Gang member kicked woman unconscious

Press, 20 November 1981, Page 19

Gang member kicked woman unconscious

A Christchurch gang member punched a woman, then kicked her while she was on the floor, causing her to be unconscious for two hours, was jailed for nine months when he appeared for sentence in the District Court yesterday on a charge of assaulting a female. The defendant, Martin Henry Reuben, aged 20. also received a concurrent term of one month's jail for committing a breach of his probation. His counsel (Mr D. J. Taffs) said the assault arose from a fight which involved the whole household. The Judge outlined the circumstances of the offence, as contained in the police statement, and said the complainant had been kicked after being knocked to the floor. She was unconscious for two hours and in hospital for two days as a result of the attack. He said there were no mitigating circumstances. JAIL FOR FRAUDS A sentence of nine months imprisonment was imposed in the District Court yesterday on «n Auckland man who appeared for sentence on 17 charges of theft, false pretence, and obtaining credit by fraud, and two charges of committing breaches of probation.

The defendant, Francis John Barnes, aged 39, an unemployed cook, received concurrent terms of a month’s jail for the breaches of probation and nine months on each of the other charges. One of the thefts was of a cheque book and identitycard and subsequent fraud and false pretence offences involved cashing of cheques and obtaining credit for accommodation at centres throughout New Zealand. His counsel (Mr D. C, Fitzgibbon) submitted in mitigation of penalty that the defendant had a' problem with alcohol, and had a very hazy memory of the incidents in the various centres in which he committed the offences. The defendant acknowledged that he needed help, but he was not capable of seeking this on a voluntary basis. He sought leniency for the defendant, who he said, had been co-operative with the police when apprehended. DRUG OFFENCES A term of four months non-residential‘ periodic detention was imposed on Torquil McNeil, aged 25, unemployed (Mr P. H. B. Hall) when he appeared for sentence for three drug offences. He had previously admitted charges of being in pos-

session of 3000 cannabis • seeds, 10 cannabis bullets, ’ and a pipe, 2 Imposing sentence, the • Judge said he accepted, after * reading the probation report » and hearing counsel’s sub-; missions, that the large num- Z ber of seeds found in his *■ possession did not indicate ’ anything sinister such as * planned large-scale cultiva-; tion of cannabis. - He accepted that they “ were for the defendant's own * needs. Mr Hall said there was no ? suggestion, in the police •»’ statement of the offences.; that the defendant intended, to set up large-scale raising* of cannabis. » He had forgotten about the* jar of seeds until the police ‘ discovered them. They had accumulated from his cus-“ tom of shaking the hundreds v of seeds which came out of* the heads, into a jar. at times ' when cannabis was not readily available and he had to smoke cannabis with a great deal of seed content and flowers. J He preferred smoking cannabis to tobacco. He had'; been addicted to heroin until two years ago but had been'; helped by methadone treatment. He regarded cannabis as much better for him al-, though he accepted it was illegal.