Men took 1000 sacks of grain to sell

Press, 2 August 1977, Page 4

Men took 1000 sacks of grain to sell

Magistrate’s Court

Because they were short of money, two men broke into the Wrightson NMA grain store on July 22 and stole 1000 sacks of grain valued at $5OO, the Magistrate’s Court was told yesterday. Wade Philip Smith, aged 22, and Christopher William Reekie, aged 21, both pleaded guilty to a charge of breaking and entering. They were convicted and remanded to August 15 for a probation officer’s report and sentence by Mr B. A. Palmer, S.M.

Sergeant M. P. Caldwell said that on July 23 the police received a report that the Wrightson NMA grain store had been broken into and some sacks of grain stolen. Later that day, Reekie was apprehended while driving a car around Christchurch towing a trailer with the sacks of grain on it. He told the police that he was trying to sell the grain so that he could get some money, Sergeant Caldwell said. SMASHED WINDOW A youth who smashed the front window of a hamburger bar because he got into “a fit of rage” when he found the shop closed was sentenced to four months periodic detention. Phillip John Harding, aged

TB, a storeman, pleaded guilty to a charge of wilfully damaging the window, valued about $3OO, on June 18. Sergeant Caldwell said that about 1.40 a.m. on June 18 the police were called to the hamburger bar in Wairakei Road. The front window had been smashed and the police apprehended the defendant in a nearby yard. Harding denied breaking the window but later admitted that he had done it, although he could offer no excuse.

Harding was ordered to pay restitution of $287. RECEIVING CHARGE Ross Alexander Davison, aged 21, was convicted and remanded to August 8 for sentence when he appeared on a charge of receiving a colour television set and a stereo set to a total value of $1355. Davison, who pleaded guilty, paid $BOO for the goods last December, said Sergeant Caldwell. The goods were taken from a Glandovey Road house which was burgled in December. Sergeant Caldwell said that the goods were found at the defendant’s address during a police search in June. Davison admitted knowing the property to be stolen but thought it was “a good

< (Before Mr F. G. Paterson, S.M.) ASSAULT CHARGE j Kym Mitchell, aged 19, was sentenced to five months I imprisonment when he ap!peared on a charge of asi saulting Bernard Peter Lecia loutside a hamburger bar in Christchurch on June 19. The Magistrate said that the defendant was no stranger to the coutt on assault charges. ‘'Your last three convictions were for assault. You were successively fined, sent to prison for -three months, and given a -suspended sentence,” he said. Mitchell’s term of imprisonment would be followed by 12 months probation, said the Magistrate, and a special condition would be that the defendant took treatment for alcoholism.

BORSTAL TRAINING A youth who committed eight burglaries was sentenced to Borstal training. Mervyn William Beard, aged 18, was told that he could not go on helping himself to other people’s property. “You are not trying hard enough to live within the rules,” said the Magistrate. “While, on probation you have been involved in a spate of offending — eight burglaries, eight charges re-

lating to motor vehicles, and one charge of being idle and disorderly. What you need is stability, discipline, and training and in Borstal j r ou will get it.” The Court had been told that Beard burgled butcheries, grocery shops, and the Bishopdale Service Station -in May and July. He also [broke into office blocks at the Cashmere and Papanui high schools and stole $97 from the Fun and Games Centre in Colombo Street. An associate, Andrew John Morgan, aged 18, unemployed, who earlier had admitted that he had been, involved in 13 of the offences, was also sentenced to Borstal training. HANDBAG THEFTS This was not only a mean theft but a type of offence becoming too prevalent in the community, the Magistrate told James Mark Loffley, aged 18, an unemployed shearer, who was charged with the theft of two handbags from women in the city on July 22. “You are no stranger to dishonesty or to the courts. The time has come for you to have some discipline,” said the Magistrate. Loffley was remanded in custody until today so that a medical examination could be carried out. The Magistrate said if Loffley was passed as fit, he would be sent to a detention centre.