Blunderbus theft — S.M.

Press, 12 August 1978, Page 3

Blunderbus theft — S.M.

Nelson reporter | A builder convicted o I stealing an early ninteentl 'century blunderbuss valuei | at SI 600 and sword valuei | at $175 was fined $5O an< (ordered to pay witnesses ex | penses of $1705 by Mr K. H J. Headifen, S.M., in thi Magistrate’s Court at Nelsor yesterday. Denis James Tudor, age< 35, had pleaded not guilty t< alternative charges of steal ing the blunderbuss ant sword, the property of Alison Tucker, and of receiving the weapons. Twenty-three witnesses from Auckland to Dunedit

jwere called. Yesterday the i Magistrate took almost 45 11 minutes to read his 20-page i (reserved decision. I The Magistrate drew atII tention to the weapons hav--11 ing disappeared from the I complainant’s house in Nel- . son about two weeks after • (the defendant had been II shown through the house I with a view to renting it, II and the defendant’s story 11 that he had found the (weapons under a house at I Wai-iti at least two weeks (before. He said that if the defendant did not steal Miss Ali-

son’s weapons, then there must have been two sets of these weapons in the Nelson province at the same time, and they had to be of the same combination — a blunderbuss and a cavalry sword. ‘‘These circumstances would take the long arm of coincidence beyond any prospect of reasonable :onsideration,” he said. Imposing the fine, the Magistrate said he had to take into account the size of the witnesses’ expenses, which would be part of the penalty.