Magistrate's Court Man alleged to have made threat to kill

Press, 17 August 1977, Page 4

Magistrate's Court Man alleged to have made threat to kill

A 25-year-o!d painter who was charged with threatening to kill a man was remanded in custody by Mr J. S. Bisphan S.M., in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday. No plea was entered by Leslie Charles Montgomery, who was also; "harged with attempting to present an air pistol at the same man .which, in the circumstances, was likely to lead that person to believe it was a firearm. The alleged offence occurred on Monday. : Sergeant D. K. White opposed bail and the Magistrate remanded the defendant to August 23. CARS DAMAGED Damage amounting to; .more than $lOOO was done Ito five cars in the city by two youths on August 8. iStephen Paul Batchelor, aged 19, a fitter welder, pleaded guilty to five charges of wilful damage, and Mark Hallam Johnston, aged 24, a | factory hand, pleaded guilty to two charges of wilful damage, and one each ol (forgery, theft, and driving 'while disqualified. i Sergeant White said that} | both men, who wore steel-1 icapped boots at the time,! (kicked several cars, broke' car-park lights, damaged: I parking lights, bent a gear [lever, damaged several car: [doors, and threw a crescentj [spanner through the window; of one car during their bout! (of vandalism. Repairs to [one of the cars amounted to ($7OO. The theft and forgery charges against Johnston involved a Canterbury Savings Bank passbook which he (Stole from an associate, al-

) tered the balances, and used - false date stamps, said Set- - geant White. . Counsel (Mr M. J. Glue) ‘(sought bail for both men but - this was opposed by Sergeant White because of the , number and type of offences , involved. i The Magistrate convicted • and remanded the two i defendants to August 23 for , a probation officer's report! ■ and sentence. He allowed t each bail of $750, with a su- > rety of $750 and daily reporting to the Central Police! • Station. BOTTLES STOLEN Although he did not need the money at the time her J client “went along” with the . crime, said counsel (Mrs J. ' Johnstone) when a 40-year-old driver’s assistant apj peared on a charge of theft Richard Owen pleaded guilty to stealing 500 beer crates and 500 dozen beer bottles to a total value ot ! $330 from his employer, the Associated Bottlers’ Com- , pany Ltd, on November 9 of last year. Sergeant White said that! [the bottlers had consulted! I the police about the seemingly large quantities of beer: ! bottles and crates being sto-, (len from hotels in the area. He said that on the day in, Owen and another} (man, Peter John Robinson, [had picked up a load of bot-l, (ties and crates, taken them ' back to the bottlers’ yard, : obtained credit for them, and had then driven the en-( tire load to a dealer who p paid them $l4O. The defend-h ant had received $7O as his share. Restitution of $165 was if

I sought, said Sergeant White, i Mrs Johnstone said that it was only when the truck load was driven out of the; yard that Owen became aware of what was happen-' ing. Although not keen on the idea, he had gone along with it. He had not needed the money as he was earn-1 ing $lOO a week, he had been with the company for' three years. Owen was convicted and (fined $5O, and was ordered' to pay restitution of $165. Robinson, who made no' plea, was remanded to August 23. He was also charged; with stealing 40 dozen beer bottles and 84 beer crates to a total value of $39.60, the property of William Webb. BREAKING AND ENTRY Robert McNeil Beech, an unemployed labourer who! faced seven charges for of-1 fences committed while on' bail, was convicted and re-j manded in custody to Aug-} ust 23 for a probation > officer’s report and sentence. [ Beech, aged 28, pleaded' guilty to five charges of breaking and entering, one [of theft, and one of being in possession of instruments capable of being used for burglary. Among the property stolen were cassette tapes from a parked car, decimal coins in! mint condition worth $l7O, a cheque for $5O, a watch, and a double-barrelled shotgun. [ I Sergeant White said that [the stolen property had been[ (recovered but that the [defendant had burned the'i (cheque. The defendant told! [the police he had committed ' 'the burglaries in order to [get some money.

t MISUSE OF DRUGS An unemployed waitress. ( Pauline Mary Firth, aged 22. :(was remanded to August 23 (without plea when she was 'charged w'ith committing an offence under the Misuse of ; Drugs Act. ( She is alleged to have 'supplied heroin to a person, or persons unknown, in that she was a party to the offence. (Before Mr K. W. FRAMPTON S.M.) CANNABIS DELIVERY [ A Christchurch driver who (had agreed to deliver 992 [sticks of cannabis to Ti[maru. received a 12 months’ suspended sentence. Douglas [Cowan, aged 36, had pleaded guilty to a charge of permitting his vehicle to be (used for an offence under [the Misuse of Drugs Act. In the early hours of July 126 two cars were stopped by i defectives at Rakaia and a (bag containing the cannabis [was found in the defendant’s (car. According to the police, 'the cannabis had a street value of $16,000. Counsel (Mr E. H. Parsons) said that Cowan was not a drug dealer, but had been subverted at the time by an offer of a quick $lOO if he would make the delivery trip to Timaru. • The Magistrate said he (was satisfied the defendant : was not involved in drug (dealing and that it was an [isolated lapse. STOLE GEARBOX A man charged with the [theft of his own gearbox was convicted and fined I $l5O. Paul Andrew Densby, ; a shop manager, of Sefton, (was also ordered to return

I the gearbox to the complainant, Paul Anthony Buttolth, who had repaired the gearbox before it was stolen. Mr Buttolth said that he had repaired the gearbox for Mr Densby and they had agreed on a price of $l5O. On June 22 the gearbox had been stolen from his workplace. It was the only item 'stolen, valuable equipment having been left behind. Mr Densby called later I that day to pay for the gear--box and take it away. ( The witness went with the 'police to the defendant's 1 house at Sefton where the gearbox in a van owned by the defendant was taken out and examined. Mr Buttolth identified the :gparbox as the one he had (repaired as he had left a [ clip out when reassembling it. If Mr Densby had paid by i cheque he would have first (cleared the cheque and then replaced the missing clip, which prevented the gearbox from functioning properly. The defendant said that after the gearbox being repaired by Mr Buttolth had been stolen he had asked a friend to find another for his van. Several people rang him and from one of these, a man called “Len,” he had bought a gearbox for $B5.

The Magistrate said that he was satisfied the gearbox i taken from the defendant’s van, and produced in court, was the one stolen from Mr Buttolth because Mr Buttolth had told the police before ne i took the gearbox to pieces that the clip was missing. He had also pointed out .1 several other internal peiculiarities that he had I noticed while he was repairling the gearbox.