MAGISTRATE’S COURT Nine months gaol to “protect society”

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33451, 5 February 1974, Page 15

MAGISTRATE’S COURT Nine months gaol to “protect society”

Murray David MacDonald, ' aged 29, a packer (Mr K. N. ' Hampton), was sentenced to i nine months imprisonment ’ when he appeared before Mr E. S. J. Crutchley, S.M., < in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday on charges of] burglary, unlawfully takingb a motor vehicle and theft, j 1 Mr Hampton said MacDonald posed a problem and! was now an alcoholic. He had applied for the defendant’s commital to Sunnyside Hospital under the Alcoholism and Drug Addiction Act. The hospital, however, said MacDonald was not certifiable. The Magistrate said that the defendant had quite a number of previous conviction and the theft was of the sneak variety. “Despite your difficulties, society must be protected from you,” he said. 17 CHARGES Alyson Kathleen Andrews,! aged 19, unemployed (Mr E. T.| Higginsj, was sentenced to’ Borstal training when she ap-i peared on six charges of forg-! ery, two of uttering, five of false! pretence, two of theft, one of > escaping from lawful custody' and one of burglary. She had; previously pleaded guilty. Mr Higgins said 1973 was a black year for Andrews. She •suffered from a number of per, sonality problems and was in need of help, he said. In November Andrews was' convicted and ordered to come up for sentence within two years if called upon on charges of unlawfully taking a car, interfering with a car and setting fire to a car. The Magistrate said that Andrews had received a very lenient sentence last year because she was under treatment for a drug condition. "It appears that you are not dependent on drugs. All of these offences are serious; many of them justify imprisonment. When you are put on probation you have a duty to co-operate with the probation officer.” Andrews was also diqualified from driving for 12 months on the car-related offences. DROVE WHILE DISQUALIFIED Leslie William Giles, aged 23, unemployed, was sentenced to six months periodic detention and disqualified from driving for a further 12 months when he was sentenced on a charge of driving while disqualified. Giles had previously pleaded guilty to the charge. The Magistrate said that the offence appeared to be quite deliberate and it was the defendant’s fourth for driving while disqualified. (Before Mr K. H. J. Headifen, S.M.) “GANGSTER TACTICS” The behaviour of two youths who burgled a house in Otara

Street on January 16 after! threatening the occupanti 1 amounted to “real gangster' tactics,” the Magistrate said < when sentencing them on the i; charge of burglary. j “I propose to stamp this sort 1 1 of conduct out,” he said. ‘. David William Rowney, aged ! . 17, unemployed, was remanded!, on bail io February 11 for a I medical examination to deter-1 mine his fitness for detention' 1 centre training. “It is only your age which]! prevents me from sending you' to prison for the maximum 11 period of three years,” the | 1 Magistrate said. I 1 Tony Rex Saunders, aged 17, unemployed was sentenced to Borstal training on the charge. , The Magistrate said that ‘ Saunders’s part in the offence ; was deplorable. Both defendants had previ- 1 ' ously pleaded guilty to the 1 | charge. On that occasion. Senior- ' Sergeant F. G. Mulcare told the Court that the defendants and another person threatened the complainant and took two watches, a cheque book and $B. The Borstal sentence on Saunders was also imposed in respect of two charges of false pretence and a charge of theft of cloth- ' ing worth 549 to which he had I previously pleaded guilty. Mr T. M. Abbott appeared for ! both defendants. BORSTAL TRAINING j “Fining you has failed, probation has failed and detention icentre has failed, and I am not I prepared to have the Court’s ! decisions flouted any longer by 'you,” the Magistrate told Daniel Thomas Whibley, aged 18, a ] labourer (Mr T. M. Abbott), I when he appeared for sentence i on a charge of driving while i disqualified. I “You face the charge of driving while disqualified for the ] fourth time.” said the Magistrate I when sentencing Whibley to 1 Borstal training and disqualifying him from driving for a ' further year from December 16, 11974. ' On a charge of careless use of ] a motor vehicle Whibley was '' convicted and discharged. SIX CHARGES A youth who had previously pleaded guilty to two charges of riding a motor-cycle while dis--1 qualified, three charges of un--1 lawfully taking a motor-cycle, and a charge of burgling a I house, was sentenced to Borstal ‘ training. He is Trevor John Mann, aged 17. a kitchen-hand > (Mr T. M. Abbott). Mann was also disqualified | from driving for a total of three i years ASSAULT CHARGES ! “I am greatly disturbed at con- ' tinual brawls in hotels,” the I Magistrate said when Robert ' Welsh appeared for sentence on ,' two charges of assault. He was i I fined $250 on one charge and I i $5O on tile other, and ordered to ripay $125 to the complainants in ’ I compensation. He was released , on probation for 12 months and ’; ordered to take out a prohibii tion order. ! Welsh, aged 21. a soldier (Mr ;|G. M. Brodie), earlier pleaded i guilty to assaulting Mark Sexten

