The courts Prison term for sex offences

Press, 22 September 1977, Page 13

The courts

Prison term for sex offences

A 43-y ear-old man, whoi had admitted having sexual ' intercourse with, and in-| decently assaulting his de facto wife’s mentally retarded daughter, aged 15,1 was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment by Mr K. W. Frampton, S.M„ in the Magistrates Court yesterday. The man, whose name was suppressed, was convicted last week on the charges involving the girl, and on two further charges of indecently assaulting her 11-year-old sister. Counsel (Mr N. R. W.| Davidson) said that the defendant had suffered disadvantages during his life, including the early death of his father and a broken marriage.

He now had no contact with his de facto wife, but could offer no explanation as to why these matters occurred.

The Magistrate described the charges as “serious,” and said he could not overlook the fact that one of the girls was mentally retarded while the other was only 11 at the time. ‘STAIR-DANCED’ TO BORSTAL A youth who’ had been living off the proceeds of his “stair-dancing” thefts from office blocks, shops and churches, was sent to borstal yesterday. Jeremv Robert Thomas, aged 17, unemployed, was convicted of 52 charges of theft and burglary, involving $4375 worth of cash and property. Counsel (Mr D. G. Caygill) said that a custodial sentence was inevitable, but he urged the Magistrate to consider a sentence of detention centre. “He is not incorrigible, and not necessarily destined for a life of crime. But he does need help and he is more likely to get that at detention centre than borstal.” The Magistrate said he did not consider the two-month detention centre sentence to be sufficient punishment considering the number ofi offences and the value of the property involved. I

i “There is no realistic i ‘chance of restitution being 1 imade, and I must take this into account with the sentence.” he said. I The offences had been committed between February, 1976 and August, 1977. When interviewed on August 20 about the theft of a suede jacket from a church hall, the I defendant had admitted the; other offences. “The defendant had co-i operated with the police and; it is almost certain that he; would not be appearing be-! I fore the Court with a list of ! this magnitude if he had not! done so,” Mr Caygill said. Thomas had told the police; that some of the proceeds' from the crimes had been, used to buy drugs. Mr Cay-! gill said Thomas was not ani addict but his involvement! with drugs had had a lot to 1 do with his offending. FURTHER JAIL TERM !

Clive Stone, at present a! prisoner, was sentenced to! six months imprisonment as a result of convictions for burglary and being unlawfully in a building in May and June.

Stone is already in custody awaiting a Supreme Court trial on other charges. The Magistrate said he was satisfied that Stone had been on private property to steal money or goods. Stone had previously been treated with leniency—he

was put on probation in December for 15 convictions of stealing and burglary—but had committed further crimes while on probation. (Before Mr J. S. Bisphan, S.M.) A radio-technician who admitted stealing radio parts worth $7891 from his employer, Autocrat Radio, Ltd, was convicted and remanded to September 29 for

sentence, $7891 PARTS THEFT David John Higley, aged 27, had been employed by I Autocrat Radio since Janu-! ary, 1975, Sergeant B. G.j Saunders told the Magistrate’s Court. Components began to go missing on I

i;January, 1975, and when the (police searched the defendi ent's flat on June 3, this • year, radio parts found there corresponded with a list of i the missing parts. ■ The defendant had not i been co-operative, and had • refused to explain where the ' parts came from, he said. Counsel for Higley (Mr S. ’! G. Erber) said that his client acknowledged the offence, ibut disputed the alleged 11 value of the components “stated in the charge. ! RIFLE ‘ARMY PERK’ J A man charged with receiving an Armalite Ml 6 • 'rifle worth $79, stolen from (Burnham Military Camp, (said he got it from his cou■■sin, who in turn said he got 11 it as a “perk” in his job as Jan Army storeman. >i Selwyn Bruce Hill, aged 23, a butcher, pleaded guilty Ito the charge. He also

pleaded guilty to procuring possession of a .22 Winchester rifle without having a permit. On the charge of receiving he was convicted and ordered to come up for

sentence if called on within the next year; on the charge of procuring he was convicted and fined $3O. He was ordered to forfeit the .22 rifle and return the stolen Army rifle. He was also ordered to pay costs of $79. The defendant had readily

admitted that the .22 rifle was not registered, although he had bought it in 1974. said Sergeant Saunders. The Armalite was not operative, as one part was missing, he said. The defendant said that he had been given the Army firearm by his cousin in payment of a debt. He said he knew where it came from because his cousin had told him.

FALSE BENEFIT A sum of $778 was paid out by the Department of I Social W’elfare to a man who made false statements ito the department between February and March. Laurence Allen Phillip I McKenzie, aged 24, a

labourer, was convicted, on a plea of guilty, on five charges of making false statements that he was unemployed. Sergeant Saunders said McKenzie had claimed an unemployment benefit from February 13 until April 11, even though he was employed. He said in explanation that he was behind with his rent payments. ' McKenzie was remanded on $750 bail until September 28 for sentence. OYSTERS FOR MUTTON BIRDS

After receiving 120 dozen oysters, a shearer swapped them for a tin of mutton birds in a Christchurch hotel last October, the Court was told.

Phillip Patrick Hutana, aged 31, admitted receiving the stolen oysters, and also pleaded guilty to a charge of breaking and entering.

Sergeant Saunders said that Hutana paid $4O for the oysters, which had been stolen from Independent Fisheries on October 21, and were worth $99.60. He then swapped these for the mutton birds.

Last week the accused forced open a side door of Wrightson NMA, and tried to break open a safe with an axe. He was disturbed by an employee and was later found in the warehouse.

Counsel (Mr R. F. B. Perry) said that Hutana committed this offence on the spur of the moment when he was considerably intoxicated. In the first offence, there was no suggestion of professional receiving, he said. The Magistrate remanded Hutana in custody until September 28 for a probation report and sentence. DRUG CHARGE REMAND A Timaru man, who is accused of possessing cannabis for supply, was remanded again until October 6 for a fixture.

The Magistrate granted Kevin David Fox bail of $lOOO and allowed twice-

(weekly reporting on the condition that the two sureties -agree to the change in terms. The sum of each isurety remains at $1001). I Sergeant Saunders sought I the remand so that another defendant facing the same ' charge could be sentenced in !the meantime. STOLE BICYCLES i A married man stole three j bicycles and the frame of another from his employer •to "make ends meet." i Barry Stewart Naven. aged 39. admitted stealing ithe bicycles, valued at $390. I Sergeant Saunders said i the police found the bicycles lin the accused’s back yard, icovered by a tarpauiln. The accused said that he was in ifinancial difficulties, and he I was going to make ends imeet by selling the bicycles. I The Magistrate remanded INaven on bail until Wednesday for a probation report and sentence.