Alleged Theft By Council Clerk

Northern Advocate, 23 August 1948, Page 5

Alleged Theft By Council Clerk

NEW PLYMOUTH, Mon. (P.A.).— The theft of sums of money totalling £1579, the property of the New Plymouth Borough Council, was alleged against Ralph Eric Pickering in the Supreme Court today. There was wide interest in the proceedings and the public portion of the court was crowded.

Pickering, who is a single man, aged 21. was charged with these offences as a servant of the New Plymouth Borough Council, by whom he was employed as a clerk and had acted as cashier during the holiday and sick leave of the chief cashier.

Fleas of not guilty were made to three charges of theft, with alternative charges of receiving in each case, also a charge of wilfully attempting to obstruct the course of justice by altering duplicate bank lodgmentslips. to a charge tfial with intent to defraud or falsify a counter receipt book he entered in the bank column as banked on January 7, 1948, £1498/19/11, whereas £650 of that amount was banked, and also to a charge of altering the record in the treasurer’s cash record book and bank book concerning the same amount. Altogether there were 25 charges.