CUDBYS SENTENCED

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 29, 29 October 1934, Page 7

CUDBYS SENTENCED

Many Other Burglaries Alleged

SECOND INDICTMENT When the two Cudby brothers, convicted of burglary, came before the Supreme Court, Wellington, for sentence on Saturday, they both pleaded guilty to a second indictment containing live further charges, four involving breaking and entering and theft, and the fifth of possessing house-breaking tools. \ Mr. Justice Ostler was on the bench. Mr. T. B. McCarthy appeared for Arthur Cudby, and Mr. B. Hardie Boys, who had received fresh instructions from Mervyn Cudby since his withdrawal from the case on Thursday, appeared on Mervyn Cudby’s behalf. Mr. McCarthy told the court that it appeared that Arthur Cudby had fallen under the evil influence of his brother, and be regarded as a first offender. t According to Mr. Hardie Boys, the prisoner Mervyn Cudby had been hardened by early convictions. As a boy he had been convicted of theft, and mischief, and had’ received six strokes of the birch. ‘‘Six strokes of the birch does not turn a man into an habitual criminal; every boy receives corporal punishment,” said Mr. Justice Ostler. He pointed out that Mervyn Cudby had a long list of offences, as many as two dozen in 19 years, mostly dealing with house-breaking and theft, and involving the use of explosives. He had been deported from Canada. At the time of the Cudbys’ arrest a bad epidemic of house-breaking had come to an end. The police could have brought charges against the brothers involving fifty burglaries. Arthur Cudby he regarded as the weaker character, actuated by fear rather than malice in the foolish charges he had made against the police. He had, however, attempted to take the blame and shield his brother. - When Mr. Justice Ostler announced his intention of declaring .Mervyn Cudby an habitual criminal, the prisoner, speaking from the dock, begged for a last chance. Mr. Justice Ostler said he would show leniency if Mervyn Cudby promised to abandon his life of crime. He would not on this occasion declare him an habitual criminal. He sentenced Mervyn Cudby to'four years’ reformative detention, and Arthur Cudby to three years' detention. ■