£100 PENALTY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22618, 5 January 1937, Page 13

£IOO PENALTY

BOOKMAKER IN COURT PROTEST AGAINST THE LAW ACCUSED SPEAKS FROM DOCK A protest against the gaming laws and an assertion that he intended to continue fighting to have bookmakers registered were made in the Police Court yesterday by Arthur George Williams, tobacconist, aged 41, who admitted a charge of using his business premises at 65 Pitt Street as a common gaming house. Detective-Sergeant, McHugh said that as a result of complaints received, a search warrant was obtained after the necessary evidence had been gathered, and detectives visited accused's tobacconist shop on Saturday afternoon. They found him behind the counter taking bets. Confirmation slips showed he had accepted 61 that day for £l2 ss, consisting mostly of bets from 2s Gd to ss, with a few at 10s. The betting was on races all over New Zealand. Fairly Large Business i "Accused is a member of the Book- ! makers' Association and carries on j business in a fairly large way," conj tinned Mr. McHugh. "He frankly adJ mitted that he was a bookmaker. Ho i wan previously before the Court in I January, 1935, when he was lined £3O I for a similar offence, and he was coni victed a second time last November, i when he was fined £75." ! When asked if he had anything to ! say, accused requested an adjournment ' to give him time to communicate with | his solicitor. The magistrate, Mr. C. P. ; Orr Walker, pointed out that accused had pleaded guilty and that he was ! entitled to say anything a solicitor j would tell the Court. "It may seem unusual what 1 am i going to say," accused said, "but with | my experience I have nothing against ! the police, who have carried out their ! duties as gentlemen. It is the logislaI tion on the Statute Book that is to j blame for my appearance here to-day. | I admit that I belong to the BookI makers' Association, and 1 am not ashamed of it, for I am still going to fight to get bookmakers registered and become a respected citizen. Any organisation that operates because the public demands it provides a service that should lie legal. The police have no say as to whom they will pick up, so I protest against the rotten laws on the Statute Book." The Magistrate: This is hardlv the place to do that. The law lias been on the Statute Book for many years, and it is still there. Choice of Gaol Accused: At my time of life I am not going to "squib." I am not going to pay a fine. I will go to gaol as a protest against the legislation. If some of my colleagues now on a pedestal had not "ratted" the legislation would not be there. "But the legislation is there, and I have nothing further to do with it other than to carry it out," said the magistrate. "You have deliberately flouted the law, and are still going on with an illegal business. The maximum penalty is a fine of £IOO or three months' imprisonment. 1 do not propose to give accused a term of imprisonment, but 1 see no reason why the fine should be reduced. He is fined £IOO and costs, 10s, and the default will be fixed in the ordinary way." Accused requested to be allowed time for payment of the fine and the magistrate remarked: "1 understood you did not want time except in gaol." Seven davs' grace was granted for payment. An elderly salesman, Thomas Henry Bell, admitted a charge of being found unlawfully on accused's premises, and was fined £2 and costs, 10s.