MAIL BOXES ROBBED

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LVI, 11 October 1922, Page 5

MAIL BOXES ROBBED

OFFENCES BY A BOY CORRESPONDENCE DESTROYED Systematic thieving from and destruction of letters led to a 15-year-old boy being charged before Mr J. E. Wilson, S.M., in the Juvenile Offenders’ Court at Auckland on Saturday, with 12 separate offences, says the Herald. Chief-Detective Mcllveney stated that the boy had been employed by Messrs Whitcombe and Tombs, anti his duties included the clearing of a private letterbox used for the convenience .of customers and the collecting of letters from the firm’s post office box. Since the middle of MaV the boy had retained six letters posted by customers in the shop and 30 letters from the post office box. From these he had extracted postal orders and money orders to the value of £7 12s sd, and a cheque for £2 12s. He had cashed the postal notes and destroyed the money orders, the cheque, and the correspondence. His mother was dead and his father was practically an invalid. His present employer spoke well of the lad. A favourable report on the, accused’s character and on his home influence was given by'The juvenile probation officer.' The magistrate said there were two bad features about the case, one being that the thefts covered a period of fully three months, and the other that^ correspondence had been destroyed. The lad was fortunate, lunve.cr, in having good reports apart from these offences. He impressed upon the hoy the seriousness of his actions, duelling on the inconvenience and loss sustained b\ many people, and i.ho suspicion thrown on the postal officials and Ids tellow employees. The case was adjourned for a year, the boy in the meantime being placed under the direction of the juvenile probation officer. Restitution oi the stolen properly was ordered to he made within three months.