MAGISTRATE’S COURT Prison for arson and burglary

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33062, 1 November 1972, Page 11

MAGISTRATE’S COURT Prison for arson and burglary

“You cannot be surprised that the sentence must be one of imprisonment,” Mr H. J. Evans, S.M.,’ said in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday when he gaoled Colin Alexander Dick, aged 47, a labourer, for 21 months for arson and burglary. The Magistrate said that the defendant smashed the window of a house and stole more than $2OO worth of property. “Later you returned and set fire to the house, causing damage estimated at $4OOO, as well as another $2OOO damage to the house contents,” the Magistrate said. UNLAWFUL INTERCOURSE John WiUiam Young, aged 17, a factory worker, was fined $lOO, when he pleaded guilty to a charge of having sexual intercourse on October 28 with a girl aged 14 years, 10 months. EXCESSIVE ALCOHOL David Copeland, aged 30. a motor mechanic, was fined $2OO and disqualified from driving for 18 months on a charge of driving with an excessive concentration of alcohol, and $l5 on a charge of careless use. He pleaded guilty to both charges. Sergeant R. S. Morgan said that Copeland hit a parked car In Dublin Street, Lyttelton, at 1 a.m. on September 24. A test showed an alcohol concentration of 238 mg. DISQUALIFIED DRIVING Steve Peters, aged 26, a tussock grubber (Mr I. J. D. Hall), was convicted of driving while disqualified and was remanded in custody to November 7 for sentence. Peters was seen driving in Harewood Road at 10.50 p.m. on September 28, with no lights on, said Sergeant Morgan. He had been disqualified for two years in February of this year. BOTTLE THROWN Leslie Noel Dowling, aged 17, a plasterer, was fined $4O and disqualified from driving for six months on a charge of depositing glass on the road. He pleaded guilty. Sergeant Morgan said that I Dowling was among footballers returning in a bus to Christchurch. He threw a beer bottle out of the window and it broke

on the road, glass hitting a following car. THEFT OF FOOD Michael Stephen Birt, aged 20, a cook, was convicted of stealing meat and groceries worth $9.43, and was remanded in custody to November 7 for sentence. Sergeant Morgan said that the food belonged to the Wine Cellar Restaurant, where the defendant worked as a cook. The defendant freely admitted taking the food. BOX DAMAGED Anthony Larry Roy Momo, aged 17, an unemployed forestry hand, was fined $25 on a charge of damaging a newspaper honesty box in Cathedral Square on Monday evening. He pleaded guilty. Sergeant Morgan said that a constable saw Momo kick the box, damaging the lid. Momo, who told the Court that he lost his head, was ordered to make restitution of $2. BURGLARY John Pearson, aged 19. unemployed (Mr A. J. Forbes) pleaded guilty to a charge of burglary. He was convicted and remanded in custody until November 7 for sentence. Sergeant Morgan said that Pearson and an accomplice, after visiting the defendant’s halfbrother at his home, returned and stole two television sets valued at $514. He took them to a hotel and sold them. Pearson told the police that he did this because he had been drinking. He said that if he was allowed bail, he would try to retrieve the television sets. The Magistrate told the defendant that the police and the Court were not prepared to bargain. 10 BURGLARIES A youth, whose name was suppressed, was sentenced to periodic detention, subject to his being found medically fit, and placed on probation for 18 months when he appeared for sentence on 10 charges of burglary. Special conditions of probation are that the defendant pays restitution of $440.35, and that he undergoes any psychological treatment or couselling recommended by the probation officer. (Before Mr F. G. Paterson, S.M.) I CHARGE DISMISSED A charge of theft against Graham Patrick Smith, aged 20, a shed hand (Mr C. M. Marshall), was dismissed after a defended hearing. Smith was charged with stealing a transistor radio worth $3O, from his employer. Cooper Amai, a shearing contractor.