MAGISTRATE’S COURT Mother of five on forgery charges

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33813, 9 April 1975, Page 19

MAGISTRATE’S COURT Mother of five on forgery charges

During four years, al mother of five children ob-| tained money and goods; worth $1273 by forging and! stealing cheques belonging! to her de facto husband, the! Magistrate’s Court was told! yesterday. Before Mr E. S. J. Crutch-; ley. S..M . was Ruth Heather Mary Neil, aged 33, who pleaded guilty to three; charges of stealing a cheque and 17 charges of forging a; cheque. She was convicted; and remanded on bail to April 15 for sentence. The offences were com-; muted between June 14. 1971, and March 6, 1975. On November 27, 1974, Mr A. Stores complained to the; police that a bank statement showed he had a S 3 balance, wmich was several hundred dollars less than it should; have been, said SeniorSergeant W. Gibbs. On March 29, the police; interviewed the defendant,' who had been Mr Store’s del facto wife for 14 years and! borne him five children. The! couple had separated on sev-l era! occasions during that! time. She said that she could; not manage on the money! her de facto husband gave! her, and had stolen three cheques posted to him in the; mail, forged nine cheques! from his cheque book, and J altered the amounts on eight; other cheques he wrote out; for her. She tried to hide the; offences by destroying his; bank statements. Most of the cheques had! been presented for. goods; and money at grocery: stores, said Senior-Sergeant; ■Gibbs. Compensation of! $ll6O is sought. ASSAULTED TAXI-DRIVER Ahu Taylor, aged 25, pleaded guilty to a charge of assaulting Cecil Robert Buckley, and was remanded on bail to April 15 for sentence. Senior-Sergeant Gibbs said that at 8.45 p.m. on March 29 Mr -Buckley, a taxi-driver, was called to the Hornby Trust Hotel to pick up a fare. Taylor and another man put an injured girl in the taxi, and the driver was instructed to take her to Chris* church Hospital. On the way, Taylor, who wasj in the back seat with the girl.; said that he wanted to go tothe Star and Garter Hotel. The driver refused, and said that he; was going to take the girl to I hospital. While the taxi was -travelling at 30 miles an hour. Taylor! grabbed the driver from behind; around the neck, and pulled his; head back. The taxi was stopped., and there was a struggle be! tween Taylor and the driver. The driver’s tie, shirt and trousers were damaged to the value of $l4. Senior-Sergeant Gibbs r said. $1034 COMPENSATION Michael Ormandy Warren, aged 20. unemployed 'Mr A. S. Menzifes.L was sentenced to six, months periodic detention and put on probation for 18 months on five charges of burglary, one; of attempted burglary, one of stealing a motor-cycle, three of : unlawfully taking a car. and * one of unlawfully taking a boat, valued at $2OOO. from Dunedin.: He pleaded guilty. The Magistrate also ordered that he pay $1034 compensation,, . live and work as directed, and; not associate with persons disapproved of bv the probation officer A minimum of $lO a; week compensation was to be paid. The Court had earlier been! told that Warren unlawfully took * car at Dunedin, and attempted; to hook un to it a boat and trailer narked on the side of; the road. He d r ove off when the. boat’s owner disturbed him. Later, at Christchurch, he and; an associate burgled jewellery; shoos at Rangiora and Papanui. I The motor-cycle was taken; from Hereford Street and st Hoped. Replacing the parts cost ! $BOO. Mr Menzies said that it wasi significant a probation officer; thought it unlikely Warren would! reoffend. The charges on which i he appeared occurred in a “two-: week burst.” and were the result; t of his being led astray to some: extent by associates. •'Warren was prepared to go| along with others in an attempt l to gain their friendship,” saidi Mr Menzies. The Magistrate said that the defendant would have to get; nut of that habit. “Otherwise | you might find yourself going l with them to Panama Prison for four or five years.” he said. PERIODIC DETENTION Moses Henare, aged 35, a dri-j ver. was sentenced to six months! periodic detention on charges off assaulting Constable R. E. Mor-i ris in the execution of his duty; and of unlawfully interfering’ with a car valued at $1195, the property of F. A. Crowe. The Magistrate said that Hen-; are had three previous convic-i tions for assault. Tie was seen! by a police patrol interfering . with a car. and when a constable ’ went to apprehend him Henarecommitted a verv forcible assault. The Court would be justified inl sending Henare to prison. NARCOTICS CHARGE William Paul Ness, aged 21, anapprentice carpenter, was remanded on bail to April 15 for; sentence on a charge of possessing cannabis. He pleaded guilty.; Senior-Sergeant Gibbs said that on February 27 members of the drug squad executed a search warrant on Ness's home. They I found 186 cannabis seeds in a matchbox in Ness’s bedroom and & small amount of cannabis in the glovebox of his car. Ness said that he had been saving, the seeds to grow cannabis. He admitted that he had been smoking cannabis for some years. 26 CHARGES ADMITTED Carol Evelyn Bromley, aged 18. F factory worker, pleaded guilty to 20 charges of unlawfully getting into cars, four of theft, one of unlawfully taking a ear. and one of receiving rtulen property. ' and was remanded on bail to April 15 for sentence. Senior-Sergeant Gibbs said that when seen by the police on March 18 she admitted committing most of the offences with three youths, two of whom were appearing in the Magis-j ♦rate’s Court and one in the' Children’s Court. After her arrest she was released on bail and committed three further offences; o f unlawfully getting into cars.; property valued at SI 66.50 was stolen from cars, and $81.50 1 worth had not been recovered.:] STOLE CAR | A mechanic who got a duplicate set of keys for a car he t had worked on and tried to steal 1 it from a car park to sell it. ] pleaded guilty to a charge of • theft. He is Leslie Alexander Wade, aged 26, who was convicted and < remanded on bail to April 15 J for sentence. ' Sergeant I. M Gardiner spirit that a police patrol apprehended f VVade as he drove the ear from • narking lot in Hereford Street on April 8. The car is valued | ar $3500. t ATTEMPTED BURGLARY < Brian Christopher Mule.t. aged J jn. an electncan Mr D H P. Daw?on;, pleaded guilty to a c

