Police may crack down on two-up

Press, 1 February 1988, Page 7

Police may crack down on two-up

By

NEIL CLARKSON

Players of the gambling game, two-up, may soon find there are no winners.

The Christchurch police are looking at prosecuting players of two-up, which is considered an illegal game of chance under the Gaming and Lotteries Act.

The move follows a string of complaints of theft which the police believe are false. In at least four cases in the last two months, the police believe people lost possessions playing the game and then complained to the police. A youth, aged 17, was arrested yesterday on charges of making a false complaint of theft, and making a false statement. He will appear in the District Court on Wednesday.

His arrest follows a complaint made to the police or. January 14 in which he said he was stopped by a man in the

street and had $9O taken from him.

The police allege the money was lost playing two-up.

On January 17 two men, aged 25, complained to the police that they had been robbed of their jackets by two people in Cranmer Square. Inquiries showed the pair allegedly lost their jackets playing the game. Both were arrested for making false robbery complaints.

In incidents late last year, a youth complained he was beaten and robbed in the street. Inquiries showed he lost money playing the game and the robbery was allegedly concocted to explain the loss to his parents.

Early in October, a young pizza parlour employee falsely complained

he was robbed of about $4OO in takings. Detective Sergeant Kieran Kortegast said the Christchurch police had wasted many hours investigating false complaints arising from the game.

“We have charged three or four people with making a false complaint after games of two-up,” he said. “We will now be looking at charging people who participate.” Anyone playing an illegal game of chance is liable to a fine of up to $5OO.

Conducting an illegal game of chance carries a $2OOO fine or up to three months imprisonment. People who allow their premises to be used for such games can be fined up to $5OO.