BURGLARY AND CAR CONVERSION

Evening Star, Issue 21010, 26 January 1932, Page 9

BURGLARY AND CAR CONVERSION

THREE MEN PLEAD GUILTY ONE ACCUSED FOR TRIAL FOR BREAKING AND ENTERING Burglary and illegal conversion of a car were admitted by three men in the Police Court to-day, while one of the trio, Cuthhert Earl M'Keagg, was found guilty of the theft of a motor pump missing from another converted car, and was sent to the Supreme Court for trial on a charge of burglary of a woman’s outfitter’s shop at South Dunedin. Mr H. W. Bundle, S.M., was on the bench. Detective-sergeant H. Nuttall • prosecuted, and accused were represented by counsel, Cuthbert Earl M'Keagg, Albert Leslie M'Keagg, and Desmond Joseph Benfell were charged with breaking and entering the warehouse of the Peninsula County Council at Portobello and stealing 38' gallons of benzine and 11 gallons of oil, valued at £7 13s. Albert Edward Thurlow said that on January 15 he locked up a shed at Lower Portobello at 5 p.m. The shed was used by the county council for the storage of oil and benzine, and the door was secured by a chain and padlock. On the following day he found the door wide open and the lock broken, off, while oil and petrol were missing from the shed. Constable Le Sueur said that on January 16, in company with Detective Power, he interviewed Cuthbert M'Keagg and Benfell. At first M'Keagg denied all knowledge of the offence. On searching his premises witness found portion of the missing petrol, and later on Benfell and Cuthbert M'Keagg made statements admitting having committed the offence in conjunction with Albert M'Keagg. The last-named was brought to the police station about midnight on January 16, and after he was shown the statements of the other two accused he admitted that he was the third party in the affair, and made a statement admitting the part ho had played. With the exception of ten gallons, which the accused said they had ifsed, all the petrol had been recovered. To Counsel: The total loss to the owners would .be about £l. The accused had been quite frank about the affair. Constable Eushbatch gave evidence of taking Albert M'Keagg from Lower Portobello to the central station, where the accused made a statement admitting his part in the burglary. Counsel said that the accused intended £o plead guilty. However, he wished to draw His Worship’s attention to the very small part Benfell had played in the affair. He had merely assisted the M'Keagg brothers to place one can of petrol on the car. He suggested that, in view of the circumstances," the charge against Benfell might be reduced to one of theft. In view of Benfell’s statement, said the Magistrate, the application was not one for his consideration. The three accused pleaded guilty to the charge and were committed to the Supreme Court for sentence. Cuthbert Earl M'Keagg was further charged with- bre.aking and entering the shop of Jean Tonner at South Dunedin and stealing goods to the value of £37 15s. Miss Tonner gave evidence that on May 9, 1931, she left her shop at 8.30 p.m. She returned at 10 a.m. the following day. The whole shop was upset. The back window was open and a hole had been made in a panel of the door. She identified some articles of clothing stolen from the shop. Although new when stolen, the articles had since been worn. Articles to the value of £l7 15s were still missing.

Constable Le Sueur said he accompanied the accused to his home in Mornington on .January 1G to make a search of the liouse. With the exception of one dress, all the articles were recovered at the liouse. The missing dress was recovered from people named Bcnfoll at Green Island, to whom accused had given it. Accused denied having stolen the articles, and said lie had purchased them at various times. When told'that Miss Tonner had identified the goods, M'Kcagg said:, •“ I

never stole theni. I would not have any stolen property in my house.” Three days later M'Keagg volunteered to make a statement to clear the matter up, as he did not wish to take all the blame himself. In the statement, accused said he had purchased the articles for 30s from Charles Gibbons, who delivered the goods in a sugar bag at the corner of M'Brido street in October. He had worked with Gibbous previously. Some of the clothes had since been worn. Gibbons had said his son had brought the clothing from Australia, but the articles were too small for his wife.

Charles Gibbons, a ganger employed by the City Council, said he knew the accused, with whom he worked for a short time a little over two years ago. On January 20 he inspected the articles produced at the detective office. He had not seen the articles before, neither had he sold the articles to accused. He had two sons, but he was positive that they had left Dunedin before May 9. Leslie Gibbons left on April 27, and Basil Gibbons on May 1. , Accused pleaded not guilty, reserved his defence, and was committed to the Supreme Court for trial. Cuthbert M'Keagg was further charged with stealing a motor tyre pump, valued at 255, the property of David Anderson Tudor, a clothing manufacturer. He pleaded not guilty. Complainant gave evidence that the pump stolen from him was similar to the hne produced, but he could not swear to it. Jack Ellison, an electrician, said he ■was the only one who drove Mr Tudor’s car. On June l 7 last, he left the car in Russell street, and it was missing the following morning. The car was later recovered near St. Joseph’s Cathedral, in Rattray street. The pump was missing. He would say definitely that the pump produced was the one that had been stolen. Constable Le Sueur said the pump was found in a back room' at accused’s residence. / Accused said that he had not seen the pump previously, and had since denied any knowledge of it. Giving evidence, the accused said the constable had recovered the pump produced from a shed. Another pump had been found in the bedroom. His brother and Benfell resided at the house. He denied stealing the pump. To Detective-sergeant Nuttall: lie knew that the other pump had been claimed by a man at Lower Portobello. It was used for holding the window of the room open. He swore that he had not approached anybody to accept responsibility for the pump. His brother had told him that morning that he had stolen the pump. Recalled, Constable Le Sueur said he saw two pumps on his first visit to the house. The pump since identified by a man at ‘ and had not been stolen, was then in the cellar, while the pump produced was under the bed in the back room. Albert M'Keagg and Benfell were in the house at the first visit. The Magistrate said Ellison’s evidence ivas clearly definite on the identification of the pump. He was satisfied that the pump belonged to Mr Tudor, from whose ear it was stolen. The very recently stolen property was found in M'Keagg’s possession. Taking all the circumstances into " consideration, he would convict the accused. Accused was remanded for sentence, pending his trial on the burglary charge in the Supreme Court. To a charge of converting to their own use, on January 16, a motor car, valued at £IBO, the property of Robert Veint, the M'Keagg brothers and Benfell pleaded guilty. They were further charged with wilfully damaging the car to the extent of £l3 13s 6d. The charge was admitted by the M'Keagg brothers, but counsel for Benfell denied committing mischief. He asked that the charge against Benfell should be withdrawn. Detective-sergeant Nuttall said Benfell had admitted the charge in his own statement. The three men agreed, at Look-out Point, to take the car to Lower Portobello, and the doors were damaged when the accused placed the stolen oil in the car. Why Benfell asked to be excused he could not understand, as he was a party with the M'Keaggs right through the affair. Counsel: You must prove mischief. The Magistrate: Thq charge arises out of the use of the car. Mr Nuttall said the door had been damaged by a, drum, which would require handling by three men..

The mischief charges against the three men were withdrawn and, on the conversion charge, they were remanded for sentence until they have been dealt with in the Supreme Court. The Magistrate refused to grant an application on behalf of Benfell for bail. Mr Bundle said Benfell had got into bad company, and it would do him no harm, however he was dealt with, to realise the effect of conviction by remaining in custody.