Drum and Barry Joseph Drum atlj Shirley Lodge on January 26. j Mr Brodie said that the defendant was not involved in' an argument before the incident.!, He approached the complainants]] to ask about the disappearance]: of a carton of beer. After they rose in a threatening mnnaer, . and made a remark lie consid- ] ered offensive, the assault took j place. . He said that Welsh was of good , character, and a first offender, i It was unlikely the offence I would recur. His action was ] [hasty, due to the alcohol he had I '• ' consumed. '; TOOK CAR ' Stephen Cyril Robinson, aged 1 21, unemployed, was placed on probation for one year when he was sentenced on a charge of . unlawfully taking a car on Jan- ] uary 25. He had previously . pleaded guilty. • (Before Mr W. F. Brown, S.M.) i THEFT AS SERVANT Terence Michael Batchelor, aged 22, a service station employee (Mr R. J. Murfitt), pleaded guilty to a charge of stealing $5O from his employer, Midway Service Station, Ltd, between December 1 and January 4. He was convicted and remanded on bail to February 14 for sentence. Sergeant Harlick said Batchelor had a marked $lO note in his possession when questioned by the police. It had been taken from a cash box in the office. Batchelor admitted taking sums of money from the box to pay for groceries and other items. FOUND LN VILLAGE Two youths who climbed over a fence into the Games village at Ham at 4.15 a.m. on Sunday “for a prank” after a party in the Ilam area, were eacli convicted and fined $2O when they pleaded guilty to charges of being found without lawful excuse in the Commonwealth Games village at Ilam. Kenneth lan Jackson, aged 13, an apprentice sheet metal worker, and Raymond Harris, aged 19, an apprentice machinist, were both represented , by Mr R. J. Murfitt. Sergeant R. I. Harlick said that the two had been at a party and were on their way home when they decided to test 1 the security at the Games ‘ Village and climbed over a fence [ to get in. When apprehended i they said they had done it for a prank and under the effect of alcohol. They had been in the 1 village for three-quarters of an ! hour before being caught. j STOLE PLASTIC SEATS I Charges against two men who • removed eight plastic seats from - Queen Elizabeth II Park on 1 December 7, were adjourned to 1 February 18 for a probation ’ officer’s report. The question of 1 conviction was reserved by the ’ Magistrate. J Ronald James Turner, aged 58, J a handyman working at the park 1 (Mr R. J. Murfitt), pleaded guilty • to the charge of the theft of the seats and the brackets, valued • at S2B, the property of the I Christchurch City Council. Tlie other defendant was

Anthony Thomas Wilkinson. No plea was entered on his behalf. THEFT Geoffrey Thomas Harding, aged 19, unemployed, pleaded I guilty to a charge of stealing ' motor-cycle parts worth $5O on February 3. He was convicted and remanded on bail to February 8 for sentence. Sergeant Harlick said two cooffenders involved had not yet been found by the police. FINED $25 On a charge of refusing to 'accompany a constable to a police station on January 26,1 [ Philip Charles Gibson, aged 19, a dyer, was convicted and fined $25. He pleaded guilty. EXCESSIVE ALCOHOL On a charge of driving with an excessive blood-alcohol concentration (285 mg on September 27, Warren Keith McNeish, aged 26, unemployed, was convicted and remanded on bail to February 14 for sentence. He pleaded guilty. Donald Keith Wigg, aged 33, an airport crash fireman (Mr A. P. W. Wilding), was convicted and fined $l5O and disqualified from driving for 12 months when

[ lie pleaded guilty to a charge s of driving with an excessive i blood-alcohol content. Wigg was found to have 188 mg of alcohol i per 100 ml of blood. On a charge of careless use *■ of a motor vehicle, arising from , an accident in which the defend- J ant was involved on the same 1 night, Wigg was convicted and ‘ ordered to pay costs only. He I pleaded guilty to this charge 1 [ also. (Before Mr F. G. Paterson, S.M.) j OBSTRUCTION CHARGE [ “You still show no respect for ' the community in which you t want to claim membership.” the ( Magistrate said when lie re- 1 leased Christopher John Puddle on probation for 12 months. Puddle was ordered to undertake 54 i hours of community service, and , ■ was disqualified for six months. ; Puddle, aged 19. a factory < I supervisor (Mr C. A. McVeigh), > • pleaded not guilty to the charge ' ! of obstructing a constable. > A police sergeant said in evi- , dence that on November 17 he ' . attended an incident in Patrick I 1 Street where a party had been , 1 gate-crashed, windows and a door | i i broken, guests assaulted, and the I'

street strewn with broken; bottles. The defendant was one of a] group of eight who stood at the gate and chanted, “Remember GUfedder.” Six of ihem got into a car and turned the car radio on very loudly. The defendant, who owned the car and refused to turn the radio down, was arrested. Puddle said in evidence that ] he was dragged out of the car ■ ; by his hair. ; Mr McVeigh said the offence was a technical type of obstruction, and not serious. (Before Mr H. J. Evans, S.M.) LOW FLYING On three charges of flying lower than 5001 t in March, Morris Desmond Weddell, aged 49. an electrical contractor, was fined $75 and ordered to pay $4O towards the cost of prosecution. Weddell had previously been convicted on all three charges. Counsel (Mr R. F. B. Perry), told the Court that Weddell had had no intention of frightening anybody by flying too low, but !had simply flown at a low altiItude over farmland.