Man refused policeman’s bet, Court told

Press, 9 November 1978, Page 5

Man refused policeman’s bet, Court told

A policeman who tried to place a bet with a suspected bookmaker was refused because the man did not know him, Mr P. J. McAloon, S.M., was told in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday.

The Magistrate reserved his decision to November 17 after a defended hearing involving alleged bookmaking in a Christchurch hotel. lan James Gamble, 23, a farmer, of Christchurch, was charged with carrying on the business of a book maker in the bar of the Foresters Tavern in Oxford Terrace on Saturday, October 14. Sergeant G. W. Moore said that he had observed 23 people approach Gamble over a period of about two hours about midday on October 14 and on each occasion Gamble had taken money from them, sometimes giving them change. Gamble had been sitting at a table in the bar with a transistor radio and a race book. He had had an orange and green bar cloth in front of the race book and had seemed to be writing on what appeared to be an old T.A.B. ticket. The radio had been turned up for the benefit of the patrons so that they could hear the races. Sergeant Moore had approached Gamble himself and had asked to place a bet with him but Gamble had said that he did not know him and had refused.

When uniformed police later entered . the bar the defendant had turned down the radio, taken the race book and placed it behind a partition on the bar. Sergeant Moore said he had then noticed the manager of the premises come from behind the bar and take both the race book and the tran- [ sistor and place them underneath the bar. He had then [arrested Gamble and had i found $211.50 in his pockets in denominations of $2O, $lO, $5, $2, and $1 notes, each denomination in a different pocket. There had also been an Australian 50c piece. For Gamble, Mr A. Hearn said that under the new gaming laws passed last year it was necessary for the prosecution to prove that the person charged with bookmaking was actually making some money out of it. He said that syndicate betting in offices and hotels was perfectly legal as long : as the person placing the bet was receiving no fee for the service. He said that the defendant had had no records on him when he was arrested and I submitted that there was not enough evidence to show beyond reasonable doubt that Gamble was actually carry'-

ing on a business in the bar of the hotel. COMMUNITY WORK

A bby, aged 15, Thomas Walter Learning, was put on probation for 12 months, with 100 hours community work, when he appeared for sentence on seven charges; three of unlawfully taking a motor vehicle, three of theft, and one of disqualified driving. For Learning, Mr M. J. Glue said that the defendant was “basically a decent person with a preoccupation with cars and easily influenced by others in his offending.” Mr Glue said that since Learning had been on remand, he had found a job and was working at it; in addition, he had “a very caring mother.” The Magistrate said that he had decided on a com-munity-based sentence because of these factors and because of the defendant’s age, but he warned him that if he did not choose his friends more carefully and mind where he was going, he would end up in Borstal training before very much longer. ASSAULTED DAIRY OWNER A youth who threatened to slash a dairy owner’s face with a carving knife was convicted and remanded to November 15 on a charge of assault. He was allowed bail of $lOOO. Robert Neil Gowans, a footwear operator, aged 18, admitted the offence which took place on August 13. Sergeant K. J. Hurndell said that about 6.20 p.m. that day the defendant, his brother, and a friend went to the complainant’s dairy from where he was seen to take a sign belonging to the complainant, Gowans was followed by the complainant who asked him to return it. Sergeant Hurndell said an argument developed and the complainant held Gowans while he attempted to ring for the police. It was then that Gowans picked up a carving knife which he held to the complainant’s head and threatened to “slash his face.” As a result the complainant let go of the defendant and put the telephone down, and the defendant left the dairy. When apprehended later Gowans admitted the offence and said he had consumed some liquor before the incident. He also said he had no intention of using the knife but had panicked when the shopkeeper rang the police.