MAGISTRATE’S COURT Australian youth told to return home

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32797, 23 December 1971, Page 15

MAGISTRATE’S COURT Australian youth told to return home

”1 don’t think we need him in New Zealand —we have enough young offenders here now,” Mr E. S. J. Crutchley, S.M., said in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday when an Australian appeared for sentence on a charge of attempted burglary. David John Barr, aged 18, unemployed (Mr J. E. Butler), was ordered to come up for sentence if called on within three years and to pay costs of prosecution of $5O. A condition is that he leaves New Zealand by December 31. Mr Butler said the offence was committed on the evening of the day Barr was discharged from the Supreme Court on a rape charge. Barr had no money and nowhere to live, and-when he met another person from Addington Prison he went drinking with him. The two then entered a dairy to obtain food. Barr would be able to pay a fine, as he had been sent money from Australia. “It is desirable that you get back to the land of your birth as soon as possible,” the; Magistrate told Barr. Any earlier booking than , December 31 would be appre- ■ ciated, he told counsel. ’ NARCOTIC OFFENCE “One hopes that from now , on that good intelligence of i yours will be used to keep , you away from any connec- . tion with drugs,” the i Magistrate said when sent- ! encing Stewart Davis on a , charge of using opium on i November 22. Davis, aged 20, a hairdresser (Mr M. J. Glue), was ' fined $lOO and released on ; probation for two years. Mr Glue said that Davis < was in no way addicted to ’ narcotics and had made no ■ request to have the drug in- ; jerted. "He received a heavy overdose and was for a long time < seriously ill. He has no; intention whatsoever of, repeating this experience, ! He was on the fringe of this ; social group addicted to , these practices.” BORSTAL SENTENCE j - “You show a distinct lack of . respect for other people’s pro- , perty,” the Magistrate said to , Brian Desmond Marsh, aged 18, , unemployed (Miss J. M. Manson), , when sentencing him to Borstal ( training and disqualifying him from driving for two years. , Marsh was appearing for sen- j tence for unlawfully taking two cars. . 1 Miss Manson said that most of Marsh's trouble stemmed from i his home background. He was ] ruled with a rod of iron and i his resentment turned to open 1 rebellion. _ a ASSAULT ]

"It is a serious matter and a vicious thing to do, to bring a car bonnet down on a traffic officer," said the Magistrate when sentencing Robert Keith Murdoch, aged 20, a radiator specialist (Mr B. S. McLaughlin), on charges of assaulting Traffic Officer D. J. Bartlett and failing to surrender his car keys to a trafflc officer. Murdoch was sentenced to one

year's probation, a condition of which being that he takes out a prohibition order, fined $lOO, and disqualified from driving for six months on the assault charge. He was fined $2O on the other charge. The incident leading to the charges occurred about midnight on November 11, when he asked the defendant to hand over the keys after high-rewing of his car in Cathedral Square, said Traffic Officer Bartlett. When Murdoch

refused, he was arrested. While lowering the bonnet of his car, Murdoch pushed It down on the witness’s shoulders and then struck him several times on the head.

’ To Mr McLaughlin, Traffic Offi--1 cer Bartlett denied that he . struck Murdoch with a torch f while restraining him, but ad- ’ mitted throwing him. The defendant collapsed, because, the witness believed, of an asthmatie ’ condition, and. was taken to hoe- ■ pital in a patrol ear. r Christopher Francis Ross, a I butcher, who was with the de- . fendant during the incident, said ’ he saw no blows struck by Mur- • doch. As the defendant went to i pick up the keys from the ground, the traffic officer struck him several times with a torch I and knocked him to the ground. . Murdoch was “right out to it.” “It would be startling and ex- ’ traordinary If * traffic officer did i as has been said and struck ■ the defendant over the head,” said the Magistrate. “The con1 filet in evidence is settled quite simply; I don’t believe what Mr Ross has said.” Only Murdoch’s state of health was saving him from prison and affording him some leniency, the Magistrate said. AGGRAVATED CRUELTY Peter Herangihiroa Matthews, aged 22, a shearing-shed hand (Mr M. J. Glue), was fined $2OO and ordered to pay witnesses’ expences of $37.50 when he appeared for sentence for wilfully committing an act of aggravated cruelty on three sheep at Broomfield on December 1. Matthews had described the sheep as the most stubborn he had seen, said Mr Glue. This, with the heat of the shearing shed and the pressure of work, would have an aggravating effect and the defendant acted spontaneously and with consider* able irritation. “It is hard to believe how a human being could act in this way, except that in a fit of temper you lashed out at the sheep with an iron bar,” said the Magistrate. Matthews, he said, was liable to two years imprisonment or a fine of $lOOO, or both. $668 RESTITUTION “It Is astonishing to find a man of your capability and background tn court at an,” the Magistrate told a defendant appearing for sentence on three charges of burglary. The defendant, Ross Sinclair Brown, aged 43, unemployed (Mr C. A. McVeigh), was released on probation for two years and ordered to pay $668.32 restitution. Mr McVeigh said that Brown was driven to the offences through circumstances beyond his Immediate realm of experience. A considerable amount of property was taken from the 1 Brevet Club and half of it had been recovered. The defendant 1 took 400 knives for no purpose at all. He had spent a considerable time in a mental hospital. The Magistrate said that the burglaries were all quite serious and deliberately committed. Property worth $1286 was taken from . the Brevet Club. There was a strong suggestion of undue mental strain when the offences were committed. The other burglaries related to the Halswell Primary School and Addington Raceway. DETENTION FOR TREATMENT ' Patrick Trentham Braxton, aged 39, unemployed (Mr R. F. Powell), was ordered to be detained in a mental hospital for , treatment under the Alcoholism and Drug Addiction Act when . he appeared for sentence on , charges of obscenely exposing j himself and resisting a constable < on December 6. He had previously pleaded guilty and been convicted. Mr Powell said that Braxton was obviously addicted to liquor and treatment was paramount in 1 his case. “You have had treatment before, and this will not be very 1 effective unless you make up I your mind you want to get this problem with alcohol under control,” the Magistrate said. j THEFT i Alexander John Campbell, aged . 19, a wlrer (Mr E. T. Higgins), , was fined $6O and released on . probation for one year when he > appeared for sentence on four i charges of theft. A condition of • E rotation is that he works and ves as directed and pays restl- i tution of $36.08. < Mr Higgins said that all the -

