"A RUDE SHOCK"

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 111, 13 May 1938, Page 11

"A RUDE SHOCK"

FOUND WITH OPIUM ' CHINESE SUSTENANCE ' MEN * . MAGISTRATE'S STRICTURES . "It comes as a r,ude shock that men who are spending half a crown a day on opium smoking are receiving 21s a week out of public funds. It is a 'matter which requires investigation. ,H the unemployment inspectors inquired carefully into their affairs, it seems incredible that these men, who have been convicted and heavily fined, could have been the subject of relief." The above remarks were made by Mr. J. H. Luxford, S.M., in the Magistrate's Court ttoday when two Chinese, who were stated to be oh sustenance, were convicted of being found in possession of prepared opium. Jay Gee, a gardener, aged 55, and Jim Hong, a fruiterer, aged 63, were each fined £25, in default two months' imprisonment. Detective-Sergeant P. Doyle prosecuted, and Mr. W. G. Mellish appeared lor the accused, who pleaded not guilty. At 4.30 p.m. last Wednesday, said Detective-Sergeant Doyle, Constable Thompson and Detectives Tripney and Long visited a building in 'Haining Street, and found the doors and windows bolted. Entrance was effected by way of a top floor window, the police j&Hy climbing on to the roof of an, /adjoining shed. In the house they found the two accused, together with eight other' Chinese, who were dealt with in the Court yesterday. The

. room was properly equipped for opium aaolting. There was a general commotion when the police party entered, end Constable Thompson saw the defendant Hong take from his pocket a< jar of prepared opium, probably, valued at about £5. Hong placed this on a bench, and Constable Thompson immediately took possession of it. ■ Subsequently a search was made of the two accused at the police station, end Detective Tripney found a small quantity of prepared opium and wtne opium "seconds" in the possession of the accused Gee. ;.Constable Thompson, gave evidence along the lines of Detective-Sergeant Doyle's statement. To Mr, Mellish he said he knew I?gan Yen, who; said he was the keeper\of the premises. "Mr. Mellish: If Ngan Yen says he puf.'ibe pot on Qie bench, would you d6hy it?— Certainly. -Detective Tripney said he searched, the whole ten Chinese, and he found • f enian packet of prepared opium and fieme "seconds" in Jay Gee's pocket, /fine accused were searched one at a time. - ■;. ■ - :'' ' ■ .-• . '"Mr f 'TMeMidi said that Gee made an emphatic denial that the opium was found on ids person. Hong said that Ifgan Yen put the pot on the bench, and that Constable Thompson, made a mistake as to who put it down.,

: Th* services, of an interpreter were required in order that the two accused'might give evidence.

"'"■■■■:■'.'■■- ..ON: SUSTENANCE. .; : Gee said he went to the house to smoke opium, and he was going to buy it- off the "boss," but he had not been f there long before the' police arrived/ He was in the watch-house when the accused were searched, but "he'did not see any opium taken from any of the accused.- He''produced hie sustenance bobE™' I'*'"','1 '*'"' , ' '" ; ""' ,: '•■■','■■■'•■■' ""■"■■ ."'■'■ ''■■'.■' Mr. Luxford: How often does ne snioke opium?' • . ' , ■The interpreter; He says he smokes it once a day.;' • .. , How much does it cost him?— Half a cfttwn a day. , Hong said he never had the jar or opium on him.. He was on sustenance, and he would not have been able to buy it. He denied hiSihg the opium. He was in the house only five minutes before the police arrived. s _, Detective-Sergeant Doyle: Oh, the usual five minutes. . ■_ Detective-Sergeant Doyle: Who supplies the opium in that house?— The interpreter: He says Ngan Yen.

BOEROWING TO PAT FINES. Who pays your fines for, smoking opium? * The interpreter: He says, that he goes around and borrows the money on lus relations. (Laughter.) Detective-Sergeant Doyle: You were fined £20 here in March lass.... Have you paid that fine? The accused indicated that he had Just finished paying. / And who paid the one in may of last year? V ~ The interpreter: He says he has plenty of blood relatione.

"SUBSBHSED." , Mr. Luxford: Fortunately for him he has a benevolent Sfate to subsidise him at the rate of 21s a week. . Ngan Yen, who said he was the keeper of the house in Hauling Street, said that before the police arrived he was , l weighing out packets of opium from the jar, which was among some old tins on the window sill when the party arrived. He was not on sustenance, said wit- .- He had lived in Haining Street for quite a while. -Detective-Sergeant Doyle: Constable Thompson asked you who kept the house, and you said the keeper had gone out. \ , Witness said that he was m partnership with another man. • He had been weighing out the opium in his bedroom, he said, and the last he saw of'the jar it was on the table. A charge of being found on premises used for the smoking of opium, brought against each of the accused, was withdrawn by the police.,,