THEFT OF BEDCLOTHES

Dominion, Volume 35, Issue 6, 2 October 1941, Page 3

THEFT OF BEDCLOTHES

Seaman Sent To Prison Imprisonment for six months was the punishment Mr. Stout, S.M., inflicted on Douglas Allan Archer, seaman, aged 23, when Archer appeared before him yesterday on charges of stealing two satin bedspreads, valued at £l/19/-, and of breach of probation. Accused pleaded guilty. Detective-Sergeant W. McLennan said that accused and his wife rented a furnished room, and when they left accused took the bedspreads with him. The bedspreads had been sold to a secondhand dealer, who had resold them and they could not be recovered. On behalf of accused, Mr. A.. M. Cousins said be arrived in New Zealand about 18 months ago and enlisted. He was discharged because of trouble with his feet and the same defect had prevented him till recently getting work that would.enable him to support his wife and himself. The bedspreads were taken while they were in desperate straits. He now bad a position and would have no difficulty in making restitution if allowed his liberty. The magistrate referred to unsatisfactory conduct by accused since placed on probation after a previous conviction and sentenced him to three mouths’ imprisonment on each charge, the terms to be cumulative.