YOUNG MAN IN TROUBLE

Evening Star, Issue 18259, 26 April 1923, Page 5

YOUNG MAN IN TROUBLE

LONG LIST OP CHARGES. DETAINED FOR REFORMATIVE TREATMENT. An unusual case was dealt with at the City Police Court on Tuesday, when a young man named Reginald George Smyth appeared to answer a large number of charges of theft and of obtaining goods by false pretences. The charges were as follow :—That, on April 6, accused received from the firm of John Edmond, Limited, one dozen stainless knives, valued at £3, by falsely stating that ho was in the employ of V/. Secular and Co.; that on April 6 ho received from R. Hudson and Co. three boxes of chocolates, valued at 245, by representing himself to be in the employ of Neill and Co.; that on April 6 he received from the Phccnix Company, Limited, eighteen boxes of chocolates, valued at £1 18s, by stating that lie was employed by Neill and Co.; that on Apri 14 lie received from Macky, Logan, Caldwell, Limited, three hats, valued at £2 18s, one dozen collars (10s 64', six shirts (£2 8s), one dozen singlets (l 5 19s), and one dozen pairs of socks (£1 7s), oi a total value of £l3 Is 6d, by stating that he was employed by Kerr and Co., of Palmerston ; that on April 4 he received from the Drapery and General Importing Company an enamel pot valued at 14s 64 by representing himself as an employee of Rattray and 8on; that on March 28 ho received from Pargoon, Bon, and Ewen one dozen pocket knives, a dressing case, a case of pipes, a suit of clothes, six shirts, six pairs of underpants, and three shirts, of a total value of £l7 12s 6d, by stating that he was in the employ of Alexander Crow, of Seacl’ff; that on March 26 he received from Jago, Biggs, Ltd., two tyres and a patching outfit, valued at £2 2s 9d, by representing himself as a son of William James Weir, of Omimi; that on March 27 ho procured from J. Rattray and Son 101 b of tea, valued at £1 13s 4d, by stating that he was in the employ of W. G. Hook, Mornington; that on March 5 he stole from John Albert Gray a suit case, two dresses, a knitted jumper, a Kodak camera, two pairs _oi ladies’ shoes, a pair of ladies’ slippers, an ebony hair brush, three nightdresses, a dressing jacket, and other articles of the total value of £l9 10s; that on March 21 he stole a bicycle lamp valued at 22s 6d, the property of Robert Cecil Rawson: that on March 10 he stole a kit bag, a travelling rug, a collar box, and a pair of socks, of a total value of £8 Bs, the property of Edwin T. Wilson; that an March 5, at Omimi, he stole from Margaret Weir a pocket wallet valued at 10s; that on February 7 he stole a brass cornet valued at £l4, (he property of William Weir; that on March 26 ho obtained from Laidlaw and Gray a lawn mower valued at £4 by stating that he was J. North, of H. North and Sons, Omimi. The accused pJeaded guilty _to all charges, and asked to be dealt with summarily. Sub-inspector Eccles said that the accused was twenty-five years of age. He had been a voluntary patient of Seacliff Mental Hospital for a period, and had come out on December 31 last. He had stayed for a time at Omimi, and had later come to Dunedin, where, under various names, ho had procured goods by means of false pretences. The thefts include one of propertly from the railway station, and another from an hotel. Some of the property had been .found in tne possession of accused, and some of it had been sold. Part of it had been recovered. In 1918 tho accused had been convicted on charges of false pretences, so that he had really had his chance. Tho Magistrate (Mr J. R. Bartholomew) said that it seemed to him that the proper place for tho accused was a reformative institution.

The Probation Officer (Mr F. G. Gumming) agreed with this, and recommended that a full tern of detention be given. Tho Magistrate said that tho case was quite out of the ordinary. The accused was lacking in responsibility, and was not or normal mentality. Nevertheless, tho circumstances of tho case showed a considerable amount, of deliberation and cunning. On tho charge of stealing goods to the value of £l9 tho accused would be detained for reformative treatment for three years, and a conviction would be entered on tho other charges.