TAKING A PLANK

Greymouth Evening Star, 13 June 1927, Page 5

TAKING A PLANK

THEFT CHARGE DISMISSED Charged with having stolen a piece of timber, the property of Messrs Harley & Co. Ltd., on May !», William Nelson, a platelayer in the N.Z. Railways, at Greymouth, appeared at the Police Court this morning, before Mr. J. G. L. Hewitt, S.M. He was represented by Mr. H. F. Doogan. Senior-Sergeant McCarthy said he saw accused in Herbert Street about 9.30 p.m. on May 9, standing under the street light at the intersection of Whall and Herbert Streets. He walked down the street in the shade of Harley’s factory, and went to cross the street carrying a piece of timber. His movements excited suspicion and witness decided to interrogate accused. In -answer to a question as to what he was doing, accused said he found the board earlier in the day under a gorse and blackberry bush, near the rubbish dump on the south side of Herbert Street, which he pointed out.

On being told he had no right to remove what did not belong to him, accused replied that when odd pieces of timber were found lying about the railway line, the men used them for kindling wood in their huts. He intended doing the same with the board. As the circumstances were certainly suspicious, accused was asked to bring the plank (which was 2 inches by 8} by 12 feet) to the Police Station, where he was charged with theft. William Willis, foreman at Messrs Harley and Co.’s factory, said the timber produced was black birch. His firm used black birch, and had some stacked near the factory on the railway reserve. He could not identify the plank in Court. The nails in it indicated the possibility of the plank 'having been used for tying down the top of the stack of timber. Its value was about 4/-. Accused stated that on May 9, while he was engaged laying points- near the Herbert Street intersection, he had found the plank in the gorse bush. He 'did not take it away when he went home, as he joined some of his work 'mates and went to the Union Hotel for a. drink, previous to which they had to go down to the tool shed at Elmer Lane and put their tools away. They cut across by Victoria Park and

to the , back entrance of the Union Hotel in Williams Street. On leaving the hotel he went to his home in 36 Herbert Street. He had previously lived in Blaketown for fifteen or sixteen years. There was a big stack of timber in the Park, had he wanted to steal timber he could have got it there as there was no light in the locality to worry about. He had taken odd pieces of wood found previously on the. railw,ay ' line, and chopped them up for kindling, and did not think there was any harm in it. The Magistrate said the actions of tlie accused had rightly excited the suspicion of the Senior-Sergeant, but there was a doubt about the matter, and he would give the benefit of it to accused, and dismiss the information.