COURT NEWS

Grey River Argus, 11 August 1937, Page 8

COURT NEWS

Burglary Charge POLICE FOLLOW BLOOD TRAIL. FPer Press Association]. WELLINGTON, August 10. When the De Luxe Theatre, Lower Hutt, was broken into on Thursday night, the thief cut his hand while working on the safe. The police followed a trail of blood down into Petone, leading to a doctors residence, and found the doctor had treated a man for a badly cut hand. With the search so narrowed down to a man with a bandaged hand, eventually the police made an arrest. Peter McNicol, alias Thomas James aged 25, labourer, was charged to-day at Lower Hutt and remanded. PRISONERS SENTENCED. WANGANUI, August 10. In the Supreme Court, Mr Justice Smith sentenced prisoners as follows: William Joseph Gee pleaded guilty to being an incorrigible rogue, six months’ hard labour to be concurrent with sentences at present serving. Tume, for stealing a cheque and enf dorsing and uttering same, was adf mitted to probation for a year, conditional on paying £1 7s 6d, and the costs of the prosecution. DECREASE IN CRIME. INVERCARGILL, August 10. In his address to the Grand Jury here to-day, His Honour, Mr. Justice Kennedy, said that he was glad to be able’ to tell them that there was ample evidence that there had been little serious crime in the district during the past three months. “I say that, because during the past quarter, no prisoners have been committed to the Supreme Court for sentence in this city upon pleas of guilty, and because there is only one charge in which a person has been committed for trial,” he said. “In many districts, but not in all, a diminuation in the number of cases of serious crime for trial has recently been observed. While this district has not got a clean sheet, it is satisfactory to find that crime here has also diminished. It is gratifying to see that there has been, since last criminal session, but one charge of crime serious enough to encage the attention of this 1 Court.”