SENTENCE PASSED

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22578, 17 November 1936, Page 12

SENTENCE PASSED

BURGLARY AND THEFT FIVE CASES DEALT WITH BOY'S BAD BEGINNING TWO YEARS* DETENTION

Five liirn who had admitted charges of theft were sentenced liv Mr. Justice Fair in the Supremo Court yesterday. I n four of these eases tho thefts wore associated with the crime ot breaking and entering. Mr. !!. Meredith appeared for the Crown. There were seven charges of theft and breaking and entering against John Graham Hedley, aged 17, lor whom Mr. Noble appeared. Mr. Noble said the only thing ho could urge on accused's behalf was his extreme youth and inexperience. Ho got out of employment and conceived the idea of leading his parents to believe that ho was still working and getting overtime. From the proceeds of these robberies ho paid them board. The very success of his ventures was his downfall. His Honor said the offences were committed while accused was on probation from .May 2 last on two charges of false pretences. He agreed with the probation officer that it was not desirable in the lad's own interests that he should be admitted to probation again. He required to be subjected to further discipline than his parents were able to exercise, otherwise ho seemed likely to develop into a professional thief. He would bo ordered to be detained in a Borstal institution for a term of two years. Thefts at Whangarei A few statements were made on his own behalf by Victor Caldwell, of Whangarei, aged 27,- baker and pastrycook, who came up for scntenco on a charge of breaking and entering and four charges of theft. Ho had been sentenced in the Whangarei Police Court to six months' imprisonment on 37 charges, almost all of theft. "I do not know what made nio go wrong," he said to His Honor. "1 am very unfortunate." Ho had boon heavily in debt when ho came up from the South, lie said, but ho had been earning in Whangarei. Ho referred to his wife's illness. His Honor said tho explanation Caldwell had offered was really 110 excuse for the crimes he had committed. He would bo sentenced to 12 mouths' imprisonment, to bo concurrent with tliQ six months' sentence already imposed on him. Record Not Good On behalf of Francis Halligan, who had admitted three charges of theft involving £75, Mr. Aekins said that accused was 39 years of age, and came out of prison last February. He was in a public works camp and then eamo to Auckland to look for his mother. He commenced drinking and it was then that these offences occurred. In one case ho took several not negotiable cheques, and seemed to have bad no difficulty in getting them cashed. If these people had taken ordinary precautions they would not have been cashed. His Honor: He cannot excuse himself by saying somebody else should have been more careful after he had stolen the cheques. His Honor said that accused was still on licence when these thefts were committed. He had a bad record though offences of more than five years ago would be disregarded. Ho would bo sentenced to nine months' imprisonment with hard labour. Stores Broken Into A Maori from Kaitaia, Selwyn Hayward or Horewini, came up for sentence for breaking into a store and stealing from it. He was not defended and had nothing to say. His Honor said that though he was a young man accused already had a had record. He had been committed to a Borstal institution for throe years, and his term expired on June 16 last. His detention did not seem to have impressed on him the necessity for observing the law. He would be sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment. A Maori labourer, aged 21, Charles Howard, had admitted two charges of breaking into shops by night and theft. He is also awaiting sentence in the Police Court on five charges of theft. Howard, who was not represented by counsel, admitted to His Honor that in 1932 he had been sentenced to three years' reformative detention for theft. His Honor said that Howard had been given a chanco to correct his habits and live an honest life, but it seemed he preferred a life of dishonesty. The report on his character was not good, and he would be sentenced to nino months' imprisonment with hard labour.