SUPREME COURT

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 258, 29 July 1939, Page 8

SUPREME COURT

Two Men Who Assaulted Constable JAIL SENTENCE The two young men who attacked Constable A. Gregor at Greytown one [holding hts legs while the other beat him on the head with a stick, were sentenced by Mr. Justice Reed in the Supreme Court, Wellington, yesterday. Kenneth .Sullivan, 24, was given 18 months’ hard labour, and Charles de la Cour, 30, 12 months’ hard labour for assault causing actual bodily harm. The case, said the judge, was a serious one. One could possibly understand drunken men assaulting the police and struggling to resist arrest, and some allowance might be made for that. However, these men went to the conetable’s house, spoke to the daughter, and, without any reason at all, attacked the constable as he was returning to the station. “You might have killed him, specially as he is an elderly man, by striking him over the head and cutting and bruising him,” his Honour said. To Sullivan, he said: “Assault is the sort of thing you indulge in repeatedly.” Mr. J. D. Willis, who appeared for de la Cour, said the offence was committed while prisoner was suffering from the effects of liquor. While he did not want to make it harder for Sullivan, it appeared that de la Cour was egged on by Sullivan, who was under the delusion that his brother had been treated harshly by the local police. Breaking and Entering.

“I am worried concerning prisoner’s present position, because his irecord shows that his past misdemeanours have been caused by the fact that he is easily led, particularly when under the influence of liquor,” said Mr. M. Neil, who appeared for Thomas Gordon, taxi driver, 31, W’ho was found guilty of the unlawful conversion of a truck and breaking, entering and theft. His Honour said it was unfortunate that prisoner should have indulged in breaking, entering and theft when that crime was becoming so common. Though he was not alone in the commission of the crime, it was a pretty barefaced thing. They had broken into the firm of Barton Ginger, taken the safe away, blown it up, and deliberately burnt the documents. “You must know it would have been a sporting thing at all events not to have destroyed the documents,” said his Honour. Prisoner was sentenced to 15 months’ hard labour for breaking and entering and three months for conversion. “It would be a breach .of my duty if 1 granted probation,”- said ■ his Honour, when sentencing William Peter Anderson, labourer, 27 (Mr. R. Hardie Boys), to three months’. hard labour for unlawful carnal knowledge, and three months’ hard labour for receiving stolen goods, the senttences to be concurrent. . For forgery at Palmerston North, George Henry Ellis, a radio mechanic, 34, whom the judge, said had a number of previous convictions, was sentenced to 12 months’ hard labour, “It appears from the report that you are in constant trouble,” his Honour said to Douglas Charles Johnson, farm hand, 18, who was sentenced to two years in a Borstal institution for forgery and uttering at Gisborne. Natives and Probation.

“When Natives are granted probation, they look upon it that they have won their ease,” said the judge, when refusing to gm nt probation to Rere Houia, labourer, 21, and Rongonui Taukaho, labourer, 20, guilty of breaking, entering and theft, at Ruatoria. The report from the district showed that a good deal of crime was going on among young Maoris. Houia wag given three months’ imprisonment, and Taukaho 12 months’ reformative detention. “You did not appreciate the leniency granted you on a previous, occasion,” his Honour said to Charles Allan Grant, paint miller, 19, who had committed forgery. Two'years in a Borstal institution was the sentence. , “You appear to be quite incorrigible ... I don’t know if you have made up your mind to lead a criminal life, but if you have you will find you have made a grave error.” His Honour addressed those remarks to Raymond Julian Jorgenson, clerk, 20, guilty of breaking, entering, and theft, three charges of forgery, and breach of probation. A total of three years in a Borstal institution was the penalty. A fine of £5, in default a month’s imprisonment, and suspension of his current driver’s licence, was the penalty imposed on Edward Leslie Barber, who failed to stop after an accident. It was absolutely necessary when a person failed to stop, after an accident 'that he must be punished, said his Honour. In the present case he did not propose to make the punishment heavy, but at the same time it had to be sufficient for it to be felt. Assault Case. - Guilty of assault causing actual bodily harm, Hector Rameka, labourer, 21, and Porter Rameka, labourer, 28 (Mr. H. R. C. Wild) were granted two years’ probation conditionally on their paying the costs of the prosecution, taking out a prohibition order, and abstaining entirely from liquor during their probationary period. It was stated that they had received a sharp lesson and that their employers were anxious to take them back. A youth, whose name was suppressed, was ordered to come up for sentence within two years if called upon for indecent assault on a male, and two charges of indecent assault on a female. The cases occurred within the family, said counsel, Mr. T. P. Cleary. “Do you think it is possible to keep the man straight?” asked his Honour of a .Salvation Army officer concerning Samuel Wallace, cook, 24, charged with an unnatural offence. The man had not had a fair show in life, he said. The officer replied that the army would do everything possible and would keep him away from the city. Two years’ probation was granted on the condition that prisoner stayed in the charge of the Salvation Army.