CRIME AND PENALTY

Evening Post, Volume CII, Issue 17, 22 July 1921, Page 8

CRIME AND PENALTY

PRISONERS SENTENCED

Several prisoners who ■ had pleaded guilty to charges in the | Lower Courts were called before the Ae'ting-Ohief Justice, Mr. Justice Sim, for sentence at the Supreme Court this morning.

The first prisoner called was- Hendry Meams, who had, pleaded guilty to two charges of having made false declarations to the Registrar of Births. Mr. A. B. Skvwright. who appeared for the prisoner, said fiat Meams was a married man who was living apart from his wife with another woman, ancr, in order to keep up appearances and to protect the name.of the woman and hiiS two illegitimate children, prisoner had made false declarations to the Registrar. His Honour said that, in view of all ll'.o circumstances of the case, he considered that Mearns would be s\ifficiently punished, by the imposition of fines amounting to £5. THEFT, FORGERY, AND UTTERING. James Brown Olsen, who was not represented by counsel, called to the dock on three charges, breaking, entering' and theft, forgery and uttering, was sent to gaol for two years. A young man, Henry Richard Turner, who had been twice previously in trouble, was sentenced to twelve months' imprisonment in respect of crimes of forgery and uttering in Hawkes Bay.

AN ESCAPED PRISONER.

William Henry Grant, alias Perham, Walker, and Hill, was the next prisoner called to the dock, the charges against him being in respect' to robbery . and theft and of his being an incorrigible rogue. Grant, while serving a sentence of three years' reformative detention, ran away from a working gang at Point Halswell, and later made his way to the Lower Hutt, where he broke into a dwelling and stole money and various articles of a total value of £20. He was next heard of at Invercargill, where he committed a violent assault on a Chinaman and robbed him of iB6O odd. A few days after the offence Grant was recognised as he stood in the Invercargill Magistrate's Court listening to a case in progress. He was arrested and admitted his guilt when charged with the several offences The charge of being an incor-, rigible rogue was laid in respect of his escaping from custody.

The sentence of the Court upon the charge of assault and robbery was that Grant should serve two years' imprisonment with hard labour, while xipon the charges of theft from the dwelling and being an incorrigible rogue he would be imprisoned for six months on each, charge, the sentences to be cumulative. Grant was also declared an habitual criminal. A sum. of £34 found in prisoner's possession will be returned to the Chinaman. TWO YEARS FOR EMBEZZLEMENT. On behalf of Trevor Burwood Caigill, a maßried man 32 years of a-ge, who 1 had admitted the theft of three sums aggregating £600 from the Union Baaik of 'Australia, Mr. W. Perry s.poke of prisoner's past good services as a member of the bank staff for a period of seventeen 3 rears.; He. was not a gambler, and had no vices, beyond that he had been drinking heavily recently.

His Honour : "Where has the money gone?"

Counsel replied that prisoner had apparently been living at the rate of £500 per year on a salary of £300, and stole three sums of money, in October and November of last year'and June of this year, in order. that he might keep up appearances. Tho prisoner had betrayed his trust, said His Honour, ■ and under the circumstances there was no alternative but to send him to gaol. A sentence of two year's' imprisonment was imposed. BIGAMY. Philip Timothy Paul, guilty of bigamy, was placed under the control of the, Prisons Board for a period not to exceed three years, during which time he will be detained for reformative treatment. Mr. C. A. L. Treadwell, who appeared for the prisoner, said that Paul had lived happily with his wife till he left New Zealand to go to the war. There he was seriously wounded, and since he had come back he had been somewhat strange, nervy, and irritable. He had met a girl at had become engaged to her, and had married her openly.