OLD BOYS' BANQUET

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21505, 31 May 1933, Page 10

OLD BOYS' BANQUET

liquor selling charge WAITAKI SCHOOL JUBILEE ■ SECRETARY FINED £l2 JO 3 COMMENTS OF MAGISTRATE [BT TELEGRAPH —PRESS ASSOCIATION] OAMARIT. TuesdayA case arising out of the "Waitaki Boys' High School jubilee celebrations was hcarcl in the Police Court to-day, when Alfred Charles Piper, secretary of the Waitaki Old Boys' Association, was charged with illegally selling liquor. The magistrate was Mr. H. \V. Bundle. Ifc was stated that the school's jubilee celebrations included a banquet and smoke concert, held on .May 13. Liquor was supplied and consumed. Ail. mission was by ticket, for which a charge was made. A search warrant was executed by the police and a quantity of liquor was seized. The facts as submitted by Sergeant Hall were admitted by counsel for defondant, Mr. Zimmerman, who said the function was strictly controlled and there was no suggestion of excessive drinking. By no stretch of imagination could it be "said to be a sale in the ordinary sense, as there was no idea of personal profit or gain. Piper was the innocent instrument of the old boys' committee. Counsel said he advanced these facts as mitigating circumstances and asked for leniency, as the offence, although serious, might be reduced to a trivial one in the circumstances. Mr. Bundle, in entering a said in a licensed district the position would have been the same, as an offence would have been committed by the sale of tickets. It might be a proper ease, for exemption, but that- was not question for the Court, but for the Legislature. Everything was conducted according to the best traditions of the school. He regretted he was unable to fix ai nominal penalty. Piper was fined £l2 10s and costs, and an order was mado for the confiscation and destruction of the liquor seized. On the application of counsel, the conviction was entered against Piper as secretary of the Old Boys' Association,; and not as an individual.