MAGISTRATE'S COURT Two offenders fined on drug charges

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33189, 31 March 1973, Page 17

MAGISTRATE'S COURT Two offenders fined on drug charges

Two men who pleaded guilty in the Magistrate’s] Court yesterday to charges] involving cannabis were con-] : victed and fined $lOO and $751 respectively by Mr K. H. J. Headifen, S.M. On a charge of possessing cannabis, Michael Anthony ] Hansby, aged 22, a storeman | ; (Mr R. J. Murfitt), was con- ] victed and fined $lOO. Sergeant R. I. Harlick said [ that the drug squad, after re- ] ceiving information, searched] Hansby’s residence in Ash-i burton on March 15. A small] quantity of cannabis had; been found in a pocket of! Hansby’s jacket. Mr Murfitt said that there! had been sufficient cannabis] for just one cigarette. Hansby i was not a practised drug-] user — he had had the canna-' bis for experimentation. Alan George Copland, aged; 117, a labourer (Mr K. N.I I Hampton), was convicted and fined $75 on a charge of I smoking cannabis at Ashbur- 1 [ton on February 25. Copland had said that he had smoked the cannabis out] 1 of curiosity, Sergeant Harlick 1 said. Mr Hampton said that the drug had been taken to a party by another person. Copland had smoked it as an experiment. ASSAULT ON POLICE John Tamara, aged 19, a foundry worker (Mr A. J. Forbesi, was convicted and remanded to April 12 for a probation report and sentence when he pleaded guilty to a charge of assaulting Constable R. Homan. Mr G. K. Panckhurst. for the police, said that the charge arose from an incident outside the Star and Garter Hotel, in Barbadoes Street, about 10.10 p.m. on March 22. Tamara, who had been with; about 30 members of the “Mon- • , grels” gang, had questioned the I policeman's right to be in the hotel at 10.10 p.m. Outside the hotel, Tamara had waved a beer bottle at Constabl e Homan and had threatened to kill him. Mr Panckhurst said. The situation had developed into quite an ugly one. Constable Homan had had to draw his baton and hit Tamara on the shoulder. Mr Forbes said that Tamara denied he w as a member of the ■•Mongrels.” He had not meant his threat to kill the constable —he had been heavily intoxicated. THEFT OF CAR David Michael Bohan, aged 19, an unemployed salesman <Mr G. E. Berry:, pleaded guilty to charges of stealing a car worth I 54200 on February 28 and burgling a house in Worcester Street on February 12. He was convicted on both charges and remanded to April 5 for sentence. Sergeant Harlick said that Bohan had taken the car from business premises in Tuam Street and had sold it the same day to a car dealer. He had then bought a truck and a cabin cruiser with the money obtained. In declining Mr Berry’s application for suppression of name, the Magistrate said that Bohan, had been before the Court re- i

peatedly since .1970. He had been lined, pm on probation, anu 1 1 lu me iignc side ui the face as a ; | Borstal training. FiNh. OF S2OO I “The uiue uas tung since ’’passed vhen the Cuun cuuid ! neat this sort ui cnaxge other ' diau seriously,” the magistrate said when sentencing John ] Charles Campbell, aged zu, a saw-l : null hanu, un a charge of caus-l mg injury by carelessly using a] I I car. Campbell (Mr C. A. McVeigh): 1 was convicted and fined $2OO and : dibquauiiud from driving xor twu I years, having pleaded guilty. Sergeant HaciicK said that I'Canipoeii had Deen the driver ui a cat which collided with an I approaching car on Stanmore I Road about 10.25 p.m. on Decem- ' ber 7. The occupants of the other . car had suffered severe injuries.] WILFUL DAMAGE Trevor Harry lung, aged 32. !; a steel-worker (Mr t>. A. oarrer).] i was convicted and lined »4u and ' I ordered to pay id restitution on [ i a charge ol wilfully damaging a! .’mirror and a window. He nad ; pleaded not guilty. A charge that he assaulted the complainant, David Edward I Byrne., a retail manager, was Gismissed. The Magistrate found that King I had chased the complainant’s car on December 28 because he | thought it might nave struck the ' rear of his vehicle. At the intersection of the Main . South Road and Carmen Road, '; King-'s vehicle had collided with ithe rear of the complainants ; | vehicle. King had cut in front of the complainant’s vehicle in Neill : Street, had gone over to it, and ij ripped the rear-vision mirror off. He had then thrown the mirror at the car, breaking the window i of the driver’s door. The Magistrate said he was. satisfied that King had intended to damage the complainant’s vehicle but not that he intended to injure him. The complainant suffered cuts to the right side of his face as a result of Hying glass. In evidence, King had said that the mirror had come off in his hand, and had smashed the window when the car accelerated, the Magistrate said. As no evidence had been given of King’s hand being injured, one could not believe his evidence “unless one carries the long arm of coincidence to an labsurd stage.” the Magistrate said. ASSAULTED GIRL Wayne John Holmes, aged 21. , a roofing labourer, was convicted and fined SlOO after pleading guilty to a charge of assaulting Glenda Heather Sibbald. Sergeant Harlick said that Holmes had struck the girl on the face and punched her on the chest at his flat on February' 20. ; She had suffered bruising to the face. BURGLARY Kenneth Ashley McCallum, aged 17. a steel placer, was put I on probation for 18 months after : pleading guilty to a charge of ! burgling Te Rangimarie Centre 'ion March 22. As special conditions of probation. he was ordered to live and work where directed by the probation officer, not to associate with persons not approved of by him. and to open a savings account. DRIVING CHARGE David Vernon Stevens, aged 22. a freezing worker, was convicted and fined S5O and disqualified from driving for six months after pleading guilty to a charge of driving at a speed which might have been dangerous. i Traffic Officer T. Laurier said

