THEFT OF CAR

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23060, 10 June 1938, Page 17

THEFT OF CAR

LABOURER PLEADS GUILTY TRAVELLED 9000 MILES A labourer, Darcy Ronald Growden, aged 23, pleaded guilty to stealing a motor-car, valued at £220, the property of Allan John St. Clair Brown, on March 6, when he appeared in the Police Court yesterday. The complainant in evidence stated that his car was removed while parked in O'Connell Street on the night of March 6. He had left the ignition key in the lock. When he again saw the car on May 21, the body was damaged and the spare wheel was missing. The car had travelled about 9000 miles since it was stolen. Detective W. E. Turgis said he stopped accused while driving the car on the night of May 20. On the way to' the detectivo office, accused said he had made a mess of it this time and that he deserved all that was coming to him after what had happened before.

In a statement accused had said that he had been to the pictures in tho city on the night of March 6 and he had been in a hurry to return home. The car had been driven to Brown's Bay, where the number plates were removed, and some from a car owned by accused's brother were substituted. Accused had been using the car to travel between Auckland and Penrose, where his brother was working. He had told his brother that ho had hired tho car from a friend. Accused was committed to tho Supremo Court for sentence.