Jail term for big wool theft

Press, 2 April 1979, Page 2

Jail term for big wool theft

PA Wellington A man who stole 460 bales of wool, estimated to be worth $113,000, from his employer was jailed for four years by Mr Justice White when he appeared for sentence in the Supreme Court at Wellington. After a 12-day trial, Richard Andrew Carrier, aged 50, a wool manager, had been found guilty by a jury in the Supreme Court at Napier on 36 counts of theft as a servant. On behalf of Carrier, Mr J. D. Donovan said neither the accused nor his 1 family appeared to have accumulated vast assets or wealth through the offences. The accused would have to face the financial consequences of his conviction: bankruptcy and hardship to his family. His Honour said the circumstances showed a serious case involving a large sum of money taken over a seven-year period by a fraudulent system of theft. The amount received by Carrier was much less than the estimated value of the wool, but it was nevertheless substantial. The most serious aspect was that the accused had taken advantage of his position of trust. Mr A. K. Monagan appeared for the Crown.