SENTENCES.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXII, Issue 25, 29 July 1911, Page 5

SENTENCES.

SOLICITOR PUNISHED, TWELVE MONTHS' IMPRISON- • MENT. Arthur Harold" Bunfl, & solicitor in the employ of Messrs. Bell, Gully, and] Cooper's Palmerston office, was sentenced, by Mr. Justice Chapman to-day to twelve months' imprisonment for th© theft of sums totalling £228 10s 6d from liia employers There were between 400 and 500 instances of theft, which extended, from November, 1909, till July, 1911. Mr. T. Neave appeared for the Crown, and Mr. T. Young: for accused. On behalf of his client, Mr.> Young referred to his previous good character. Bunn had been in the law for; seven years, and he had had. to contribute towards the support of his mother and sister. His salary was only £100, and ha had had great difficulty in keeping his heact above' water, 'lhere Was some laxity in the management of the office, and he got the money mixed with his own, Mr, Justice Chapman : He mixed it up. "Then he became lax in the management of the fund," added counsel^ "and the temptation to ttse what was in his pocket was a strong one. His circnm* stances also added a temptation. I understahdi his relatives have guaranteed payment of tho mont^y; to th« firm. This Jruung man will lose his certificate, which r*i itself will be A severe punishment." Counsel submitted that it was a case in which the court might grant probation if the otfence was treated as ofle «eri(H<. His client neither drank nor gambled. ''The suggestion to grant probation," repllfrd his Btonour, "is quite out- of the qxtetitiOn. It vKtttfcl be aftogother ■*<<ong i/o treat this as a case for probation where a series of systematic offences, «xtetjdmg over a lon^ period, has been committed." I am very sorry indeed to have to sentence a young man to a t term of inipffsenment, especially considering what ie involves, but I cannot abstain from doing so, It is a. very painful thing to nw, and to the members 6{ the Bar who are listening' to me now, I have had the vutsioitttno iff have hud Othef cages of the bind before me, and. I ha?# hwi to sentence ni6n who topfc money under presBare of need, which, does not seem to brf the case here, to terms t>f imprisonment. The fact that you are a solicitor is a fact that makes it more neoesaary-to inflict a sentence of imprisonment, beftause you belong to a, profession that is habitually trusted' with the money of other people, and trusted" in a great variety of ways. You have betrayed the trust of your employers, who relied on youj honesty right tip to the last, Somebody always has to be trusted in a solicif.<w's office, and no one has a right to say that monfey had been taken because the aheck wa# not sufficient. I have great difficulty in fixing the measure of punishment- For the reason that you are a yo^ng man, I will make the sentence a Bhorb one. You will be imprisoned, for twelve months with hard labour." OTHER OFFENDERS. pETTY."TH£tfTS, Harold Spencer, aged 27, who broke and entered Mr. Hamilton's _ house at Lome-street, and stole certain articled, waa- also sentenced. ' "He has had a bad record," said Mr. N>«ave, ' There were nine convictions for petty thefts, one for failing to maintain his child,' another ffort r vagrancy, and he was addicted to drink. The excuse, said hie Honour, was that the oifencea had" been, committed when he, had given way to drink. He could declare accused an habitual criminal. Spencer would be sentenced to six months' imprisonment, and four years' reformative detention, A CHOICE OF GAOLS WANTED. George M'Donald .admitted i guilt in respect to a charge of obtaining money by false pretences. Accused complained that he had not been well treated in. Wellington gaol. Some of the warders had tried, he said, to keep him down, and he had Been refused, a towel to wash his face. He desired any other prison than Wellington,' "t can't give you a pick of prisons/ replied his- Honour. " You must go to the Wellington prison for a time, but you will probably be transferred somewhere else, but not for the reasons you give> altogether. You have systematically pursued a course of crime, and there are a dozen previous convictions against you, 'Che short terms you have received have been useless; as- you at once commit freeh crimes. You are a source of danger to the community. You will be* sentenced to twelve months' imprisonment, with five years' detention." PROBATION GRANTED. Stanley M'Burney came up for sentence on a charge of forgery. The police report was that accused wag 30, and a New Zealander, He had been addicted to drink, He had a wife and three children. "You SEty you will be a.ble to go back to your work?" said his Horiour. "Yes," replied prisoner, " It is very seldom/ his Eonotw proC4e«ed, "that a man , who has admitted forgery ia given probation, but I accelpt your Btatem«nb that you prepared the bill, without intending to forge the endorsement, You will be given probation for three years, and you mu*t abstain from drink, to which you attribute your lapse."