BANK TELLER STEALS £3550.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVIII, Issue 17942, 18 November 1921, Page 7

BANK TELLER STEALS £3550.

THREE WEEKS' GAMBLING,

TWO YEARS' IMPRISONMENT.

n lt is with a broken heart that I acknowledge that I have been out with £3550 of thp bank's money gambling at the races, and havo lost it." This was the admission inado in a letter to the bank's inspector by lan St. Barbe Richardson, teller at Hawthorn branch of the Commercial Bank of Australia, who at the end of August was charged at Melbourne General Sessions with larceny as a servant. The letter concluded -. —"If the bank will be so gracious as to give me a chanco, I am confident that 1 can make up tho whole deficiency." Inconsequence of this letter and an admission made to tho manager of the Rawthorn branch, accused's rash was counted, and a deficiency of £5550 Is 8d was discovered. He had camouflaged the discrepancies somehow by bracketing amounts as "short" with his specifications of cash every day. The money had been taken over a r.eriod of about three weeks. Accused, in a statement from tho dock, *aid ho had served the bank faithfully for 16£ years, and had handled sums of money up to £15.000. Ho got in with "heads" and " boob" on the racecourses, and was induced to take large rams of the bank's money, which 'he lost at betting. Tho jury, after a short retirement, mund accused guilty, with a strong recommendation to mercy. Mr. Macindoe, who conducted the Crown said accused was originally listed for trial at the September sittings of tho Court, Accused obtained an adjournment 'ill the October sittings, ostensibly to enable him to arrange for the restitution W tho money, and let it bo understood raat he would then plead guilty. Howeyer, when he was called at tho October sittings he pleaded not guilty, and tho Crown had to adjourn the hearing because witnesses were not assembled. The s 'ing of the thing was that, by those repeated adjournments, the bank had been Prevented from recovering its losses. It i had been -ascertained that at tho time the case should have come on in September accused had real estate valued at f-1250, but since then he had converted toe title deeds and gol rid of the money. Judge Dethridge remarked that accused *ould not/only suffer the punishment of j imprisonment, but also that of a ruined !«6. Ho had, however, to consider others j "i a similar position who might at that Ve ry moment bo trembling on tho brink °f a similar offence. While trying not to be harsh, and while endeavouring to follow out the recommendation of the jury, he did not think ho could do less with regard to his duty than impose a sentence °f two years' imprisonment.