Offences committed while on bail

Press, 9 April 1977, Page 11

Offences committed while on bail

After two separate Court! appearances on charges of! fraud, a man who was re-1 leased on bail on both occa-l | sions continued to commit a Inumber of similar offences,! I Sergeant .1. C. Rowe told the Magistrate's Court on Thursday. 1 The same man was again granted bail after being convicted of three fraud charges in Timaru, but failed to turn up for sentence. He was finally arrested on a warrant in Christchurch, Sergeant Rowe said. John Patrick Harrison,! .aged 60, unemployed,' I pleaded guilty to 20 charges' of false pretence, forgery: land fraud, involving pro-: Iperty worth $1452, before; M r K. W. Frampton, S.M. ; Most of the property was' expensive watches, which; Harrison obtained with the: cheques, and later disposed! of at city hotels. Only $154: 'worth of the property had ■been recovered. i Sergeant Rowe said that; recently five cheque books,! (containing a total of 150 ; cheque forms, had been stolen in burglaries in ChristI church. Of these, only 39 I cheque forms had been reI covered. Other cheques in ' the series were still being presented to shops and businesses in Christchurch and the police inquiries were still continuing. When Harrison was appre-i hended in Timaru last month nine of the stolen cheque) forms were still in his pos-j session. He had pleaded: ■guilty to two charges of) I false pretence and one of at-i ■tempted false pretence, but) ■ had failed to turn up for 'sentence when released on’

I bail after conviction in Ti-i !maru. I Asked by the Magistrate ; how soon a probation report could be prepared, the proI bation officer replied that it would be at least two weeks. Harrison was remanded in custody on all matters to April 26 for sentence. (Before Mr B. A. Palmer, S.M.) CAR-THEFT EPIDEMIC Thefts from cars had reached epidemic proper- ■ tions in Christchurch, the I Magistrate said when he (sentenced a youth to 18 months probation and 80 hours of community work. Christopher David Ayers,. ■ aged 17, pleaded guilty to (six charges of theft, one of 1 receiving, and one of driving 'without a licence. He was | also disqualified from driv-j ling for nine months. I A large number of stolen car aerials, mirrors and I rugs, advertising signs, and I two telephone receivers had been found after the defendant had been seen putting goods into the boot of his car, on December 10. The goods had been stolen from cars parked at Addington Show Grounds and Raceway, and the Bush Inn car park, and the advertising signs had been stolen from a bakery and two service staj tions. Counsel (Mr H. C. Cot- : trell) said that although the !| thefts from the cars had been serious, the rest of the II offences had merely been ’ I childish pranks. The defend■lant, who said he had wanted :)the goods for souvenirs, admitted that he had been 1 stupid.