Probation for youths’ theft

Press, 16 September 1976, Page 7

Probation for youths’ theft

lie courts

Two 17-year-old youths who appeared in the Magistrate’s Court for sentence on charges of stealing money and cheque forms from their employer told Mr B. A. Palmer, S.M., that the reason for the offences was that they were not being paid enough money.

Andrew Keith Halliday and Michael Andrew Miller had previously pleaded guilty to a charge of burglary of the house of Alice Winifred Denham in Weedons Ross Road, West Melton. When they appeared again in Court yesterday afternoon the charge was vacated and one of theft substituted in both cases at the request of counsel for Miller (Mr D. I. Jones). They both then pleaded guilty to the new charge.

Sergeant B. Saunders had told the Court when they first appeared on the charge that the two had walked into an empty house belonging to their employer and taken seven half crowns, a penny, and two cheque forms.

He said that both defendants claimed to be employed as car wreckers by Mr Denham.

Mr Jones told the Magistrate yesterday that the two] had always been allowed access to the house and had merely gone in for a drink of water. He said the two had a look around and had been tempted by the cheque forms as they were short of money due to meagre wages from their employer.

Prior to the offence, Mr Jones said, his client was receiving $45 a week and was possibly being exploited. When the Magistrate questioned Halliday, who was un-

represented, this defendant said he was receiving the same amount of money per week prior to a detention centre sentence earlier this year. When Halliday finished this sentence he was taken back by his employer at the end of July. After this time, he said he was receiving from $25 to $3O per week.

For both defendants their wages did not include food and shelter, and neither worked a full 40-hour week.

The Magistrate told both defendants that he accepted that it was possible they had been exploited by their employer and that this was the reason for their offending. “I have not heard what Mr Denham has to say so I treat with circumspection what you both have said. However, I am going to give you the benefit of the doubt.” Both youths, who had also been convicted on a charge of false pretence in respect of the stolen cheque forms which thev had attempted to cash for $5O, were then each sentenced to 18 months probation and ordered to do 100 hours of community work.