THEFT OF TIMBER

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 145, 22 June 1938, Page 13

THEFT OF TIMBER

RAILWAY WORKSHOPS

THREE MEN CONVICTED

Charges against three men of theft of timber from the Hutt Railway Workshops came before Mr. A. M. Goulding, S.M., in the Petone Court today. The three men were charged together with the theft of kauri timber and three-ply wood to the value of 255, two charges were made against two of the men of theft of wood valued at 355, and one man was charged with the theft of timber valued at 7s 6d.

Detective F. N. Robinson said -that on the evening of June 10 the three men were seen carrying timber in the vicinity of the Hutt Railway Workshops. A resident notified the Lower Hutt police and also gave the number of the motor-cycle which the men were using. About three-quarters of an hour later one of the men reported that his motor-cycle had been stolen, but he afterwards said it had been returned. When interviewed about the genuineness of his complaint he . admitted it was not true. When the homes of these men were visited by the police other pieces of timber were found. Apparently the men hid the timber in the yard during the day and came back at night.

Mr. N. T. Gillespie said that the three men were married and had families. They had all been dismissed from the Eailway Workshops, where they were employed as carpenters. One man had had to leave the lodge, where he was about to take a prominent office, and another man- had had to relinquish his office in a local church and a youth movement. He asked for an order suppressing their names. The Magistrate said it was difficult to know what had caused these men to abuse their position of trust. He would accept the statements of their counsel that they had been severely punished in one sense by being dismissed from their employment and by bringing disgrace on their families. The men would be convicted and ordered to come up for sentence if called on within twelve months. Their names would be suppressed.