ILLEGAL SALE OF LIQUOR

New Zealand Herald, 29 June 1914, Page 5

ILLEGAL SALE OF LIQUOR

f 1 ) CONSTABLES BUY WHISKY. 9 e ] FIXE OF £20 IMPOSED. r J After having eluded the police for nearlj i six months, a man named Thomas Edward i Lcuilian appeared before Mr. F. \ . Frazer • S.M., at the Police Court on Saturday ' morning, charged with having sold liquoi , mi December 28 without a license. Mr. 5 Dawson appeared for tho accused, whe ' offered no defence after the evidence ol the police had been taken. Constable Fraser said that at about 12.E > j p.m. on Sunday, December 28, he was : | walking in working clothes along Wakefield ' i Street., in company with Constable, O'DonI nell, when lie and his companion were f | accosted by tho accused, who inquired if j i they would lik«' a drink. Ho had nothing 1 | but whisky, he said, which he would sell 1 at 6d a "nip." or 10s a bottle. Each J j constable had a drink, the accused taking ! 1 them into a vacant section before supply- ! ing them, and witness offered 2s in pay- • ment. Accused stated that he had no ' change, and suggested tluit tho extra Is ' should be devoted to another drink. This 1 was done. About 2.30 p.m. on the same • day the two constables again went to E Wakelield Street, and meeting the accused > asked if ho could give them another drink. ' 1 This timo he seemed suspicious, and asked ' | if they had anything to do with the special '; police. On being informed that they had 1 | not, lie offered to givo them a drink on ! I condition that they followed him separ- | ately to the place where ho dispensed the ■ ; liquor. They agreed, and each constable I | had another drink, but this time, the | accused refused to accept payment, reI making that if they were connected with j j the police the fact that he acoepte.d money ( j would stand as evidence against him. Constable O'Donnell told a similar story, I and Senior-Sergeant Rutledge, on whose , orders the constables had made their ini vestigations, stated that he had searched the accused's lodgings, and had discovered a bottle of whisky, which had been " doc* I tored." After tho search the accused had disappeared, and bad been arrested a few days ago iii Wellington. His Worship remarked that the accused's 1 offence was not so serious as it would have ! been had lie conducted a sly grog-shop. " However." said Mr. Frazer. "the worst ! feature about the case is the fact that the j whisky was 'doctored,' and anyone who has any intimate knowledge of this Court j knows what effect such liquor has." It was hard, continued His Worship, to assess the punishment in such cases, but the only way to stamp out the illegal salo of liquor was by imposing a heavy lino. Taking into consideration the circumstances of the present case, he would fine the accused £20 and costs.