ILLICIT STILL ALLEGED

Greymouth Evening Star, 23 March 1944, Page 8

ILLICIT STILL ALLEGED

POLICE RAID ISLAND.

AUCKLAND, March 20. A raid by police officers and Customs officials on the small island 01. Motuora, in the Hauraki Gul\ on February 25, had a sequel in ' the Magistrate’s Court when three men appeared before Mr. J. H. Luxrord, S.M., on a series of charges dealing with the alleged operation of an illicit still. Clement Robert Lawson, a mechanic, aged 33, was charged with having in his custody or possession an unlicensed still or other apparatus suitable for distilling. Together with John William Buchanan (alias Hopkin), a sawmill hand, aged 50, and Kevin Herdson, a jeweller’s apprentice, aged 18, Lawson was charged with having in his possession or custody or upon his premises, a still or other utensils suitable for distilling without first having obtained a licence for keeping or using them. Each man was also charged with being found on premises where illicit distillation was carried out. Mr. Dickson appeared for Lawson and Herdson, and Mr. G. Skelton for Buchanan. The Crown Prosecutor, Mr. V. R. Meredith, prosecuted. Arthur John Noakes, a farmer, said that while staying on Motuora Island, which he was inspecting with a view to buying, the accused,

’ Lawson, and Herdson, arrived in a ’ boat. Lawson made several trips 1o ’ the mainland, bringing back provisions, tools, a cream-can with piping 1 soldered on the lid, a large wooden • hogshead, a bag of grain, and a nag of sugar. John Ellis Jones, a farmer, said he ’ was the lessee of Motuora Island. At the beginning of January Lawson came to see him. He said he had just had an operation and wanted a quiet house to recuperate. Lawson rented the house. Once witness saw a barrel there. He lifted the cover and saw a dirty-looking liquid bubbling, and smelling like sour wine. Lawson was not there at the time. A Customs officer, John Reid Wallace, said he visited Motuora Island in company with Sergeant Adams and other officers on February 25. They landed on the south-west coast, and climbed to a height where they could look down on a farm-house about 50 yards from the beach. They circled round and approached it from the rear, where they met the accus-

ed Herdson chopping wood. A Lew yards away was a still in full operation with a fire burning beneath it. The still had been made of two 16gallon coppers welded together, and fitted to the top of an oil drum in which a fire was burning. A copper tube led to a condenser coil inside a second drum, which was filled with cold water. Distilled spirit was dripping from the end of the coil into an enamel jug. The man Buchanan was accosted near a boatshed, witness continued, and he told the police party that he was staying there to mend a few boats for Lawson. The police sighted Lawson, and the rest of the launch party brought him back to the house, where each man was interviewed and made a statement. On the premises were several bottles of spirit, about 1001 b of wheat, a creamcan practically full of corn mash, and a welding outfit. STATEMENTS BY ACCUSED. In his statement Lawson said he was a mechanic employed by the Auckland City Council. He had been on the island about three weeks because of ill health. The still did not belong to him. Il was working that morning, but, stated Lawson, Buchanan had been working it. Buchanan made a statement that he had been on the island only since February 20, mending boats. He was not connected with distilling spirits and knew nothing about it. That day was the first time he had seen the still, and Lawson was operating i

In his statement Herdson said he had been, on the island three or four weelts for a holiday. He was assisting with the housework and cooking. He did not know who brought the still to the house, and the only person he had seen operating it was Buchanan.

Sergeant Adams said he revisited the house and found a large hogshead containing about three gallons of corn and wheat mash, and several decanters half-full of spirit. A Government analyst, Kenneth Massey Griffin, gave evidence that he had analysed samples taken from the still at Motuora Island. The distillate being produced when the police arrived contained 1G.2 per cent, proof spirit, and mash in the creamcan 8.8 per cent. Some of the spirit found in Lawson’s room contained 84 per cent, proof spirit. AH the accused pleaded not guilty,

< v T e committed to the Supreme Lourt tor trial. Lawson and HerdS,' v £ re plowed bail, the amount of^iOQ £*oo, with one surety