Woman stole $2386 from her employer ‘out of revenge’

Press, 7 May 1987, Page 4

Woman stole $2386 from her employer ‘out of revenge’

A former bank officer who stole. $2386 “out of revenge” on her employer was fined $2OOO when sentenced by Judge Erber in the District Court yesterday. Failure to pay the fine immediately would result in Julie Cherie Balkenende, aged 19, spending three months in jail, he said. Balkenende (Mr G. J. Matthews) committed the theft between January 16 and March 10. This was the type of offence which struck at the heart of the employeremployee relationship and was a very serious form of theft, said the Judge. It was accepted that the total amount had been repaid in full and although the bank had suffered no loss it had probably been put to a lot of trouble, he said. In addition to the fine* Balkenende was put under supervision for nine months. An application by Mr Matthews for final suppression of her name was refused. Mr Matthews said the offending was of a rather strange nature. His client had put all the money into an autosave account and none of it had been spent. At the time Balkenende had no clear motivation to take the money apart from anger at her em-

ployer at what she felt was a form of demotion. It was not an offence motivated by greed, Mr Matthews said. INDECENCY CHARGES Interim suppression of name was refused for a man, aged 26, facing five charges of inducing a girl, aged four years 10 months, to do an indecent act on him. David Colin Williams, a storeman (Mrs A. Smart), elected trial by jury. He was remanded, on renewed bail, to July 7, for the taking of depositions. Initially Williams faced one charge but four new ones, involving the same girl, were laid yesterday. Williams is charged with committing the offences between November, 1985, and January this year. ROBBERY CHARGE Bail was refused for a man charged, with others, of robbing Brent Robert White of a leather jacket valued at $340, and $2OO in cash on April 14. Barry Keri Gray, aged 20, a solo father, was remanded without plea, to May 13. Ball was opposed by the police. STOLE CAR A car stolen from a hotel car-park in Christchurch was driven to Nelson but because its brakes failed it plunged over a 30ft bank into a river,

said Sergeant G. Moore. The driver, Richard Claude Harris, aged 17, unemployed, and his companions, were not badly injured. The sum of $4OOO compensation was sought from Harris in respect of the damaged vehicle, he said. Harris (Mr A. M. Mclntosh) admitted charges of stealing the car on April 9, and four charges of stealing tyres from parked cars at Kaikoura on April 11. \ He was convicted and remanded in custody to May 14 for sentence. After stealing the car it was driven around Christchurch and New Brighton. It was then driven to a garage and spray-painted black. Harris and his friends then drove to Kaikoura where the vehicle developed a flat tyre. Four tyres were stolen from parked vehicles but as none fitted the stolen car they were discarded, said Sergeant Moore. The driver managed to obtain a tyre for $lO and the vehicle set off for Nelson. At a set of hills it was realised the brakes were not working but Harris decided to drive on. It was on the second set of hills that the vehicle went out of control and plunged over the bank, Sergeant Moore said.