

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32637, 19 June 1971, Page 19

MAGISTRATE’S COURT Man obtained $l000 by forgery and fraud

Changing his earlier plea to one of guilty, James Peta, aged 35, a bushman (Mr R. F. Powell), was convicted and remanded in custody until June 25 for sentence when he appeared in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday on three charges involving forgery and false pretences. Mr W. F. Brown, S.M., who was on the bench,' refused an application for bail.

Peta pleaded not guilty at an earlier appearance to a charge of forgery and two charges of obtaining $5OO from William Alfred Pickup by false representation with intent to defraud.

Senior-Sergeant W. J. Prentice said that on December 14, the defendant called at the office of a moneylender to borrow $5OO. The defendant said his name was John William Carter II and as security for the loan produced a letter from the Department of Maori Affairs to Mr Carter, showing that he had a major interest in the South Island Tenth Reserve. The defendant forged a memorandum of assignment in the name of Mr Carter and the following day asked for another $5OO, and was given $lOOO. The offence was reported to the police when Mr Carter found there was a memorandum of assignment on his land, said SeniorSergeant Prentice. The defendant had stayed a few days with Mr Carter and during this time the letter from the Department of Maori Affairs was obtained. The $lOOO obtained from the moneylender had not been recovered, and an application was made for restitution.

The defendant was not the only person to receive “a share of the proceeds in this episode,” said Mr Powell.

> The defendant had a bad , record, but lately had been . making a strenuous effort to i stay out of trouble. Alcohol I was the cause of much of his • trouble, and he had recently ; joined Alcoholics Anony- . mous. POLICEMAN ASSAULTED When the police arrived at a property as a result of a domes--1 tic dispute the husband kicked a policeman in the back, Sergeant V. F. Townshend said when Wayne Curtis Durham, aged 22, a driver, pleaded guilty to charges of assault and resist* ing a constable on June 17. Dur* ham was remanded on bail until June 25 for sentence and ordered to undergo a medical examination to determine his suitability for periodic detention. Sergeant Townshend said that when the police arrived at the defendant’s property at 9.50 p.m. they were asked to leave. As a policeman was leaving with the defendant’s wife he was kicked in the back by the defendant. The defendant was then arrested. He struggled violently, lashing out with his feet and fists, and as a result one policeman dislocated a finger and another was kicked in the ribs. He told the police he had argued with his wife and was annoyed because she had called the police. SURGERY BURGLED John Stewart Barr, aged 26, a bar manager (Mr M. J. Glue), was remanded on bail until June 25 when he pleaded guilty to a charge of burglary on September 7. He was ordered to undergo a medical examination regarding his suitability for periodic detention. Sergeant Townshend said the defendant gained entry to a surgery at 160 Bowhill Road by removing putty from the window pane at the rear of the surgery. He did not steal anything and was found on June 17, when he admitted the offence, but could give no explanation. Sergeant Townshend said that the offence was committed while the defendant was on bail on another charge. The Magistrate said that Barr had convictions for burglary. PROBATION Eric Bent, aged 28, unemployed (Mr R. F. B. Perry), was admitted to probation for 12 months and ordered to make restitution of $486 for theft of household furniture and for breaching the terms of his probation. He was appearing for sentence.

j Mr Perry said the furniture . stolen by the defendant was 1 owned by the complainant with > whom Bent had been living for 1 four weeks before the offence. , They had intended to go to Australia together, and it was ! understood that the furniture - would be sold to pay their fares. But the defendant and the complainant had a difference, and she refused to go. Bent i then sold the furniture and took * the proceeds for his fare. 1 Bent breached his probation - order because he was under 1 financial pressure with a main* , tenance order, said Mr Perry. / He went to Australia, but was * deported after serving six • months gaol for theft. 1 THEFT OF MACHINE , Victoria Louise Boivin, aged 29, ! a housewife (Mr M. J. Glue), was released on probation for one ; year and ordered to pay restitu- , tlon of $9O when she appeared - for sentence on a charge of • stealing a sewing machine 1 valued at $149 from the Bernina : Sewing Centre. 1 The Magistrate refused to ■ Order the defendant to pay wit. 1 nesses’ expenses of $B5 because (of her circumstances. These were for a witness who was ■ flown from Auckland to give ■ evidence when the defendant Bleaded8 leaded not guilty. However, lese will be met by the Police I Department s Mr Glue said that the defendant's husband was in prison and she had an asthmatic child. The . offence was committed In a misguided sense of loyalty to her ! husband. : ASSAULT ; Warwick George Dangerfield, . aged 21, a workman (Mr L. M. ; O'Reilly), was convicted and ’ fined $2O when he pleaded guilty ‘ to a charge of assaulting lan , Murray Smith on June 17. An order was made for immediate ’ payment of the fine, in default 12 days imprisonment. Senior-Sergeant W. J. Prentice : said that the defendant called 1 at the complainant's house about ■ 7.15 p.m. on June 17 to collect 1 some of his belongings. An argument developed and he struck ■ the complainant with a child’s ’ tricycle wheel. INDECENT ASSAULT ] Gary George Shaw, aged 18, . unemployed, was placed on pro- 1 bation for one year when he i appeared for sentence on a . charge of indecently assaulting I a girl aged 13 at Taylorville on . > June 5. He had pleaded guilty 1 and been convicted. j REMANDED . Graeme James Jordan, aged 1 22. a labourer (Str R. F. B. 1 Perry), who appeared on charges of driving a motor-cycle at Levin while disqualified, giving a false name and address, and using an ; unauthorised registration plate, ; was remanded to June 30 for * sentence. t Other charges, one of theft and f one of a breach of probation, , will be heard on the same date. , He pleaded guilty. t INDECENT ACT Two youths, whose names were [ suppressed, were put on proba- , tlon for 12 months when they > appeared for sentence on at charge of doing an indecent act ( upon each other. * MISCELLANEOUS OFFENCES , In miscellaneous police prose- , cutions, convictions were entered 1 and fines imposed as follows, I with costs of $5 in each case:— . Careless use: Rachel Moore , Jackson, $25; William Frederick t Little, $2O; Noeline Joyce Cal- f vert, $l5; Nelson Gresham Every, $3O, disqualified for three months and ordered to attend ] driving lectures. . Failed to give way: Josephine J Francis McGerty, $2O. t Supplied liquor after hours: t Stephen Geoffrey Rea, $25. s