ALLEGED THEFT

Evening Star, Issue 21639, 7 February 1934, Page 9

ALLEGED THEFT

YOUNG MAN CHARGED SUPREME COURT HEARING George Alexander Low appeared in the Supreme Court to-day on a charge of th.s theft, on July 1, 1932, of a fur necklet, valued at £l9 10s, the property of the Canadian Fur Salon Ltd. There was also a charge that accused received the fur necklet from someone unknown, he well knowing it to have been' dishonestly obtained. Mr F. M. Hanan appeared for the accused, who pleaded not guilty to both charges. The Crown Prosecutor (Mr F. B. Adams), in opening the case for the prosecution, said the two charges in the indictment were alternative. At the beginning of July, 1932, a number of fur necklets were stolen from the shop of the Canadian Fur Salon. The accused called at the Rugby Hotel in an endeavour to sell, among other things, fur necklets. One was sold for £5 and another for £2 10s, one of the ladies who purchased one, a Miss M'Ghie, now being out of the country. The other was bought by Mrs Simpson. It was an embarrassing position for one of the ladies when she was approached in the street by the manager of the fur company, who identified the fur necklet she was wearing as one of those which had hung in the shop. The accused was arrested in Auckland about December 19 of last year, and had given no explanation as to his possession of the necklets.

James M. Douglas, manager pf the Canadian Fur Salon Ltd. when it was carrying on business in 1932, said a number of articles were stolen that year. The thefts occurred over a period of sis months, the value of the stolen goods being about £SO. The fur necklet produced in court was one stolen from his shop. That fur cost him £l9 10s. In December he saw a young lady wearing the necklet in the street and asked her to go to his office. She did so, and he identified the fur as one that had been stolen. He handed it over to the police. Another fur produced in court was similar to one he had had in stock, but he could not swear definitely that it came from the shop. He did not know the accused. To Mr Hanan: He had never seen the accused about the premises. He identified the one skin by the markings. Gwendoline A. Douglas said she was employed for six years by the Canadian Company. The necklet produced she had seen on the premises, it being the only one of the kind in stock. It was one that disappeared. Others were stolen at different times. The necklet she identified was hanging well within the shop. A fur like the oilier one produced was hanging near.

John Simpson, licensee of the Rugby Hotel, said the accused called at the hotel over three or four months in 1932 to sell goods. He understood that a Miss M'Ghie, who was in his employ at that time, bought a fur necklet from him.

Louise J. Simpson said the accused came to the kitchen of the hotel two years ago, she being there when Miss M'Ghie bought a fur. At this stage the court adjourned till the afternoon.