MAGISTRATE'S COURT Prison sentence for receiving hoggets

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33654, 2 October 1974, Page 12

MAGISTRATE'S COURT Prison sentence for receiving hoggets

A sentence of one month’s imprisonment was imposed in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday on Robert Joseph McKenzie, aged 21, a prison inmate (Mr I. C. J. Polson), when he pleaded guilty to a charge of receiving five hog'gets, worth $4O, on May 8, knowing they had been dishonestly obtained. The sentence will be served concurrently with a term of nine months imprisonment at present being served.

Sergeant N. W. Mcßae itold Mr P. L. Molineaux, !S.M. that McKenzie and two | friends were at the defendant’s flat in Ashburton on May 8 when an unknown person asked him to use his truck to load sheep at a loading bank. This was done, and the sheep were left on the truck overnight. The next morning the defendant and his friends took the five sheep to another property. McKenzie received no monetary gain. The sheep had been recovered, but their ownership had not been established. ASSAULT ON FEMALE Trevor Walsh, aged 30, a labourer (Mr I. J. D. Hall),, was sentenced to imprisonment for one month when he appeared on a charge of assaulting a 17-year-old girl on September 8. He had previously pleaded guilty and been convicted. Mr Hall said Waish had befriended the complainant and allowed her to live in his flat. He was worried about her way of life, and was trying to rehabilitate her. On this occasion, he had lost his temper with her. There was no intention of sexual assault. The Magistrate said Walsh had ■ two previous convictions for assault, and convictions for other offences. On this occasion, he took advantage of the girl, badly knocked her about, and terrorised her. Detective Sergeant T. J. Gorman earlier told the Court that Walsh threatened to rape the complainant. He grabbed her by the neck, and threw her on a bed. He later punched her and threatened to "put a bullet through her head” if she wen to the police. CREDIT BY FRAUD A young woman who charged, four toll calls to a Government department because a friend in the North Island had told her its accounts were never checked pleaded guilty to four charges of obtaining credit by fraud. The defendant, whose name was suppressed, was convicted, released on probation for one year, and ordered to pay compensation of $4.24.

Sergeant Mcßae told the Court that the four calls, some of a number costing $144 unlawfuUy debited to the Social Welfare Department, were made to the North Island in August by the defendant.

When interviewed by the : police on, September 29 the defendant admitted being respon-

sible for four of the calls. She ‘said her girl friend in the North Island had told her to ‘‘keep in touch” and had given her the department’s number for debiting the calls. SIX MONTHS GAOL Michael Charles Hilton, aged 23, a wire worker (Mr E. T. Higgins), was sentenced to six months imprisonment and was disqualified front driving for two years when he appeared on charges of unlawfully taking a car and driving while disqualified on September 6. The defendant had taken the ear because he was tired of waiting for a taxi, the Court was told previously. The Magistrate said that a term of Imprisonment was not only necessary but well deserved. The defendant’s behaviour had been inexplicable. ASSAULT William Richard Print, aged 19, (Mr R. F. B. Perry), was convicted and fined $6O on a charge of assaulting Kevin James Dalziel on August 24. He pleaded guilty. Sergeant Mcßae said Print struck the complainant three times about the face while the two were in the Golden Fish Bar, Riccarton Road. The complainant suffered a bleeding nose and swollen lips. Mr Perry said the assault arose from two previous incidents in which the complainant had thrown a bottle at Print and his friend while they were on a motor-cycle. NARCOTICS CHARGE On a charge of having tablets of lysergide in his possession on September 20, Murray Francis Margan, aged 18, a dispatch operator (Mr S. G. Erber), was convicted and remanded on bail to October 8 for sentence. He pleaded guilty. Sergeant Mcßae said the tablets were found in Margan’s bedroom when a search warrant was executed by the police. CANNABIS Duncan Bruce Anderson, aged 18, a shearer (Mr R. J. Muriitt), was convicted and fined $5O when he pleaded guilty to a charge of having cannabis in his possession on September 20. Sergeant Mcßae said two Buddha sticks were found in Anderson's ear when he was spoken to by the police at 11 p.m. on September 20. They were found to contain three grams of cannabis. Anderson told the police that he had bought the sticks for $3O from a stranger in a hotel about five months ago. THEFT AS SERVANT A man who stole clothing and other articles worth $2l from the warehouse of his employer, the New Zealand Farmers’ Cooperative Association, Ltd, between June 1 and September 24, pleaded guilty to a charge of theft as a servant. He is Norman William Murphy, aged 49. a storeman (Mr M. J. Glue). Murphy was convicted and remanded on bail to October 8 for sentence. ASSAULT IN HOTEL Hauaura Howard Morgan, aged 22, a factory hand, pleaded guilty to a charge of assaulting Trevor John Pattlnson on September 20. He was convicted and remanded on bail to October 8 for sentence. Sergeant Mcßae said Morgan punched the complainant, the assistant manager of the Aranui Motor Hotel, on the

