THEFT AT WAIPUNA

Greymouth Evening Star, 6 January 1934, Page 2

THEFT AT WAIPUNA

YOUNG MAN CONVICTED Appearing on remand at the Magistrate’s Court, Greymouth, to-day, John Mason, 27, labourer, was charged that, on December 27, 1933, at Waipuna, he stole an overcoat valued at £5 and a pair of shoes valued at 10/- the property of John Henry Sinclair. Accused pleaded guilty, and elected to be dealt with summarily. Messrs. A. Naylor and J. Kyle, J.’sP. heard the case.

Senior-Sergeant E. Quayle stated that Sinclair had a gold-mining claim at Waipuna, and lived in a camp there. Early in December, accused, who was travelling around the country on horseback, went to the camp and stayed with Sinclair, who gave him food. He apparently got tired of staying ■there, and on December 27, when Sinclair arrived at the camp, he found (.that accused had gone, and that tne and the shoes were missing. ■Acting on information received, Constable Honey arrested accused at Otira. He was travelling towards Canterbury on the horse. Enquiries had been made regarding the horse, saddle, and bridle, but there was nothing to show that they had been dishonestly obtained. There was nothing previously known against Mason. He was one of those men who went around from place to place, getting his meals wherever he could. Accused had been in gaol since his arrest, and the Sen-ior-Sergeant suggested that, in the circumstances, he be convicted and ordered to come up for sentence if called upon within six months. Mr. Naylor stated that it was a serious offence. Accused was a young man, and they would give him a chance to pull himself together. He would be convicted and ordered to come up for sentence if called upon within six months. An order was made for the return of the stolen goods to the owner.