Magistrate's Court Undercover man to counter burglaries

Press, 15 September 1976, Page 7

Magistrate's Court Undercover man to counter burglaries

Because of the prevalence of burglaries in Christchurch, an undercover policeman from another; centre who was not known in the city had been brought in to visit local hotels and I to discover what was happening to the stolen goods. Sergeant M. P. Caldwell told i the Magistrate's Court yesterday. |i From the beginning of the; year until the beginning of August there were a total of' 3229 burglaries of private homes and business premises in Christchurch in which property worth $637,521 had been taken, he said. Before the Court was Shirley Maureen Harlwich, aged 41, the solo mother of four children, who pleaded guilty to a charge of receiving a colour television set worth S9OO in May from Raymond Douglas Melvin. She was convicted and fined $l5O by Mr F. G. Paterson, S.M. Melvin faces three charges of receiving stolen property, including the colour television set, worth a total of $1895. No pleas were entered to; these charges and he was re-j manded for a week. Sergeant Caldwell said that the undercover policeman had arranged to purchase a colour television set for $3OO and he was told to pick it up from Mrs Harlwich’s address. The policeman picked up the television set from her home, where it was hidden behind blankets and cushiony 1

The television was found to have been taken from a house in Kaiapoi in a burglarv in March. Sergeant Caldwell said that the defendant had not been spoken to about the offence until September — four months later — as inquiries by the undercover policeman were still continjuing. Counsel (Mr R. T. K. I Burtt) said that Mrs Harl--wich had been holding on to the set for her brother, as he was afraid the police might find it at his home while they were in- ‘ vestigating other matters. Mrs Harlwich had not ; used the set, nor had she made any financial gain from selling it, he said. The Magistrate told the defendant that she was a party to the burglaries that were so prevalent in Christchurch, but he was not putI ting the entire weight of the statement by the police on her head alone. ‘‘However, it was a serious criminal activity that sou were involved in and it calls for a conviction and a substantial penalty,” said Mr i Paterson. GATE-CRASHER A 23-year-old man has 1 admitted clubbing the occu- ’ pier, his wife and the neigh- ' bour of a house at 88 Flock- : ton Street where gate- ' crashers had tried to enter a party. Bruce Allister van Nieuwkerk, a cable layer, pleaded ■ guilty to charges of being a i member of an unlawiul ■ assembly, unlawful possession of an axe handle, steal-

ing a pair of motor-cycle gloves, and injuring Douglas James Tatterson, Marie O’Donoghue and Brian O’Donoghue with intent to injure them. He has been convicted on all charges and remanded on bail to September 21 for sentence.

Sergeant Caldwell said that senior secondary school pupils were at a party at 88 Flockton Street when a gang of uninvited youths had arrived and tried to gain entry. They were asked to leave, and some of them did, but several youths had stayed and had tried to force their way in by smashing the front door.

When Mr O’Donoghue, his wife, and Mr Tatterson had gone to the front lawn of the house to ask the youths to go they had been subjected to abuse and obscenities.

Mr O’Donoghue had been hit with a fist and a bottle and had been clubbed with an axe handle, which knocked him to the ground.

When his wife went to his aid, she too was hit on the back of the head with an axe handle, and then Mr Tatterson was hit in the face with a bottle.

Mr and Mrs O’Donoghue had received gashes to the back of their heads, and Mr Tatterson had lost the sight in his left eye when the bottle smashed in his face.

The defendant’s part in the incident began when he went to the back door of the house to try to gain entry.

He had taken a pair of motor-cycle gloves lying on a motor-cycle parked near the back of the house, and after watching the argument on the lawn, he had gone to his car and got an axe handle, Sergeant Caldwell said. Van Nieuwkerk had then clubbed Mr O’Donoghue over the head, felling him to the ground, and had then clubbed Mrs O’Donoghue on the back of the head. He had also clubbed Mr Tatterson. Van Nieuwkerk had told the police in explanation for his behaviour that he was “fairly full at the time.” CHEQUE STOLEN A 22-year-old machine operator, who stole an Inland Revenue cheque worth $233.93 and signed a false name, used the money to buy a stereogram the Court heard. Tamitai Wiremu Hone Hohia Karaitaianna pleaded guilty to one charge of theft and one charge of false pretence.

He was convicted and remanded to September 21 for a probation report and sentence. The defendant was also ordered to have a medical examination with a view towards a sentence of periodic detention. Sergeant Caldwell told the Court that the offences occurred on or about September 7. A co-offender who was living in the same house as the defendant received the Inland Revenue cheque in the mail.

The cheque was in a letter addressed to a previous tenant in the house. Both decided to keep the cheque and the defendant signed a false name and then used it to buy a stereogram for $215 He received the change from this cheque in cash. The stereo has been recovered by the police said Sergeant Caldwell.