■ mouth when he closed a pool ■ table in the hotel at 10 p.m. DEFERRED SENTENCE Russell John Dutton, aged 13, i a labourer, was convicted and ; ordered to come up for sen(tcnce if required during the next six months on a charge of willfully damaging a motor-cycle on August 24. He pleaded guilty. Sergeant Mcßae said that the defendant had taken spark plugs and wires from a motorcycle after an argument between the complainant, who owned the motor-cycle, and a friend of the defendant. An order for compensation of $3.75 was made. JOINT CHARGE Two men who were convicted i on a joint charge of breaking ! and entering the premises of Wholesale Groceries. Ltd Uam Road, on September 21 were remanded to October 8 for sentence. Brent Tomlinson, aged 20, an unemployed labourer (Mr S. G. Erber), was remanded in custody, and Trevor James Laird, aged 18, a machine operator (Mr A. J. Forbes) was remanded on bail. Both men pleaded guilty to the charge. Compensation totalling $lO was requested for damage to the front door of the shop, which had been forced open. THEFT FROM FLAT Thomas Sydney Brown, aged 52, unemployed (Mr E. T. Higgins), pleaded guilty to a charge of stealing a radio, money, and a pair of shoes, amountng to a value of $156.50, froma a flat a Croydon Street on

July 23. He was convicted and remanded on bail to October 8 for sentence. WILFUL DAMAGE Leslie Charles Montgomery, ,aged 22, a painter (Mr 1. C. J. Polson), was convicted and fined | $5O and ordered to pay compensation of $12.94 when lie pleaded guilty to a charge of wilfully damaging a car on August 16. Sergeant Mcßae said Montgomery broke two mirrors from a car parked in a street. (Before Mr H. J. Evans, S.M.) TAX OFFENCES The Magistrate reserved his decision on sentence when a man pleaded guilty to seven charges involving failure to pay $10,339 of his employees’ tax deductions by the due date. Gordon Kenneth Chamberlain, a bulider (Mr D. H. Godfrey), was remanded at large to October 15. For the Department of Inland Revenue, Mr G. E. Langham said that employers had to forward all tax deductions of employees

tto the department by the twen.eiu ot (he month after they ' were made. The defendant had not done this for seven months between (November and May, and the; amount involved totalled However, this amount was paid in full in September. ( said Mr Langham. Mr Godfrey said that the defendant had not wilfully mis- : appropriated the money; it was just that he did not have it. The defendant’s business in-1 volved buying and developing properties, and he had been' affected by a number of unforseen circumstances. These included the property-speculation tax and the restriction on build ; Sing sizes, which had made it un-j i economic to build, said Mr God- ■ frey. FAILED TO DECLARE I Percy Wheatley, aged 67, a mechanic, pleaded guilty to 10; charges of failing to declare alii his income from interest pay-: ments. The Magistrate reserved his! decision on penalty to October' 15. Mr Langham said that between 1964 and 1973 the defen-‘ dant omitted certain items of interest payments from his tax returns. These moneys camei from two bank accounts and from mortgage investment through solicitors’ trust accounts. The total amount omitted was $17,600, on which $6253 was j

owed tn taxes. Thia had been paid, said Mr Langham When questioned, the defen. dant had said that he did not have a head for figures. '(Before Mr K H. J Headifen. S.M> TOOK MEDICAL BAG A man who was seen taking » doctor's medical bag. found later (with two phiais in it emptied of narcotics, pleaded guilty to a charge of theft. i He is James Francis Wilson, aged 22. a shed hand (Mr J. G | Matthews) who was convicted and remanded on bail to October 8 for sentence. Sergeant Prouting said that about 4.30 p.m. on July 3, two men were seen in the car park at the Christchurch Health Centre in Colombo Street. j One of them took a medical I bag and contents worth 3130 [ from a doctor’s car and then i drove off in another, while his , associate walked down Colombo 'Street with the bag. The bag was found one hour and a half later on the steps of [the Christchurch Health Centre. Two phials of narcotics and a syringe in it were found empty. The defendant was traced through the number of his car. and, in an identification parade, he was identified by a carpenter who had seen the offence from a building site adjacent to the centre.