POSTAL OFFICER DETAINS PACKAGES

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 7302, 5 December 1910, Page 1

POSTAL OFFICER DETAINS PACKAGES

' ■ LAZINESS THE CAUSE A NAEEOW ESCAPE F1.0.M PEXSOX. