SUPREME COURT.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVII, Issue 93, 21 April 1909, Page 8

SUPREME COURT.

PRISONERS SENTENCED. THEFT, ARSON, BREAKING' AND " " ENTERING. \ Fo.ur prisoners who had pleaded guilty to the respective offences with which they were charged came before Mr. Justice Cooper this morning' for sentence. ' THEFT OF CHEQUES. John David Anderson, a rough-look-ing labouring man of middle age, had pleaded gv'iy at Blenheim to the theft of cheques ior £8 and £4 7s, and of notes and silver to the amount of £11 13s 6d, at Seddon, from a man named Elewellyn William Davis, with whom he had been drinking. When asked thismorning if he liad- anything to say why sentence should not be passed, he stated that if he had deliberately stolen the money he would have destroyed the cheques. His Honour pointed out that the probation officer's report was unfavourable. The previous character of the prisoner had not been good. There was no reasonable expectation of reform without punishment. The best interests of the public would not be subserved bjr placing such a man on probation. The report ■..stated that 1 the prisoner was a native of Glasgow, and had arrived in the country in 1884, and had since been wandering about. The fact that the prisoner was evidently under the in-fluence-of liquor at the time of the theft tWotdd be taken into consideration. A sentence of six months' imprisonment, with hard labour— a very light sentence under the circumstances — (would be passed. Rt)AD FOREMAN'S FRAUDS. William Albert Hansen, a youngish man. of respectable appearance, came up for sentence on five charges of false pretences! and one of forgery at Eltham. Mp\ Wilford, on behalf of the prisoner, stated that Hansen' had held the position of foreman on the roads under the Eltham County Council. The prisoner received money from the council and paid. -it out to certain men. During the time' he had been living in the district he had been helping to support his mother. He .liad got into arrears of the payments he had to make, and started to issue bogus orders for the payment of men supposed to be employed under him. These sums were retained by him. His Honour.: There is a charge of forgery as well. It is a bad case, Mr. .Wilford. The prisoner was in a position of trust; he was getting a good wage r *£3 'a week. He must for some time past have been carefully evolving a scheme Jor defrajriing the council. Had> it not'been detected, it might have been going on to this day. He obviously intended to pursue his scheme. He has not, during the past ten years, committed any- .breach of the law. I should be sSffV 'indeed" to suggest that a person who -;eoinmifcted an ' offence many years ago, and' received due punishment, should receive a more serious penalty than '-was- due on account of his previous offence. The offence is not solitary, but one of a series committed by a person in a position of trust, on whose report the County Council necessarily had to act. There were bogus reports, bogus persons, bogus receipts. His Honour tfhen sentenced Hansen to two years' imprisonment with hard labour. FfVE YEARS FOR ARSON. Edgar on his entry into the dock to receive &enience for the crime of arson, in setting fire to the Royal Hotel at Palmersion North on the 17th March, handed in a written statement. He is quite a young man, and was neatly dressed..' His- Honour,- in passing sentence, said that the offenee-of: arson was one of the highest krioVvn'-tQ'.the laws. ,The prisoner had set fire to the Royal Hotel at Palmer'ston North at' night, and the inference was that the second fire on the following day was also his act — an act which had resulted in the destruction of valuable property* The first fire might have resulted in a> -serious loss of life. "It is impossible for me to pass a light sentence," said has Honour. "You •ay — I refer to your statement — that you are a- recent arrival in the Dominion, that you came heite five months ago. It would have been better if you had never come here at all. It is necessary, in the interests of the public, that a man who commits these reckless and dangerous acts should be prevented from being a menace to life, and safety. iYou will be sentenced to five years' imprisonment, with hard la-bour." A PERSISTENT CRIMINAL. Richard Lynch, whose offence was that he had broken into an outhouse at Berhampore, used , as a sleeping apartment, and 'stolen various articles belonging to Benjamin- Campbell, of a value of £10 10s, is a stusdy, heavily-built man. His first words, when asked if he had anything to say, were : "I made a mistake this time." His Honour : You made a mistake ? It is not the first time you made a mistake. Were.jrou convicted of theft $t Hastings in 1908 ? • The prisoner (hesitatingly) : Yes, your Honour. And did you -receive 14 days for theft in Wellington at the beginning of this year? The prisoner : No, your Honour, no. His Honour-: Are you sure? The 1 prisoner admitted the sentence. His Honour : And immediately after coming out of gaol you broke into this place. I think, quite apart from the question •of punishing a criminal, the public requires protection from a man of your class. i . The prisoner, who said he came from Australia eight years ago, was sentenced to three years' imprisonment. Key. Tudor Jones will deliver the first of a series of twenty Wednesday lectures on "The Growth of the Mind" at the new Unitarian Church, Ingestrestreet, beginning at 7.30 this evening. The lecture will be free of charge, and will have no reference whatever to any theological matters. One of Dr. Jones' main objects in getting the new building was for intellectual purposes of this kind. A cordial invitation is given to all to be present. *An appeal from the decision of Mr. W. P. James, S.M., in the case of Herbert Pryce and Alexander M'Kenzie v. Hugh Silbert Small, in connection with damage done by a bush fire, was allowed by Mr. Justice Denniston to-day in the. Supreme Court. The Magistrate had found for the respondents, M'Kenzie and Pryce, the then plaintiffs, and awarded £100 damages against the appellant, Small. In a lengthy judgment, his- Honour decided that the Magistrate's finding was wrong. Costs (£lO 10s) were allowed on the ■ appeal, together with disbursements. Judgment was ordered to be entered in the lower court for the defendant (Small), with the costs for that court. The cehtral auxiliary of the Baptist Union has lately started homo mission work at Ohakune, the Rev Guy Thornton (late of Christchurch) talcing charge. To-night, at Baptist Church, Vivian-st., a united Baptist meeting will be held, when the Rev. G. S. Wilson of Wanganui, Rev. J. H. Archer, of Napier, and Rev. M'Donald, of Palmerston North, will give short addresses. A collection will be made in aid pf home mission work. ■>