MAGISTRATE’S COURT $450 burglary two days after leaving gaol

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32676, 4 August 1971, Page 19

MAGISTRATE’S COURT $450 burglary two days after leaving gaol

Two days after being released from Paparua Prison, a 20-year-old youth broke into the Woodend Garage and stole $450, 1000 cigarettes, and a set of spanners, Mr H. J. Evans, S.M., was told in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday.

The youth, Easter Kelly Waenga, appeared on five charges of burglary, four of them joint charges with Willie Thomas, aged 22, a labourer. Both pleaded guilty to the charges and were convicted and remanded in custody to August 11 for sentence. Sergeant W. J. Nicholl said that the police were informed by telephone at 3 a.m. on July 27 ; that two men were acting suspiciously near the Junction Garage, Rolleston. A description of the car the men were using was given and police intercepted the car as it was travelling towards Christchurch. • Waenga, Thomas, .and. a third person who .was asleep were in the car. The third person was not implicated in the offences, said Sergeant Nicholl. More than $4OO worth of stolen property was in the car, which belonged to Waenga, and the two were questioned. They said they had gone to Lincblh and broken into the Lincoln Beauty Salon, Bev and Barries Drapery, and the Lincoln branch of the Bank of New Zealand. From the salon they had taken three wigs and a can of hairspray, worth $149.60, from the drapery they had taken assorted clothing worth $296.14, but they had taken nothing from the bank. They had'then gone to the garage at Rolleston and broken in, taking $lO. All of the property taken in those four burglaries had been recovered, but $6O worth of damage had been done during the burglaries and restitution of that amount was sought. , Waenga, who was released from gaol on July 23, was questioned about spanners found in his car, said Sergeant Nicholl. Waenga told the police he had gone by himself to the Woodend Garage on July 25 and broken in. He had taken $450 in notes, 1000 cigarottes, a set of spanners, and some screwdrivers. By the time he was arrested on July 27 he had spent most of the money and restitution of $448.82 was sought, said Sergeant Nicholl. PRESCRIPTION FORGED A woman, whose name was pleaded guilty to a charge of forging

a doctor’s prescription to obtain a prescription poison. She’ was convicted and fined $25. Senior-Sergeant W. J. Prentice said that the defendant took the forged prescription to a chemist’s shop on August 2 and was asked to return the following day to collect the order. In the meantime the chemist found the prescription was a forgery and notified the police. /

When interviewed, the defendant said she had been attempting to get slimming pills for a friend.' She had copied an old prescription for a preparation she knew would assist in slimming. She had hot-told her friend- she was going to try to get the preparation., The defendant said she had acted on the spur of the moment and had K<SS* * * ASSAULT Orf CONSTABLE •K?Ti SKhute Ryan), appeared for sentence on charges of assaulting' a constable, escaping from lawful custody, and obstructing the footpath. He was fined $BO and released on probation for 12 months. A condition of probation is that he takes out a prohibition order. Mr Ryan said that the whole affair stemmed from Moore’s inability to control his temper, particularly when he had been drinking. For some years all the trouble Moore had been in was related to his drinking. BURGLARY Brian Walter Thomas, aged 19 unemployed, and David John Charles Robertson, aged 18, unemployed, pleaded guilty to a charge of burgling the Al Fruit Market in Stanmore Road on August 3. They were convicted and remanded in custody to August 11 for sentence. Sergeant Nicholl said that the defendants were found at the back of the shop about 1.15 a.m. They had stacked food and cigarettes near a window in preparation' for taking them away.

THEFT OF CARPET Keith Ivan Currie, aged 31, a plasterer, told a policeman that he took a carpet square from the flat in which he had been living because he wanted “to teach the landlord a lesson.” Currie pleaded guilty to the theft of the square, valued at $3O, and was convicted and fined $25. Sergeant Nicholl said the square was found rolled up in a back room of Currie’s new flat Currie, said he had taken it in a fit of temper

brought on by the considerable 1 animosity between himself and his landlord. (Before MrW. F. Brown, S.M.) DECISION RESERVED The Magistrate reserved his decision until today after evidence was heard on charges against Wayne Kevin Wilson, aged 18, a shop assistant (Mr E. T. Higgins), and Donald Alexander Cameron, aged 18, a cable layer (Mr G. R. .Lascelles). Wilson pleaded not guilty to a charge of having unlawful sexual intercourse, and Cameron pleaded not guilty to a- charge of attempting to have unlawful sexual intercourse. Both offences involved a girl aged 14 years 7 months, whose name was suppressed. (Before Mr P. L. Molineaux, S.M.) ASSAULT John Whitehouse, aged 28, a seaman (Mr M. J. Glue), pleaded not guilty to a charge of assault at Lyttelton on July 31. He was convicted and fined $lOO. The Magistrate ordered half the fine to be paid to the complainant. The complainant, Clez Daltaz, said that he was in a cabin in the m.v. Kaitoke where a party was in progress. "I was standing in a comer when the defendant approached and struck me two or three times in the he said. “The defendant asked me to stand up and fight like a man, and asked me if I wanted some more.”

The complainant, who was wearing dark glasses, suffered an injured eye and lip. Whitehouse said in evidence that he saw the complainant stagger and fall with some cartons of beer in a Lyttelton street. He slept the night at a friend’s house and did not go . back to the ship until the next morning. He did not touch Daltaz. Cross-examined by Sergeant E. J. Niven about cuts on his hand, Whitehouse said he got them while putting a plate back on.X fuel pump. “There was no provocation whatever for the assault,” the Magistrate said to Whitehouse. “If you were not leaving on a ship today some form of deprivation of liberty would be justified. This is not the first time you have been before the Court on a charge of assault, although the last conviction was 10 years ago. “You abused your position of authority on the ship,” said the Magistrate. “The behaviour of the crew members leaves much to be desired, and it is not surprising that such an outburst took place.”