Man found guilty of burgling store

Press, 8 February 1980, Page 4

Man found guilty of burgling store

A jury in the Supreme Court last evening rejected a defence story that two men driving from Lyttelton to Christchurch got lost and ended up in Diamond Harbour in the early hours of the morning where, by an unhappy coincidence, the store was burgled. The jury found Ronald Anthony Dick; aged 35, unemployed, guilty on a charge of burgling thie Diamond Harbour store on May 18. Mr Justice Mahon remanded Dick in custody to a date to be fixed for sentence. '

It took the jury more than four hours to reach its verdict after his Honour, in his summing up which took six minute?, indicated that there was a doubt .in':- the Crown case. The jury found Dick,

who has a number of previous convictions, guilty. Mr B. M. Stanaway appeared for the Crown and Mr M. J. Glue for Dick.

Opening • his case, Mr Stanaway said that the Crown alleged that Dick and another man drove to Dia-» rnond Harbour, parked the car and then walked a short distance and broke into the

store. They took frozen foods,. groceries, cigarettes, and. other articles valued at $lOOO and stacked them in eight cartons on the floor. They then left to get the car. i \

In the - '.meantime, James William Hayward, a bread vendor* arrived at the shop about 2.15 a.m. and found

that the front door had been forced and saw the cartons on the' floor.’ He telephoned the shop proprietor, Kevin

Timothy Keenan, and the police were informed. A car containing Dick and the other man was stopped at Diamond Harbour by the

police. Dick said that he and his friend had been drinking in the British Hotel at Lyttelton, and were on their way home to Christchurch when they got lost. When the car was search-

ed the police found four socks, a screwdriver, a pair of pliers, a wood-drilling brace, and a torch. A police witness would say that ini his opinion the indentations! made when the shop door

was forced were caused by the screwdriver found in the car. A pattern, similar to that

on the soles of Dick’s footwear, was found on a piece of cardboard on the floor of

the shop. Dick denied knowing anything about the burglary' of the shop, Mr Stanaway said. In evidence Dick said that on the evening of May 17 he went with David George Keenan, whom he had known for several years> to the British Hotel.

At 10.15 p.m. he - and others drinking at the hotel went into the upstairs sitting room, which, was standard procedure./ They continued drinking after the police left. Later Keenan left the hotel to ' take a man home and Keenan had remarked that he was going to get up to some nonsense, but he said later that he had changed . his mind. Keenan returned to the hotel. Keenan wanted to go to

Halswell so they decided to go through Teddington but they missed the turn-off. It was a dark and stormy night and Keenan missed the turnoff. Keenan was drinking from a bottle of spirits and his driving was so erratic that Dick said he took over from him.

The car got stuck when they pulled over to the side of the road to change drivers. His shoes got wet so he put on a pair of sandshoes that were in the car, Dick said. He had never been to Diamond Harbour by road before that night. Mr Justice Mahon, in his summing up, said that if he was in the jury’s position he would say' that there was a doubt about Dick’s guilty.