Hearing dates for cheating charges

Press, 24 December 1980, Page 5

Hearing dates for cheating charges

Sixteen of the 17 persons, charged with conspiring to | defraud the Broadcasting! Corporation of New Zealand: of various sums of money or: a 1980 Mini car have plead-' ed not guilty. | In the District Court i vesterdav 10 of the defend- i ants who had not previously pleaded, did so. All were remanded to fixture dates, and bail was renewed by Judge Frampton. A host on the 3ZB Cash Connection Show. lain Bruce, McMillan, (Mr D. 1. Jones,); aged 26, who faces 13] charges, was remanded to March 5 for a defended hearing. He was allowed bail of $2OOO. The others, who entered not guilty pleas, are, together with ’ the fixture dates: Kelvin Ronald McKeown, aged 29, a driver-salesman j [(March 6); William Michael | Tullett, aged 29. a hair--dresser (March 19); Robert! William Tullett,' aged 19, a[ yardsman, (March 17); Gor-[ don ■ McAlpine, aged 26, a| customs clerk (March 20); Neil John Davison, aged 25,! a yard foreman (March 20); Murray John Wood, aged 26, a musician (March 12); Katherine. Anrie. Barrett, aged 34, a supervisor (March 9); Peter Morris, aged 33, a clerk (March 6); and- Reginald Kevin Parnell, aged 27, a car salesman (March 13). The defendant, who has

not entered pleas on the two, charges which he faces is I [Vincent Burfield Cusack,! aged 43. a hairdresser. Last week he elected trial! by iurv and was remanded! to February 11 for the tak-i ing of depositions. *• Of the 40 charges against: the 17 defendants. 29 relate’ to conspiracy to defraud the! corporation of sums of; money by cheating in the i Cash Connection Contest.! while 11 are related to de-! frauding the corporation of] a 1980 Mini car. ' All the alleged offending' iis said to have occurred ini the last three, months. PERIODIC DETENTION i A man earlier convicted j on four offences of driving] while disqualified was sen-] fenced to periodic detention] for six months. In addition Phillip Wayne! Dev, aged 26, a factory: [worker, was prohibited from [holding or obtaining a driver’s licence for two I years. [ Dev (Mr S. G. Barker) had four offences. ‘ Last week the Court heard] that the defendant had been identified but not appre-> hended, driving on four] occasions in late October ; while police were keeping a motor-cycle gang headquarters under surveillance. Mr Barker said all the offences were committed within seven days. He said his client was ■illiterate and as such society

had little to offer him by way of employment opportunities. Yet. in relation to vehicles, Dey had a “Midas” touch.' One of the problems in sentencing the defendant, said the Judge, was that he still had 186 hours of community work to perform before any other sentence was imposed. The Judge, who said he would not. impose a custodial sentence on this occasion, warned that if Dey reappeared on this particular type of offence again 'it “was likely he would face a long custodial sentence. PAINTED SLOGANS Peter Mark Hatipov, aged 19, a printer, was fined. $2OO when he appeared for sentence on four charges of wilful damage. He was also ordered to pay compensation of $176 as his share.of the damage. Earlier Hatipov admitted the offences which involved spraying pink, red and purple “punk rock” slogans on various properties around Christchurch. The damage was estimated at $730. A co-offender, Craig Thomas Reinke, aged 20, a clerk, who appeared for sentence last week on three charges of wilful damage, was also fined $2OO. The offending was described at the time by Judge Palmer as “particularly brainless.” .