Half-price cigarette buy 'stupid risk’

Press, 30 November 1978, Page 7

Half-price cigarette buy 'stupid risk’

A man involved in the | hotel trade who is charged! with receiving 40,000 ciga-' rettes worth $1270, was: committed to the Court for trial after the taki ing of depositions in the , Magistrate’s Court yester- , day. ' he names of the man/ and his wife who was; charged with receiving > clothing, cosmetics, and footwear valued at $3OO, were suppressed. Both defendants denied th" charges. The woman was: also committed to the Su-; preme Court for trial after; ! separate depositions were taken. Messrs S. J. Green and J. M. Doody, Justices of the Peace had ruled that there 1 was a case to answer and remanded the couple on bail! to February 12 Sergeant J.l! C. Shanahan prosecuted and

| Mr M. J. Glue appeared for I th; defendants. I Evidence was heard that 1 after the couple’s house was searched on October 3, a ! large quantity of cigarettes was discovered, as well as assorted clothing including jeans, nighties, blouses, skivvies, and singlets. Footwear and cosmetics were also found. Detersive J. F. Oakley told I the Court that he had questioned the husband on the day of the search. The male defendant had initially told him that he had bought “a few” cigarettes, but he did not know from whom. ! In a statement taken later ;he admitted that he had paid 's4Bo for the 40,000 cigarettes from a hotel barman he knew. He realised that in buying the cigarettes under half price he had taken a “stupid risk.” “I know that a lot of ! things that go through I hotels are stolen,” he told the detective. However he

•'said that he did not know anything about New Zealand t Railways property sold at! s the hotel. i Detective G. D. Church ; had questioned the wife. She ; had told him that she had ;'paid between $4O to $5O for , i the items she had obtained •Ifrom a man who worked at /the Railways. She had bought the first goods about I a year ago and the last of - the clothing, footwear, and : cosmetics two months ago. : She had paid the man Leach time he brought somet; thing to her and had not tasked where the goods had come from. “You ask no ■ questions: you get told no 1 lies,” she had told the detec- • tive. i She had admitted that the ilitems were probably stolen. •!The trousers alone were i j worth $4O, she had said. Detective Church said the t defendant had told him she did not think her husband I knew she was buying the ■ articles.