UNCUSTOMED GOODS.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLV, Issue 193, 20 July 1925, Page 6

UNCUSTOMED GOODS.

STOLEN FROM A STEAMER. FISHERMEN IN POSSESSION. ALLEGATION OF CONCEALMENT. NEW PLYMOUTH. July 17. The story of the recovery of part of the missing contents of a chest of the steamer Port Melbourne was told in the Court at New Plymouth, when Walter Smith, fisherman, of Mofuroa, was charged with being in possession of uncustomed goods comprising serge trousers, underpants.'singlets,. and socks of a total-New Zealand value of £2l 10s. He was convicted and fined £4O. Robert Gibbs, chief steward of the Port Melbourne, said that , when the ship locker was inspected at New Plymouth on the morning of July 1 it was found that the customs s?al had been broken and that about half the contents of the locker were missing. The following evening one of bis men had told him that a fisherman had some of the goods and next morning Smith came on board and said be haa heard that the locker had been broken into and part of the contents stolen. Witness said that this was so. and Smith said lie had found some stuff on the beach. In company with the customs officers witness went to Smith’s cottage on the beach and there they recovered about half of the missing goods. Some of them were in a canvas bag, which bore paint marks of) the same colour as the steamer was painted at New Plymouth. When a search of the house was being commenced Smith and his wife produced from various hiding places singlets, underpants and socks. Smith said he had found these goods under a boat on the beach wrapped up in a wet brown paper, but although it had been raining heavily there was no evidence that the goods had been wet. Gibbs said he was quite sure that it was not until the collector of customs produced his warrant to search the house that Smith produced the goods in the house. A customs examiner said that Smith appeared to be very nervous when Gibbs and the customs officers appeared at the house.' Some ol the goods were well concealed. Smith’s story was that his wife found a kit bag of goods near a path leading to the road from the cottage while he found the other lot under a launch on the beach. Smith strenuously denied that he had concealed the-goods or that he had tried to put the custom officers off the track. When at one stage the collector had aeked him if there was anything more and he had replied “No” his answer was with reference to the contents of the kit bag which he and Bigwood were checking over. He had called on his wife to produce the other goods some time before the collector produced his warrant to search. There was no necessity for the production of the warrant as they were at libertv to search if they wanted to. Mary Christina Smith, wife of the defendant, also denied that there had been any intentional concealment. The magistrate said he could not get over the fact that Smith had concealed the goods in his. house, To his mind Smith had not discharged the onus that was upon him of proving that he did not know the goods had not passed the custom?.--Following the fine of £4O, with £5 7s costs, the police withdrew a charge of being in possession of stolen goods.