POLICE COURT NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18881, 2 December 1924, Page 12

POLICE COURT NEWS.

IMPRISONMENT FOR THEFT.

A ' PROBATIONER'S LAPSE.

EXCUSE OF DRUNKENNESS.

A brief sitting of the Police Court was held before Mr. J. W. Poynton, S.M., yesterday.

Stanley Lawrence George Couch, aged 43, appeared for sentence upon charges of having stolen jewellery and clothing valued at £12, and having failed to comply with the terms of probation. The probation officer, Mr. W. J. Campbell, reported that Couch had been previously convicted for breaking and entering, ! and attributed his offences to drink. Accused pleaded he had taken liquor to ward off the influenza. Mr. Poynton: That is an old excuse. A sentence of three months' imprisonment was imposed on the major charge, and one month for the breach of probation. FRAUDULENT SALE OF PIANO. A young man, whose name was suppressed by order of the • magistrate, pleaded guilty to having obtained £40 by false pretences. Detective O'Sullivan said accused purchased a piano valued at £115, paying a deposit of £1 Bs. When he had paid instalments totalling £12, ho sold the piano upon the representation that it was unencumbered. In asking for leniency, Mr. Clark said accused had been in urgent need of money to support his two young children*, who were in the care-of a charitable institution. , ' ' , Accused was placed on probation for two years.

ASSAULT IN THE STREET. A charge of having assaulted Thomas Marshbank, was preferred against Alfred Ernest Griffiths, aged 25. A constable stated he observed accused and Marshbank walking along the road. Without apparent provocation, accused struck the other man and knocked him down. „ , , Griffiths said the assault resulted from an argument which started in a restaurant. He alleged that Marshbank had thrown a spoon at him, and had then followed him in the street and continued to harass him. Mr. Poynton: He may have deserved what he got, but you should have complained to the police, if you were being Accused was convicted and discharged, r DRUNK AND DISORDERLY.

In answer to a charge of having been disorderly while drunk, Benjamin James Scott, aged 48, confessed to drunkenness but denied having acted in an objectionable manner. Constable Watts said ho saw accused challenging pedestrians to fight him, and acting in a threatening manner. Accused: Only a- bit of fun, I dinn t hurt anybody, did I? A sentence of seven day s imprisonment was imposed. REMAND TO WELLINGTON. Upon-a charge of having failed to maintain his wife, Kenneth Smith Minahavi, aged 48, was remanded to appear in Wellington next Monday.

; In the Police Court case heard on Fiiday, in which Rita May McLean sought to'have Ernest Harold McLean bound over to keep the peace,. Mr. Sullivan appeared for the wife, and not the husband,' as was previously stated. -