11 that Stevens's vehicle had passed; i|a traffic officer in Lincoin Road lion December 28 at an esiimaied [speed ol’ 40 to 45 miles an hour.! : The officer had ehecKed the [ : speed of the vehicle at 60 i 1! m.p.h. for two-tenths of a mile; i' [ in Annex Road. :[ DANGEROUS DRIVING } On a charge of driving in a! .: dangerous manner at Hornby on : I December 9, Alervyn Ross Dann,! 'aged 20, a parts clerk (Mr M. P. i .: Boyce), was convicted and fined I . • 550 and disqualified from driving ‘ tor six months. EXCESSIVE ALCOHOL i On a charge of driving with I an excessive . blood-alcohol • i concentration (142 milligrams) on [ : August 19, Stuart Dagg, aged 46, - a factory manager, was convicted : and fined $75 and disqualified .' from driving for six months. • [ Dagg pleaded guilty. ,[(Before Mr W. F. Brown. S.M.) [ j! CHARGE OF ARSON J; A man, whose name was sup- ; j pressed, was put on probation • ; | for three years when sentenced 1 [ on a charge of arson. J He had been remanded for a' ; j month so that observation of 1 . him could be made at Sunnyside ’! Hospital for a psychiatric report. , The man allegedly burnt his t house down because his wife had ( not returned home from Auckj I land on the day she was sup- "! posed to. : His wife has since returned to 1 [ Christchurch and asked for a ’ i separation. The man’s counsel, Mr B. ’ McClelland; said the defendant had gone to the airport and had ; I waited for every Auckland flight, { but his wife had not arrived. Later in the evening, the man ' had telephoned the Auckland police and had said he would ’ burn his house down if his wife did not return home soon. 1; No attempt had been made by ; the Auckland police to get in ; touch with the Christchurch police to prevent the defendant . burning Ills house down, Mr J , McClelland said. He had thrown a lighted match al a curtain and i it had ignited immediately. The police, said Mr McClel- ; land, had been most helpful 7 when they took defendant into : custody, and had let defendant’s ; [ father stay in the police cell with him. , . .. . .’ The Magistrate ordered that , restitution for the house and 1 contents not exceed SlO.OOO. Be- , cause of the defendant s health ‘ and family circumstances, he had been given the benefit of the doubt and released on pro- ; bation. the Magistrate said. ‘ RESERVED DECISION ’ Two men were convicted and ’ remanded to April 9 for sen- * tence on a charge of counselling . another person to obtain a » narcotic through a false prei tence. . . J In a reserved decision, the 'i Magistrate granted further [interim suppression of their names, and final suppression of , I the name of a witness. t Evidence had previously been r heard that on December 6 last f the two men had counselled anJ other to obtain drugs from a doc- ' tor by a false pretence. - i The Magistrate said he was 1 satisfied the charge had been - i established. ' THEFT OF HANDBAG 1 Mabel Meikore Enoka, aged 24, ’ a shop assistant (Mr N. A. Johnstone), was put on probation for one year when sentenced on 1 a charge of theft. • The charge related to an ■ incident at the Zetland Lodge 5 on December 24 last when a - young woman’s handbag containi ing S9O was stolen. Enoka was ordered to pay s<o 1 i restitution.