LAW REPORTS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2409, 15 March 1915, Page 9

LAW REPORTS

PRISONERS SENTENCED HOTEL ROBBERY CASE His Honour Mr. Justice Chapman presided over a Bitting of the Supreme Court on Saturday morning, when several prisoners were sentenced. The two young girls, Dorothy Scoullar and Lesley R«id, who had pleaded guilty to the theft of £141 from the Duke of Edinburgh Hotel, came up for sentence. They were represented hy Mr. T. M. Wilford, who pleaded that they should be leniently dealt with. The loss to Mr. Thompson, the music-hall artist whose goods were taken, he said, came to about £18, though that might bo said to bo by good luck more than any other reason. Counsel recounted the details of tho theft, and said that the girls, having got the £141, and feeling they had money to burn, had lost their heads, and went for a "joy ride." They chartered a motor-car for a midnight • ride to Palmerston; but were stopped for the night at Porirua, owing to two punctures. At Levin the following day ■ they purchased clothing, and then went on ,to Palmerston North, where they dismissed the car. The following morning they went by car to the Woodville races, . and were stopped_ by a detective. There was no justification for what the girls had done, but -after all they were only children. He understood Reid was only 19 years of age, whije the. other girl was also very yonng.. .It was the first time they had been before a Court, and they now fully realised what they had done. If ever there was a case of sudden temptation, he oontended, this was one. The owners of the money had been negligent in so keeping their money; and - the girl who saw it had probably never seen so much money before. He could - not excuse them, and he could not pretend that if they had not Keen caught the totalisator would not have got the balance of the money. Mr. Wilford suggested- that. the best sentence was to ordor them to come up for sentence when called upon. His Honour: You might look at the Probation Officer's reports. They are not altogether favourable. ■ Mr. Wilford: The.parts of that report which show that the girls have not been exemplary in the past gives , the reason . for their downfall/ His Honour: I don't want to go further into that. .. . . Mr. 'Wilford: If you found that during their past they had exemplary lives you would not expect to find them here. Girls whoso lives have not. Been altogether- exemplary are the sort of girls you will expect to find here, and this . 'is the pull up. I .don't think they will be found here again. His Honour: Did they have any luggaflr. Wilford.: No. The. only luggage ' they had was what they bought. They filled a bag with, the daintiest of lingerieI understand part of. the street was blocked up,yesterday where an auction sale of these goods was made. _ ' The Crown Prosecutor- (Mr. H. H. Ostler) had nothing to adcl to the reports before. His Sonour. In addressing the prisoners His Honour Baid that the Probation Officer had had a difficult task, recommonding probation; he had done his best to recommend it, but. had to give a'qualified report owing to the circumstances which were known to counsel, and which had been referred to. His Honour thought that the oase of the accused was one which, with a little stretching, might allow of probation, but ho did not intend to take that course. He thought that under the peculiar circumstances of the case the better course, in the interests of the accused, and in tho interests of the community generally, would be that suggested by counsel. He did not attach special importance to the amount of property taken; accused - took what they were tempted to take. It was one of those cases where warnings had been' given from both, tlio Supreme Court and the Magistrate's Court on the carelessness of leaving money about, but that carelessness, he supposed, would continue.- He was in the position to regard the case as a sudden yielding to temptation, but it was rather a bad oase, because accused took the money not to supply any natual needs, .but In order to wast» it on a pleasure trip. Taking everything into consideration he merely intended to order the accused to come up for sentence when ordered to do so. "Now," continued 'His Honour, "you must understand this: It is not simply that you are released and liable to be brought here if yarn commit another crime; you 2Te. liable to be brought hero if you misbehave yourselves —a long way short of committing a crime. If the police . find you are leading disreputable lives, misbehaving yourselves, or doing anything discreditable, it' will be their duty to inform me to that effect. You must both remember that for some years yon are liable to be 'arrested and brought here for sentence upon this charge if you are found to be misbehaving yourselves. I hope you will bear that in mind. You will be simply on deferred sentence. Now I hoj>o the matter will. die out through your leading decent lives. With that in view I propose to release you." STABBED HER MOTHER. Ellen Sullivan, who pleaded guilty t6 having committed an assault and causing actual bodily harm, was represented by Mr. P. W. Jackson. ' The person assaulted, counsel pointed. out, was the ; mother of the acoiisod, nnd the ■whole ; thing seemed most regrettable; He undcrstood that the injuries were not of ! such a serious nature. The. mother had been living with the girl", who waß married. The'mother was hard to get on with, and unfortunately she drank. : The daughter had to bring_ the mother • to Wellington,'and was looking after her hero. The mother had taken some • drink on the dats> of the crime, and had : called her daughter some'very provoca- ' tive names. In tho heat of the moment the girl seized something—it happened i to be a knife—and stabbed her mother. 1 ■ Both parties concerned were sorry for 1 the occurrence; and the mother admitted that the girl was a good l daughter. He suggested that prisoner should be treated as a first offender and admitted to probation. I n His Honour: I don't think I can do I that where a knife.has been used. Mr. Jackson: I am assured that she did not know what sho got hold of. His Honour: She got some drink in, and took the knifo. It indicates lack of control. Mr. Jackson pointed out that accused's husband was present. He was not aware of the things mentioned in tho Probation Officer's report, and wanted to take her right away. She had never been before the Court before. His Honour said that he did not think he could overlook tho uso of the knife. He had to look to the act in the light of the expression used by acI cused towards her mother, in the presence of the sergeant, which did not indicate the spirit set out by hor counsel. He would _ sentenco accused to four months' imprisonment, with hard labour. • ' A PAINFUL CASE. Phyllis Fowler, represented by Mr. R.. Kennedy, came up vor sentence for having concealed the dead body of a ohild at Hawera. Mr. Kennedy pointed out that accused was of the ago of 19 years or 20 years. She didn't know which. She had had to face a groat trial, and in her distress had already suffered a punishment to which a sen- ' tcnce of.:the Cburfc could* add very little pli indeed. Tive nitcunuUnccs of the cuo

