SALESMAN GUILTY

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 36, 12 February 1938, Page 13

SALESMAN GUILTY

FRAUD AND FORGERY

PLEA FOR LENIENCY

REFORMATIVE DETENTION

Reformative detention not exceeding two and a half years was the sentence imposed in the Supreme Court yesterday afternoon by Mr. Justice Blair on Hannath Noel Blake Marshall, a salesman, aged 36, who had been found guilty on four charges of forgery, four of uttering, and eight of obtaining cheques by false pretences from the New Zealand Guarantee Corporation, Ltd., while he was secretary and director of National Motors, Ltd: In a plea for leniency Marshall's counsel said the prisoner had derived no personal benefit from the motor-car transactions. Marshall conducted his own casa at the trial, but he was represented yesterday by Mr. J. D. Willis. Mr. Willis said that although it was appreciated that it was a difficult case from counsel's point of view, there were nevertheless certain points that should be brought forward in mitigation. The general history of the prisoner appeared to be accurately stated in the Probation Officer's report, which said that his general mode of living did not call for adverse comment. His Honour: That is in his favour. Mr. Willis: I am instructed that when he joined National Motors he was absolutely inexperienced in the motor business, and these particular concerns remained under the personal supervision and control of Lonergan, although, of course, the prisoner was a director. The present offences were known to Lonergan, or must have been known, because, as I understand it His Honour: One of the dummy documents apparently was signed by Lonergan. Mr. Willis said that Lonergan must have been aware of the position because National Motors. Ltd., kept the necessary instalments going to the Guarantee Corporation; but the result was that the prisoner had to bear the full brunt of the ensuing trouble. Theer .had been no personal gain to the prisoner as a result of the transactions. Indeed, he had lost everything he had put into the company, a total sum, he had informed counsel, of £1900. His Honour: The company did not succeed, but if it had Mr. Willis: I am instructed that however prosperous the company may have been the prisoner's wage would remain at £6, although he was a director. He has lost everything and all his own savings of £19.00. Before police inquiries were instituted, continued counsel, Marshall offered to accept personal responsibility in regard to certain transactions and to repay the money owing as soon as possible. None of the cars upon which advances were made had at that particular time been disposed of. Subsequently they were disposed of, not by the prisoner, but by Lonergan. His Honour: Actually the money was not raised on the security of the cars at all. The Guarantee Corporation never got the security, but it thought it did. MONEY FOR COMPANY. His Honour added that he was sufficiently apprised of the case to agree with counsel that whatever money was obtained went into the company and. probably became dissipated in the further operations of the company. Mr. Willis again emphasised that whatever prosperity came the company's way Marshall would have remained on a weekly wage only. He would finally point out that the prisoner went to Australia towards the end of last year and immediately he heard that the police desired to see him he voluntarily returned. His Honour: That was established in the case, and the police say he returned voluntarily. Marshall, continued Mr. Willis, was a married man, with one child, and he had, tightly or wrongly, had to bear the burden of the whole proceedings. He would ask for leniency, and, if possibly probation. His Honour remarked that the prisoner had already had a period of probation, but it was many years ago. Mr. Willis said that it had been eighteen years ago. His Honour, addressing the prisoner, said it was clear from the probation officer's report, that he had been leading a satisfactory life since his probation. He was a young man in his early thirties, and he would be regarded as having had an unblemished record; but he had been found guilty of a series of false pretences extending over almost a year. There had been repeated false pretences where moneys were obtained on what was supposed to be security of cars. There was no doubt that the finding of the jury was clearly the correct finding, continued his Honour. He took into consideration the fact that there had been no personal gain in the matter, and possibly the prisoner had it in his mind that the company might work itself out of the difficulties. He supposed Marshall was always living in hopes that the company would get on to_sufficiently strong financial feet to be able to stand without recourse j to that more devious method adopted to help the company's finances. A serious loss had been caused to a lot of people; to the Guarantee Corporation, and to those people who had been induced to sign the documents; there were two or three instances where people had actually had to pay up. He would like to treat the matter from the point of view of probation if he could, but trfe difficulty was that when there was a series of that type of offence," deliberately designed, probation was out of the question. The sentence he proposed to inflict was one that would enable the prisoner's case to be reviewed now and again.