i charge of attempted burglary of I the home of Maxwell Raymond |: I Leinewebber in River Road on' March 27. < I Senior-Sergeant Gibbs said i that Mules and a friend had ! been drinking at a hotel when ; ! they ran out of money. They| ' drove around looking for a house’ in darkness. They were attempting to break into a house when ! thev were disturbed. The defendant was convicted and remanded to April 15 for ’ :sentence. SMASHED BOTTLES A youth who walked along Hampshire Street smashing milk . bottles was fined $3O on a charge of depositing dangerous litter. He is Linton Frank Beihler. who pleaded guiltv. Beihler told the Magistrate that he had had too much to drink FORGED CHEQUE Keith Miles Levy, aged 20. a panel beater, was remanded at. large to April 11 when he was convicted on his plea of guilty on charges of forgery and obtaining money by fraud. Senior-Sergeant Gibbs said that a Wellington man reported to the noJice on January 15 that his cheque book was missing. He : last saw it in his dresser. When interviewed. Levy said. , that he found the cheque book ina flat in Colombo Street. He forged a cheque for $46. and ■cashed it on August 1. REMANDED Rockford Hill, aged 17 was remanded in custory to April 10: on 31 charges. No plea was entered. CHARGE ADMITTED > John Edward Davie, a brick-; layer’s labourer, was remandedon bail to April 15 after plead-; ing guilty to a charge of unlawfully interfering with a van; (Valued at $BOO, the property of: J. Tlall and Company. Ltd. Senior-Sergeant Gibbs said! that at 2.30 a.m. on March 30 Davie left his home in a bor- : rowed car. When it broke down' he tried to start a van belonging to his employer. FINED $3O Peter Lawrence Harpur, aged 31, a storeman. pleaded guilty to a charge of assaulting Brian '■ Tennant, and was fined $3O. ■ Sergeant Gardiner said that, about 6.30 p.m. on April 5,j, Harper was driving along Marsh-;' land Road when there was an! altercation between Ins brother i ( and the driver of another car at';, the Briggs Road intersection.; Harpur elbowed Mr Tennant, and told him to keep out of it. - ’Before Mr F. G. Paterson, S.M.) GREYMOUTH OFFENCES :■ Jacob Nico Arie Cath, aged 19.'. an unemployed storeman, was; remanded on bail to April 10 1 1 for sentence when he pleaded 1 ' guilty to charges of unlawfullyi faking a car valued at $2OO and; having in his nossession on March!’ 17 instruments capable of being used for burglary’. : Sergeant N. W. Mcßae said 1 that at 2.50 a.m. the defendant ; and another person were nearn ■the Central Pharmacy, Ltd.h Grevmouth. The defendant had' a sock over one hand and a 1 shoulder-bag containing three ! screwdrivers. • ( j At 4.10 a.m.. the complainant!' renotred his car missing. The 1 ! vehicle was found in the Main ! i South Road. Cath was the driver, p The defendant had said he I, went to Greymouth and planned ‘ to break into a pharmacy to ’ set narcotics. As a policeman h was near the pharmaev, the defendant drove on. and parked a short distance a wav. He returned later, planning to break in. 1 When aporoarhed by the police,! he ran off. He took the car. | .and was on his wav home when 'stopped bv the police. PERIODIC DETENTION 1 Michael Patrick Murray, aged J !24 (Mr K. N. Hampton), was con-.’ victed and sentenced to periodic detention for five months after pleading not guilty to a charge 1 < ; of assaulting John Fonotea on December 11. The periodic detention will be 1 served concurrently with a term 5 of three months periodic deten- ] tion, earlier imposed on the de- 1 ! f endant. Mr Fonotea, a butcher, said 1 ; that, he was at the Imperial Hotel on the evening of Decern-; ber 11. He spoke to two persons about alleged thefts. They were detained while the police were ! called, but escaped through a 1 lavatorv window. Mr Fonotea said he asked the: defendant if he knew the two; 'persons, but he had denied this.' j A scuffle began, but was broken up. ; Later in the evening, the de-? i fendant had come over to him; and hit him. witness said. He i ; and the defendant had fallen tot I the floor. Cross-examined bv Mr Hamp-i •ton. witness said that during the] I first scuffle he might have pushed : : the defendant, but he did not : I think so. Constable R. D. Fleming said) :that he had seen the defendant lash out kicking the complainant,! ] and hitting him several times.;! ;The defendant and been re-, strained, and arrested for assault.! I Constable P. D. Cunningham;, said that, when spoken to. the :< (defendant bad said ho would' 1 ‘‘do" the Maori who had detained him; he had been hit;, ’when he wanted to leave the;

hotel, and he “didn't like being pushed around by anybody." The defendant had said he did not wish to make a complaint of assault Witness said he later saw Mur ray hit out with a fist at the complainant. He also saw Mr' Fonotea grab in a defensive; manner at. Murray’s arm.- to stop the blows. Both then fell to the floor. Witness said the defendant had later said at lhe police station that if he had got Mr Fonotea bv himself he would have “kicked his head in for fixe minutes.” In finding the defendant guilty of assault, the Magistrate said he had “displayed a violent attitude towards his fellow man." He had previously been (•’’nrisoned on a charge of! assault.