BOARDING HOUSE THEFT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19195, 8 December 1925, Page 6

BOARDING HOUSE THEFT.

MAN HIDES IN BATHROOM. THREE DAYS' IMPRISONMENT. " There has been a good deal of thieving from hotel rooms lately, but since accused was arrested we have not had one case," said Chief-Dectective C-ummings in the Police Court yesterday when Hugh McCulloch, aged 29, denied stealing a brush valued at Is 6d from the People's Palace. An officer of the Salvation Army said he saw a man disappear into a bathroom on one of the residential floors. Early in the morning witness had been warned, and tried to follow the man but the door had a weight against it. He eventually gained admission and finding the man was not a boarder called the police. Accused said he was looking for someone who, he thought, resided on the premises. Detective Moon said he saw accused, who gave his name as Herbert Jones, but could not give any satisfactory explanation concerning his presence in the building. Papers were found on him signed " Hugh McCulloch," and accused finally admitted his identity. The nrush was found in his possession and he had been drinking but was not under the influence of liquor. Accused: I am not a thief by any means. I do not know how I came to get the brush and did not know I had it until we got to the police station.

The chief detective said accused admitted he had been before the Court for drunkenness, but further inquiries were made, and it was found he had appeared in Christehurch for drunkenness and had been convicted for vagrancy. He was found under similar circumstances in a room in an hotel there. He had also been fined £lO for using obscene language. Accused: I have never been out of a iob, and there is no necessity for me to steal. The magistrate, Mr. Poynton, passed sentence of three davs' hard labour.