Receiving, selling charges

Press, 7 July 1977, Page 4

Receiving, selling charges

A youth appeared before Mr K. W. Frampton, S.M., in the Magistrate’s Court i yesterday on six charges relating to the misuse of drugs, and to four charges ;of receiving stolen goods.

Robert Malcolm Haines, aged 19, faced five charges of selling cannabis, one charge of supplying cannabis one of having cannabis for sale, and three charges of receiving stolen propertyworth $1350. No plea was entered by the defendant, who was remanded in custody to July 13. FRAUD CHARGE

John Philip Guerin, who appeared on a charge of fraud, was remanded to the Greymouth Magistrate’s Court on September 14. Guerin, a former Greymouth borough councillor, made no plea to a charge of having received $624, which he fraudulently omitted to pay the various creditors of Moncrief Stechman.

The alleged offences took-, place at Greymouth between ;< January 16, 1974, and February 25, 1975. |l RECKLESS DRWING A car seen travelling atp speeds of up to 120 km/h in|, Manchester Street in thep early hours of June 15, j eventually crashing into a! parked car a,nd a gate, re-p suited in Ronald Van Deri Voorn, aged 20 pleading;’ guilty to reckless driving,) and driving under the in-| |fluence of alcohol. The car, which contained) three girls aged 14 to 16,): drove through three red; lights and in doing sol caused another car and a; milk truck to take evasive' action. While attempting to turn,) the vehicle slowed 50 metres i further down Manchester' Street and hit a parked car.j Damage to this car, said) Sergeant Caldwell, M. P.' was $5OO. 1 Eventually the vehicle;

crashed into a gateway,; ) doing $9O damage. )j i Van Der Voorn then at-:< 'tempted to get away. Ii When apprehended, be i was unable to talk clearly, J lor to stand up properly, and. iwas inclined to want to fall!] ) asleep. ; Sergeant Caldwell said the) | defendant had 174 milli- ; j grams of alcohol in hisji I blood at the time of the of-ji I fences. i] i The Magistrate, who said); |he doubted whether a fine) would be appropriate, re-) Imanded the accused to July < 120 for sentence and a probation report. 1 ! ATTEMPTED BURGLARY I Peter Rapori, aged 22, I 'sickness beneficiary, pleaded ' (guilty to burglary, attempted!, (burglary, possessing bur-1 |glary instruments, and being I ; (on enclosed premises. L ( Sergeant Caldwell said! i about 11.30 p.m. on March , '26, the defendant was seen;) ion the roof of a St Albans!. I pharmacy.

When spprehended by a police patrol he had only) one sock. The other sock, to-' gether with a hatchet, was) found on the roof of the) pharmacy, near a skylight. On April 27, about 6.30, p.m.. he was observed in) the front door of another [Chemist’s shop. An attempt; had been made to jemmy the) jdoor. and a jemmy bar was) (found in the defendant’s) possession. Damage to the) )door was estimated at $5O. ) Raponi said he was seek-) I ing drugs to ease his with-1 drawal from drugs. At- 12.40 a.ni. on June 7; the defendant and another! person, were seen walking) out of a yard in Warrington) Street. No excuse was given. On June 26, the police were called to a city medical) (centre, where the defendant) (had been apprehended inside I by a resident doctor. I In his possession was i 552.40 — the centre’s petty leash — four syringes and I three sets of internal security keys belonging to the 'medical centre, said Sergeant. Caldwell. He said he needed the money and the drugs to support his habit. The Magistrate convicted Raponi and remanded him in custody to July 16 for probation and psychiatric reports. i SICKNESS BENEFIT A married man pleaded' guilty to receiving a sick-1 ness benefit during a period) he was in regular employment.

John Alexander MacKissock Craig, aged 38, appeared on a charge of wilfully omitting to declare he Iwas employed so that he could continue to receive a sickness benefit.

Sergeant L. Bruce said the defendant applied for a sickness benefit because he suffered from an ulcer and, later, a back injury. He was paid benefits of $1053.64c between April 4, last year, and March 6 this year.

Between December 6, 1976, and March 6 he was employed, however, and was paid wages amounting to $l7OO.

i As a result restituion of | $1053 was sought. The Magistrate convicted Craig, and remanded him to July 20 for a probation officer’s report and sentence. MOTIVE GREED (Before Mr B. A. Palmer, S.M.) “You became involved in crime for the worst possible reason — greed,” the Magistrate told Gary Brian Sinclair, when he sentenced him to nine months imprisonment. Sinclair, aged 21, had pleaded guilty to two charges of receiving stolen goods worth more than $4OOO, including two television sets, cassette players ! and radios.

“These types of goods are regarded as the fruits of

burglaries, and are easily disposable.” the Magistrate ) said. “It has been said beI fore that without receivers, 'there would be no thieves, and it seems you got involved to make money, which is disturbing, as it is I the motive of many receivers.” ! He said that Sinclair had !no need to dabble in crime, (because he had a net wage lof $l6O a week, a $lO,OOO ! section, a car worth $3500 !and savings of $4OO. j Counsel (Mr M. J. Glue) 'urged the magistrate not to 'send the defendant to (prison; he is not a “profesIsional fence.” Sinclair was a [one-time offender, who had [made a full and frank conI fession to the police. “He is [not a layabout, like so many, I other persons who appear before the courts,” Mr Glue said. DRUG OFFENCES A couple who had pleaded guilty to charges of using heroin were put on probation for 18 months and ordered to take medical treatment and counselling. Brian Patrick Dewar, aged 30, and Gai! Lynette Hickling, aged 20, had married each other since their conviction, the Court was told. Counsel for both (Mr T. M. Abbott) said that a medical examination had revealed that neither defendant was ' addicted to heroin in the I clinical sense. Their backgrounds had contributed to their initial involvement with heroin, as had a lack of job opportunities for both and for their friends and acquaintances. The Magistrate said he hoped the marriage would be a stabilising force, but told the defendants that if one fell by the wayside the other probably would too. He told Mrs Dewar she had “positive duties” to her three-year-old child that she would be unable to discharge if she got involved with a drug like heroin, “the nightmare beyond description.” The Magistrate told Dewar he would make no other order in addition to the period of probation. Another order, such as community work, could take up time that Dewar should use to stabilise his marriage relationship. $B5O RESTITUTION A young man was ordered to pay compensation and restitution totalling more than $B5O, when he was sentenced on four charges resulting from an incident on the West Coast.

John Randall Allott, aged 21, pleaded guilty to possessing a shotgun without lawful purpose, wilful damage, and two charges of theft. The offences had occurred between May 25 and June 11. Counsel (Mr L. Willetts) said that the shotgun possession charge had arisen out of an incident at a West Coast hotel.

A patron at the hotel had insulted Allott’s female companion, and later severely assaulted him, counsel said. This had provoked him into taking the shotgun from his car to frighten his assailant. The theft charges, involving $2OO in cash and a 50c certificate of registration, arose after he had taken the certificate and the money from a debtor who owed him about $350, counsel said. The wilful damage charge was one that arose after he had become drunk and depressed. He had thrown a stone at a plate glass window, causing about $650 damage. The Magistrate fined Allott $lOO on the charge of possessing a shotgun. He sentenced him to 18 months probation on the other three charges, and ordered him to take out a [prohibition order. On the ) theft charges, he was ordered Ito pay $2OO restitution and (on the wilful damage charge I was ordered to pay $651 com[pensation.