Magistrate’s Court Goods worth $3500 taken from employer

Press, 28 July 1976, Page 4

Magistrate’s Court Goods worth $3500 taken from employer

1 A police search of the [house of a night-shift worker for Fletcher Merchants, Ltd, had revealed nearly $3500 worth of stolen property, much of it belonging to Fletchers, the Magistrate’s Court was told yesterday. Paul Leonard Hurrell, aged 130, a maintenance fitter, was convicted on five charges of burglary and two charges of receiving and remanded in custody to August 3 for reports and sentence by Mr B. A. Palmer, S.M. The burglary' charges related to burglaries at the Education Department bulk store and the warehouse of Fletcher Merchants, Ltd, when property had been taken over a period. The charges of receiving related to property worth $3OO from Fletcher and 10 fire extinguishers, worth $l7O, taken in a burglary of Reliance. Sergeant D. Gibson said that Hurrell had been employed as a maintenance fitter by Fletcher Merchants on the" night shift. ■ Hurrell had a special key

cut for entering Fletchers’ warehouse and had admitted entering the Education Department building with two others. FORGERY Trevor Allan Goodwin forged his girlfriend’s signature and withdrew a total of $378.22 from her bank account because she owed him money, the Court heard. The defendant, aged 20. pleaded guilty to two charges of false pretence and one of forgery. He was convicted and sentenced to a year’s imprisonment to be concurrent with a two-year term the defendant is 'already serving on a charge of arson. Sergeant J. Dobbs said that on February 11, police received a complaint from the Canterbury Savings Bank that an account had had fraudulent withdrawals. Goodwin admitted the offences when interviewed by the police and said he had been living with the account holder at the time. He said he had deposited a cheque for her on January 20. Then he had returned later in the day and withdrawn $370 by forging her signature because he considered $3B from the deposited

cheque was money she owed him. He later made a further withdrawal of $8.22 from the account, which closed it. Goodwin told police he had intended to pay the money back but bought a car instead. Goodwin said he had intended marrying the complainant. COMMITTED FOR TRIAL One of two men who allegedly stole a 26 inch colour television set worth $926 was committed to the Supreme Court for trial after the taking of depositions yesterday. The man, unemployed railway worker, pleaded not guilty to the charge of theft before Justices of the Peace, Mr C. A. Pilgrim and Mr M. B. Hayes. Sergeant M. W. Moore told the Court that the alleged offence occurred on or about April 8. He said the television set had been in a railway waggon the defendant had been working on at the time. The television set had been meant to go to Dunedin but did not arrive. It was recovered at a Christchurch address on April 26. When interviewed by the police, the defendant had no explanation to make.