; offences were committed in one , evening. The Magistrate said it was i Campbell’s first appearance in • court. FALSE PRETENCES “You are old enough to go to , prison, and unless you amend , your life that is the danger for . you, in spite of the fact that , you have young children,” the , Magistrate said when releasing : Betty Lillian Heron, aged 22, a ’ housewife, on probation for two ' years. The defendant, who was appearing for sentence on four charges of false pretences, was ordered to pay restitution of $103.18. As a special condition of probation she was ordered not to drive during Its duration. Mr M. J. Glue, who appeared for the defendant, said that she had had a hard life. Her husband was standing by her, however, and had already paid some of the restitution. (Before Mr K. H. J. Headifen, S.M.) THEFT AS SERVANT “The method described indicates a fair bit of planning. Had it been successful you might have found yourself facing a substantial term of imprisonment,” the Magistrate said when convicting Michael Ivan Richardson on a charge of attempted theft as a servant. Richardson, aged 22, a timber worker, pleaded guilty to a charge of attempting to steal $16.05 from his employer, McVicar Timber Industries, Ltd, on December 17. He was fined $lOO. Senior-Sergeant F. G. Mulcare said that Richardson attempted to obtain $16.05 for himself on a timber order of $160.50 by using an old invoice book he found in the company’s office. TWO MEN FINED “You are fortunate the police have restrictions on them by law; in some other countries you might have gone to prison for several years,” the Magistrate told a defendant who had resisted arrest. The defendant, Timothy John Townsley, aged 27, a packer, was fined $6O when he pleaded guilty to charges of resisting arrest and disorderly behaviour on DecembeGarth David Small, aged 23, a packer, was lined $6O when he pleaded guilty to charges of disorderly behaviour and obscene language. Senior-Sergeant Mulcare said that the defendants were ordered to leave the Christchurch Working Men’s Club at 7.30 p.m., but attempted to re-enter. On the footpath outside they argued and grappled with each other and shouted abuse at club patrons. (Before Mr P. L. Mollneaux, S.M.) EXCESSIVE ALCOHOL , Fredrick Henry Cook, aged 45, a restaurateur (Mr A. Hearn), was convicted and fined $lOO and disqualified from driving for six months from January 19, 1972, on a charge of driving with an excessive alcohol content. He pleaded not guilty. On a charge of failing to comply with traffic lights, to which he pleaded guilty, he was convicted and discharged. Traffic Officer T. M. Powlsen said that the defendant’s blood showed a concentration of 196 milligrams of alcohol. Mr Hearn submitted that the defendant's consent to the taking of a blood sample was invalidated because the defendant was told Incorrectly that his doctor would not be permitted to take a blood specimen until after the police doctor had carried out the task. The Magistrate said the major statutory requirement—that the doctor taking the blood sample be a registered medical practitioner—had been complied with. DANGEROUS SPEED Allan Rodney Jones, aged 21, a male nurse (Mr D. H. Stringer), was convicted and fined $75 and disqualified from driving for six months on a charge of driving at a speed which might have been dangerous. He pleaded not guilty. Traffic Officer W. A. Rose said that he checked the speed of the defendant's motor-cycle In Barrington Street for six-tenths of a mile at 50 miles an hour. A series of uncontrolled T intersections was crossed. Children were playing in a park on the right-hand side of the road, and there were cyclists and pedestrians in the area. Mr Stringer submitted that the defendant’s driving had not been dangerous. The road was straight, wide, and dry, and the weather was good, he said.