indicated that at the moment the temptation came to conceal the body'of the prematurely stillborn child, the opportunity was there. Tha girl was in a poor state of health, and what she needed was Lome life and attention. Counsel submitted that the case was suitable for release on probation. His Honour said that he thought it would be advisable to detain the girl for a time, in her own interests. She jvould be sentenced' to three months' imprisonment, and would be carefully looked after while in gaol. ESCAPED FROM CUSTODY. Phillip George Bernard, who had pleaded guilty to escaping from lawful custody at Wanganui, gt've as a reason the fact that the police left £5 on. hint. There was nobody else in the lock-up, and as he found the wood old and worn he uesd a, nail and the butt end of a pocketknife, and' escaped- to see his wife. He did not think of tho seriousness of it. The Crown Prosecutor (Mr' H. H. Ostler) said that the" prisoner wa6 80 years of age, and from tho time he was 15 years he had apparently had a long career of minor cririies. He had only been before the Court on one indictable offence, but in Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney he had committed man.y offences, such as attempted theft, stealing, vagrancy, obscene language, and! "suspected person." On the last charge, which was apparently something like a vagrancy charge on this side, _ the acoused had absconded from bail in Sydney. He waj arrested at Wanganui on a charge of stealing from the person. ' ■ \ Acoused: In reference to suspected person, it means that every tune a man puts his foot outside tho door he runs a change of getting six months. His Honour: You seem to have heen in gaol a great many times, and evidently- you are -inclined to conduct yourself so that you are cdistantly taking the risk of getting there. The only thing I can do is the pass a substantial sentence. You are senrerced to twelve months' imprisonment with hard lab- • our. Accused: Will you make it-reforma-tive treatment? His Honour: No, certainly not. ADMITTED TO PROBATION. Arthur Charle3 William Pearce, guilty of theft at Wellington, asked for probation! Mr. Ostler 6aid that where accused had worked he had had a pood character. All the offences were committed on the one day, and most of'the property bad been recoveredHis Honour said that he was inclined to treat the offence as a sudden impulse, for prisoner had borne a good Accused would be admitted to probation on the first charge. As W tho other oharges, he . would be released, and ordered to come up for sentence when called upon. Probation would be for 15 months, and during that time accused wouli pay £3 towards the costs of the case, and pay £4 as restitution for the goods unrccovered.

INFLUENCE OF BAD BOOKS. ,

A _ lad of 17 years of age,' named Patrick Lee, who had pleaded guilty to several charges of breaking,- entering, and theft at Masterton, was represented by Mr. 0. Pragnell, of Masterton. When accused broke into the. two shops at Masterton, said counsel, he had not turned l 17. He had been without the control of tho father for some years. If his Honour saw fit to release the boy his uncle, a small farmer, would take control of hi pi, and take bim. into his family. His" Honour said that he would consider the case, and if accused could-be released he would be sent to the uncle. The case stood over. ' Mr. Pragnell said that he had asked the boy where he got the ideas from that led him .to raid the shops. The boy had .answered, without the slightest hesitation, that he had been reading bad books and going to picture shows. His Honour: That is a common experience: reading books of a certain type. The boy who reads those books with avidity and his ideas from them requires some restraint.