PROBATION GRANTED

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 173, 19 April 1939, Page 5

PROBATION GRANTED

Young Man Charged With Attempted Conversion MAGISTRATE’S COMMENT Convicted in the Magistrates Court, Wellington, last Monday, ou a charge of unlawfully attempting to convert a motor-car valued at £2OO, and also ou a charge of stealing seven keys, valued at £l/2/0, the property of the Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand. Limited, William John Aekius, labourer, aged 23, appeared before Mr. J. H. Luxford. S.M., yesterday for sentence and was admitted to probation for a period of two years. The offences were committed in Wellington on April 13, Mr. K. Hardie Boys appeared for accused. The magistrate said the probation officer had submitted a full and comprehensive report which was very favourable to accused. There was a great, deal i of difficulty in these cases, the magis- | trate added, because when there was a , definite evil, such as there was at the present time in regard to the conversion of motor-cars, it was very difficult to do other than sentence any offender found guilty to a term of imprisonment. “In the administration of the law, however,” the magistrate said to accused. “there is no hard and fast rule, and every case must be considered on its merits. The whole circumstances surrounding your case seem to have been the perverted outlook of a i>erson under the influence of liquor, rather than of a person deliberately setting out to convert a motor-ear.”