TRIAL FOR THEFT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20481, 5 February 1930, Page 14

TRIAL FOR THEFT.

METAL FROM WAREHOUSE.

CHARGES AGAINST THREE MEN. SUSPICIONS OF PURCHASERS. The disappearance of a considerable quantity of metal from an engineering establishment in tho city and the suspicions of a dealer to whom part of it was sold led to the trial of three men in the Supreme Court yesterday, before Mr. Justice Smith and a jury. Edward Richard Black,. David Todd and Rudolph Allan were charged jointly with having, on or about January 11, broken into the warehouse of T. Y. Masefield, Chapel Square, and stolen metal valued at £BO. Alternatively, they were charged with stealing the metal, and with receiving stolen property. Mr. Hubble, Assistant-Crown Prosecutor, conducted the prosecution. Mr. Noble appeared for Black and Todd, and Mr. Dickson for Allan.

Mr. Hubble said that tho prosecution belioved that two of the accused obtained the metal from the owner's premises, and, after failing to dispose of it to a dealer, who was suspicious, they handed it to Allan, who made a sale with an Edendale dealer, who, however, was not satisfied that it had been honestly obtained. In connection with his payment by cheque ho set a trap in order that tho offenders might bo caught. Total Loss ol £2OO. Allan had given a statement to the police in which he said that while hawking fruit and vegetables at Newmarket he encountered two men who were having difficulty with the engine of a lorry. He agreed to their offer that for £1 he should tako the metal on their lorry and sell it for them at Edendale. He presented the cheque given in payment, but found that payment had been stopped. He was to see tho two men outside the bank and give thorn the money, but was unable to find them. Ho did not know thoir names and addresses. When selling tho metal ho described him'salf as Barney Clark, of Ardmore Road, because the man who gave him tho metal had said that that was his name and address. T. V. Masefield said that late on Mon,day, January 13, ho noticed that a propeller was" missing from his premises, and on making a more detailed examination found indications of entry having been gained through a window, and that a large quantity of scrap metal and other articles were missing. A small cast-iron propeller had been put in the place of the gun-metal one which was missing. Ho was still making discoveries of metal being missing. He estimated his total loss at £2OO, although he could not say that all this applied to the date with which this case was concerned. Identification of Property.

On the day following his first discovery of loss he went with Detective-Sergeant Martin to a dealer's premises at Edendale and identified a considerable quantity of his property. On January 16 he identified further articles at 109, Cook Street, whero the accused Black lived. Among the articles found at Edendale were somo metal plates stamped with the name " Mascfield." . ~ In * reply to Mr. Dickson, witness said that two or three men would require at least several hours in which to remove the quantity of metal goods which he nad

! lost. , , Mr. Noble cross-examined with the object of showing that none of the articles found at Black's place bore marks by which witness could identity them beyond doubt. F. W. Hayes, waste products merchant, Newmarket, said that he had had dealings with Black and Todd, the latter being known to him by the name of Stevens. On the morning of January 13 they arrived on a motor-truck and offered him six or seven sacks full of metal. He did not do any business with them then, telling them that he "did not like it." Evidence ol Purchaser. Edward George Maynall, dealer, Edendale, said that early in the afternoon of January 13 Allan (who gave liis name as Clark) arrived with a horse and cart to sell 7801b. of scrap metal, for which he asked 4£d per lb. It was in the cart in bags. Witness agreed to pay 4d per lb. and gave a cheque for £lO 14s 2d, post-dated one day. After filling in a form to stop payment of the cheque he proceeded to the tram terminus, and saw Allan's cart alongside a half-ton lorry, on which were Black and Todd. Witness communicated with the police and his bank by telephone. He then went into the city and, near the bank, saw Allan hand the cheque to Todd. Allan obtained another cheque on the following day, but witness stopped payment of that also. In reply to Mr. Noble,' witness said that when he suspected, from the nature of some of the articles, that tho metal had been stolen, he gave Allan a post- , dated cheque, because he knew that ho 'would not have committed the theft and that there must bo someone else in it. ilf Allan had not taken a chequo he would not have been paid in cash. Detective-Sergeant J. Martin said that he approached Allan in< tho street on January 14, when lie appeared to be arguing with Maynall about a cheque. Allan explained that he had sold metal and received two cheques, both of which had been refused payment. He said that his name was Barney Clark. After being ! told that witness had reason to believe that tho metal had been stolen, he made the statement referred to by the Crown Prosecutor, but refused to sign it. Witness' subsequent visit to 100, , Street, was tho result of a tour of the Freeman's Bay area with Maynall, who saw outside the house in question a motortruck which ho identified as the one he had seen beside Allan's cart at tho Edendale tram terminus. Black admitted , that the lorry was his. Both ho and Todd denied that they had been at the | Edendale terminus on January 13, or that they had been together at all on that day. Allarf Adheres to Statement. Mr. Dickson, in opening the defence for Allan, said that no evidence had been offered to connect his client with tho alleged burglary or theft. His connection" with the sale of the inelal was as sr-t out in his statement to tho police. The lorry was loft at the foot of the incline leading up to Maynall s place because it was not running right. Allan believed that the other two men were carrying out a bona-fido transaction. There was no question of his trying to conceal his true identity from Maynall, to whom ho was known. His atlitudo in regard to the cheques was not that of a guilty man. Allan gave cviderico on his own behalf. Ho said that he had been occupied in Auckland as a hawker for about 30 years. Cross-examined, accused admitted that at that time he know Black by name and knew where ho resided. It was Black who asked him to sell the metal. Ho . Tod(1 as (ho man with Black. I ihe Court adjourned until this morninS-