HIS WEAKNESS.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVII, Issue 176, 11 July 1927, Page 6

HIS WEAKNESS.

PRETENDING HIB WAY. SIX MONTHS FOR OLD OFFENDER. “His weakness is false pretence,” said Senior-Sergeant Powell at the Napier Court to-day when George William Nelson Wildermoth pleaded guilty to five charges of obtaining money by false pretences. The accused had a record of ten previous offences of a similar nature. He was described as a labourer aged 40, a native of England. The offences dealt with to-day were briefly as follows:—On March 24th, he went to the manager of the Insurance Office of Australia at Auckland and successively told the tale that he was an employee of the 1.0. A. at Dunedin- He “touched” the manager for a fiver At Napier on April 14th he took to himself the identity of Mr McKeever, the manager of a picture theatre at Invercargill and interviewed the manager of two Napier picture theatres, one of whom he “stung” for a pound and the other for 10/-. He had also played the part of McKeever at Palmerston North where fie caught the manager of a picture theatre twice, on April 9 for 30/- and on April 10th for 12/6. There was a sixth charge of obtaining £1 from a man in Wellington by representing himself as the brother of a certain merchant in Invercargill, and on this the accused was remanded to appear at Wellington.

All that Wildermoth had to say for himself was that his offences were invariably committed when he was under the influence. Commenting that it seemed to be the man’s practice to falsely pretend his way through the country, His Worship sentenced him to three months imprisonment on each of the Palmerston North and Napier charges, and sis months on the Auckland one. sentences to be concurrent.