FIVE CHARGES

Evening Star, Issue 21013, 29 January 1932, Page 12

FIVE CHARGES

THEFT OF COPPER ALLEGED Angus- William Cameron MacDonald was faced at the Police Court this morning with live charges of theft of copper cable, the property of the Dunedin City Corporation, the total value of which was £BS 17s Cd; but on the application of the police a charge of the theft of cable valued at £33 was withdrawn, MacDonald was also charged on two counts with the theft of copper cable together with William Townshend Harvey, the value in these cases being £49.

/Harvey also appeared for sentence on charges of the theft of copper cable, but the Magistrate stood the accused down until the other case was heard, it being intimated that Harvey was to bo a witness for the Crown. Matthew Cochrane Henderson, city electrical engineer, said that some six months ago the Corporation imported copper wire known as gauge 2in wire. In March, 1930, they had 3,720 yards of this wire, which was sent out near Berwick for the purpose of a new transmission line. About 2,250 yards of this cable were used, about 1,470 yards being left there to be used later, on the completion of the job. The wire that was left was on three wooden drums, at Spencer’s road at Berwick. There were negotiations with the Government to get a supply from Waitaki, and therefore the Corporation’s transmission line was not proceeded with as soon as was expected. The weight of the wire left was thirty hundredweight, and its value £lls. Witness recently had a check made up of this wire, and estimated that about twenty-five hundredweight was missing, valued at about £96. They had other drums out in that district, the gauge of that wire being .15. Witness had examined wire at the police station which was a similar wire to that which had been stolen. He had . subsequently examined other wire at the police ( station which was identical with wire missing from Berwick and was valued at £3 16s per hundredweight. The Corporation sold scraps of various sizes to second-hand dealers, but practically none of the .15 or .2 wire. He had never sold similar wire to the accused, and no member of the council had any authority to dispose of the wire to the accused. The cables were an unusual gauge, Leslie John York, a Corporation employee, said that early this month he had received certain instructions regarding drums of wire in the Taieri district, and had examined three drums near Mr Thomson’s place. They were the property of the City Council. On that day the drums were all intact, but a few days later when ho again examined them ho found that one of the drums' had been disturbed, and a quantity of wire taken off it. John Bell Hughes and Leonard Arthur Cheeseman also gave evidence, the latter; stating that until recently he had worked in a gang controlled by Granger Harvey. On January 6 and 7 he was instructed to go with Hughes and Reid to cut certain wire. A day or two after the wire was cut the ganger asked .him to tell the accused that he wished to meet him the following day at the European Hotel.

(Proceeding.)