POLICE COURT NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 156, 30 June 1914, Page 5

POLICE COURT NEWS.

THREE YEAR OLD BURGLARY

FINGER-PRINT EVIDENCE.

Charged in the Police Court yesterday that, be broke and onterod the premises of Fritz Larsen, stealing therefrom about 100 greenstone pendants, valued at £80, a young man, named James Falkencr, alias Watson, pleaded not guilty. He was represented by Mr. J. R. London.

The burglary took place on the night of Aoril 22, 1911, Mrs. Larsen being awakened by the breaking of glass. Apparently an empty beer bottle had been used with which to break the glass of tho shop window, from which a pad of greenstone pendants was missing. The a-o:used, when arrested recently in Wellington on another charge, was found to bate somo greenstone pendants in his possession. Some of these were identified yesterday by Mrs. Larsen and her daughter as being part of tho proceeds of the robb«ry. Finger-prints had been left behind by the burglar, these bcin<: on the glass. The accused's finger-prints were stated in Court I yesterday to be exactly similar, expert evidence being given on this point. After Detective Scott had stated that lie know that a.. ■ d was in Auckland at the time of the burglary, Faulkener. who reserved his defence, was committed for (rial to the Supreme Conn,

ANOTHER MAN'S COAT. Admitting that ho had sto] -n an oilskin coat, valued at 20s, George Henry O'Brien explained that he. had really no intention of stealing it—he only took it, ho said, to keen it .safe for the owner, who. ho thought, bad forgotten it. The rhief-rietec-live said that the accused's idor. of keeping the coat safe was to sell it to a secondhand dealer. The accused, ho added, was a wharf loiterer and addicted to petty thieving for the purpose of obtaining the wherewithal for a drink. His police record, it was stated, was a very bad one. A sentence of two months' hard labour was imposed.

TRUANTS FROM SCHOOL. Eight parents were proceeded against because their children had played truant from school. The excuses as to why the. children had not attended school were many and varied. Some were wanted at homo "to mind my aunt's children " and "to work on the potato-bed." Penalties were imposed according to the length of time the children had been absent from school. T. Turrall and>T. Smith were each fined 6s and 7s cost*, W. Yaughan. A. Witherall, N. Papesrh. and M. "E. Runt 8s and 7s costs each, and R. Diffin 14s and 7s costs. R. Smith was fined £1 and 7s costs, the truant officer saying that the. case was a bad one, the child having been absent tor 10 weeks. AFTER THE RACES, A two-horsed waggonette, licensed to carry nine, passengers, including the driver, came, away from the FJJerslio racecourse with 11 passengers in addition to the driver. The driver, Alfred Dare, was consequently summoned for overloading his horses and also for carrying more passengers than allowed by his license. On tho latter charge the defendant was fined 10s and 7s costs, the charge of overloading being l dismissed with a warning. INTEMPERANCE. Having been arrested during the weekend for drunkenness, six first offenders pleaded guilty. Two were convicted and discharged, as they had been locked up since Saturday, whilst another ono was fined ss, as he had been liberated on bail. Two others, having been arrested on Sunday, were fined 5s each, and tho sixth was' ordered to pay 10s 6d medical expenses within a week. Convicted of her second offence within tho last six months. Eliza Monaghan was prohibited bv consent. Louis Eglin was fined 5s for being drunk. He was also charged with vagrancy, but this charge was dismissed, His Worship saying that he hoped that it would act as a warning to tho accused that he must do some honest work in future. MISCELLANEOUS. Having boarded a train at Avondalo whilst it was in motion, F. D. Wallace was convicted and ordered to pay 28a costs.

Pleading guilty to f charge of attempted suicide, an old man of 75, William Wells, who fortunately had done himself _ little hann, was remanded for a week with a view to procuring his admission to some home.