Theft of stereo alleged

Press, 1 December 1978, Page 4

Theft of stereo alleged

I A tattdoist broke into a next door flat and was seen loading stereo speakers into a car, the Magistrate’s Court . heard yesterday. After the taking of depositions. John Edward Mann, I aged 30, was committed to , the Supreme Court for trial. He had denied breaking and entering a Hereford Street flat with intent to commit a crime there. However Messrs D. H. ; Hemsley and R. J. M. Millar, Justices of Peace, ruled that a prima facie case had been made. They remanded Mann on bail and ordered that i under no circumstances j should he make contact ■with two civilian witnesses. ■ Thomas William Gray, aged 38, a showman who ] was jointly charged with | Mann, was discharged after 'the Justices supported subi missions from counsel (Mr ; G. M. Brodie) that there was | insufficient evidence to take the case further. The addresses and occupation- ' ve dtnesse? were suppressed. Andrew Duncan Murray told the Court that he had left his Hereford Street flat about 7.30 a.m. on October 11. When he returned at about 5 p.m. the ■ curtain by the sliding door had been partially open, although the door had been locked. His stereo, which he

ihad bought about three i: weeks before for $575, had Jibeen missing. t Later, when he went to make coffee, he had found - that his jar of coffee had , [also disappeared. He had > gone next door, where Mann . and three girls lived, to bori row some. There he had t found a small jar of coffee i containing a similar amount, and the same size, as his . jar. . Yvonne Annette O’Neil t said that she had gone to 11 visit the girls in Mann’s flat, i When she left She had seen t Mann putting stereo speak- > ers into a car. He had had ( gloves on. He had also told her to “hush buddy” or • words to that effect. The > speakers had belonged to thei 1 previous witness in the adja- i ’ cent flat. There had been a man sit-i ting in the driver's seat of] > the car. She thought she rec-i ‘ ognised Tommy Gray, but she was not sure, she said. Cross-examined by Mann’s ; ’ counsel (Mr Jones) she said i [ she knew the stereo belong- ■ ed to Murray as she had 1 seen it in his flat when she occasionally used the tele- ■ phone. ‘ Detective Sergeant N. T. Higgison had interviewed ■' both defendants, and both 1 had denied any involvement ! I in the burglary.