FALSE PRETENCES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume L, Issue 15249, 12 March 1913, Page 5

FALSE PRETENCES.

SEAMAN SENT TO GAOL. AN ATTEMPT TO ESCAPE. A Danish seaman, James Jules Christienson, made hie apearance in the Police Court yesterday, before Mr. E. C. Cutten, S.M., to answer a charge of having ob-. tained clothing to the . value of £4 2s, by means of false pretences, and also 5s in money. There .was also a further charge of attempting to escape from lawful custody. After the accused had pleaded guilty to the charges, the chief detective outlined the case. He stated that the accused, with some other sailors from a Norwegian barque, entered a clothier's shop at the foot of Queen Street, towards the end of last September. Accused told the proprietor that he wanted clothing for himself and' his companions,- intimating that the captain would pay. Before supplying the goods the captain was communicated with, but repudiated any liability. . The accused thereupon said that he would see the captain himself. After a brief absence he returned to the shop and said that as the captain owed him between £50 and £60, everything would be all right. Clothes to the value of £4 2s. and 5s in cash were, therefore, supplied to the accused. These goods were not paid for, and the accused was subsequently sentenced to three month's ham) labour at Blenheim on another charge. He was transferred to Auckland to meet the present charge. Travelling in company with a, constable, tiie accused left the train on the wrong aide at Meroer, in the early hours of the morning, and walked away with the obvious intention of escaping. But the guard and the constable saw him going and hailed him, the accused wisely coining back. The magistrate imposed a , sentence of three months' hard labour on the charge of false pretences, to be followed by .''tiother month on the charge of attempting ' to escape from custody. I