Molotov cocktail thrown at house

Press, 24 May 1985, Page 9

Molotov cocktail thrown at house

A Molotov cocktail was thrown at a house being converted for use as an abortion clinic by a man who told the police he was against abortion, said Sergeant Christopher Maling in the District Court yesterday.

Dominic Francis Hygate, aged 23, a P.E.P. worker (Miss E. H. B. Thompson), admitted the offence which occurred on May 7. He was convicted by Judge Fogarty and committed in custody to the High Court for sentence on June 6.

Sergeant Maling said that after preparing the Molotov cocktail Hygate drove to the Lyndhurst Home on a borrowed motor-cycle. After lighting the wick he threw the device at the old wooden house. The device exploded on impact and the subsequent fire caused charring and a broken window.

The pile was put out by passers-by. Hygate said the “cocktail” was supposed to have gone

through a window and burned the building down. Compensation of $250 was sought on behalf of the Canterbury Hospital Board. FRAUD OFFENCES Goods and services of a total value of $l6lB were obtained by a solo mother who admitted fraudulently using another person’s bank credit card on 25 occasions. Kathleen Nancy O’Connor, aged 19 (Mr A. M. Mclntosh), admitted the offending which occurred between April 6 and 10. She was convicted and remanded at large to June 6 for a probation report and and sentence.

Sergeant Maling said the defendant found the card in a public toilet at New Brighton about April 5. It had been reported stolen at Taupo. Some property was sold in hotels. Compensation of $1543 was sought from the defendant, said Sergeant Maling. CHARGE DENIED A charge of being found without reasonable excuse in the Kingslea Girls’ Home was denied by Sonny James Richard Ngaire, aged 24, a sickness beneficiary. Ngaire was remanded on bail of $6OO to June 19 for a defended hearing.

The police say the alleged offence occurred on May 22.

PERIODIC DETENTION Periodic detention for five months was the sentence given to a public servant of 20 years, earlier convicted of stealing a total of $3873 from his employer. The Judge said that dealing with a person like the defendant, Alexander Richard Merlo, aged 38, a person of previously unblemished character and a good work record, presented difficul-

ties for the Court. Theft as a servant was, however, a particularly serious offence, he said. Merlo, an administration officer in the Valuation Department, had earlier admitted two charges of theft and two of fraud, at which hearing the police prosecutor said the defendant had used the stolen money to pay outstanding debts caused in part by a family bereavement.

Counsel (Mr A. C. Matthews) handed the Judge a receipt from the Valuation Department for compensation paid in full by his client.

Merlo, he said, was a nervous man with an anxious disposition. His offending was a result of a number of crises occurring about the same time with which he was unable to cope. The department found himself in financial difficulties and felt he had nowhere to turn to. CUSTODY A man facing three charges of wilful damage, and charges of theft, and robbery, was remanded in custody until today. He is Andrew Vermeeren, aged 24, unemployed, who is charged with committing the offences on Wednesday.

Vermeeren is accused of robbing a man of $520 cash, stealing a bottle of whisky from Wilson Neill, Ltd, and wilfully damaging two windows and the window of a police car. Vermeeren, of Dunedin, was remanded in custody for a medical report. This was sought by the Judge before an application for a psychiatric assessment of the defendant could be ordered.