Funeral director sentenced

Press, 13 March 1984, Page 5

Funeral director sentenced

PA , Auckland A funeral director was sentenced to five months periodic detention after repaying two-thirds of the $34,000 he defrauded from his former lover.

John Edward Young, aged 41, of Onehunga, was earlier given six weeks to make reparation to the woman. A jury found Young guilty of 39 charges of fraudulently using a document and two charges of theft by failing to account. Young had pleaded not guilty. Most of the charges alleged that Young dishonestly and without proper authority drew on the woman’s bank account while she was overseas.

When he appeared for sentence before Judge Deobhakta in the District Court in Auckland his counsel, Mr Paul Treadwell, said $20,157 had been paid in cash and by cheque to the complainant. Young’s Onehunga pro-

perty was for sale and he had signed the proceeds of the sale over to the woman.

The Judge said what started as a common business enterprise between Young and the woman led Young to exceed his authority and misappropriate sums of money. But Young did not “enrich” himself, as all of the money went into “propping up” his business which was almost in liquidation.

The Judge said his view was that the woman was not going to achieve anything by seeing Young in prison. She would rather have the money than revenge.

He said he did not want to give people the impression that in cases of fraud, ability to repay the victim would necessarily keep a convicted person out of prison. But a payment of restitution would be taken into consideration.