POLICE COURT

Evening Star, Issue 21641, 9 February 1934, Page 1

POLICE COURT

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 9. (Before Mr H. W. Bundle, S.M.) DRUNKENNESS. Robert Joseph Moore was convicted and discharged. REMAND GRANTED. Ernest Edward Storr was charged with the theft of 12s, the property of William Borlase. Detective-sergeant Doyle asked for a remand until to-morrow, stating that a witness in the case was out of town. The remand was granted, bail being allowed in self of £lO and one surety of £lO. FALSE DECLARATIONS. Thomas M'Doweil pleaded guilty to a charge of making a false statement under the Unemployment Act. Mr Doyle stated that the accused was a married man with two young children, and was a motor mechanic by trade. He was put on relief work in 1931, and on sustenance in October of last year, having refused to go to camp. He made four false declarations to the effect that he had not received work, and was thus paid £3 4s 9d to which he was not entitled. M‘Dowell was quite frank about the matter, and told the police that he used it to pay part of his arrears in rent, an instalment on his wife’s sewing machine, and to buy little things for the home. He was quite a decent man, was not addicted to drink, and the police had no doubt that lie spent the money in a legitimate manner. He had never been before the court previously, and was well spoken of. After hearing the accused the magistrate adjourned the case for six months conditional upon M‘Dowell refunding the £3 4s 9d. His Worship directed that M‘Dow ell should be brought before the court if this were not done. HOTELKEEPER FINED. John Simpson pleaded guilty to a charge of exposing liquor for sale after hours on the licensed premises of the Rugby Hotel. He was represented by Mr E. J. Anderson. Senior-sergeant Mac Lean, who prosecuted, said that on Sunday, January 21. there was an excursion from Gore, and when the police visited the hotel they found two men in the bar. They were not prepared to say hat any sale took place. Defendant was running one of the difficult hotels of the town, and. considering the nature of the locality he had given fair satisfaction since the last conviction. Mr Anderson told the court that there were no glasses about the bar. The two men had called on the defendant when they came off the train. Defendant was going about his business, doing cleaning work in the bar. They walked in and were talking to him when the police accosted them. It was a difficult hotel, but counsel said he thought the police would bear out that the hotel was very well run by defendant. " The Magistrate: Do the police agi>ee that there was no sign of drink? Senior-sergeant Mac Lean said that as a matter of fact they did not, but at the same time they did not have evidence to support such a charge, and seeing that they found no liquor they contented themselves with a charge of exposing liquor for sale. | Defendant was fined £4 and aosts. ; Arising from this case, John Henderson was fined 30s and costs (30s) for falsely representing that he was a hoarder on licensed premises. A_ charge of being unlawfully on the.premises was

withdrawn. Alexander Stenhonse was fined 10s and costs for being unlawfully; I on the premises of the same hotel. UNLICENSED WIRELESS SETS. For being in possession of an unlicensed wireless set at Mosgiel, James Brown was fined 10s and costs. David Edward Wright and Alfred James Trinder were fined court costs (10s) and 10s and costs respectively for being in possession of unlicensed wire* less sets. EMPLOYER FINED. Thurza Scoullar was fined £1 and costs for failing to produce a wages and time book, and convicted and discharged on a charge of failing to make full payment of wages. UNEMPLOYMENT TAX. Lawrence Patrick Howard, who was represented by Mr J. M. Paterson, pleaded guilty to a charge of failing to deduct unemployment tax from wages. . Mr Lightfoot, of the Labour Bureau, said that the defendant employed a man as a‘barman for seven weeks last year, and the tax was not deducted from the wages until the employment was terminated when the total amount of tax was deducted from the wages, Mr Paterson said that it was just a question of carelessness. The girl in the office had put the unemployment stamps on at one stage. A fine of 10s and costs was imposed* DECISION RESERVED. The case in which Tai Chong, Hop Lee, and Wing On were charged with exposing for sale containers not full of fruit (strawberries) was resumed. Mr W. D. Taylor conducted the prosecution for the department, Air B. S. Irwin representing the defendants, who pleaded not guilty. After hearing lengthy legal argument as to regulations governing the packing of fruit the magistrate reserved his decision.