JUVENILE OFFENDERS COURT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LV, Issue 16980, 14 October 1918, Page 7

JUVENILE OFFENDERS COURT.

THEFT ADMITTED BY YOUNG BOY.

Theft of a handbag containing £3 was admitted by an eight-year-old boy who appeared in the Juvenile Offenders' Court on Saturday before Mr. F. K. Hunt, S.M. It was stated by the police that the boy had been in the habit of taking boxes to a lollie shop in'the city. On Saturday last he took from the shop a bag belonging to a young lady employed there. The child's mother was a widow, who was'supporting a family of seven. The magistrate adjourned the case for six months, on the understanding that the boy should live with the juvenile probation officer for that period. Two boys and two girls, whose ages ranged from 9 years to 14, were brought before the Court on the allegation by the police that they were not under proper control. It was stated that the father was at the front with the Tunnelling Corps, and the mother, who had charge of the children, was addicted to drink. The children were sufficiently well clothed nnd I fed, but received little personal attention from the mother, while the moral atmosphere of the home was bad. The magistrate committed the children to Industrial schools, and told the mother that they could be licensed out to her from the schools, providing sho altered her manner of living sufficiently to warrant v course being adopted.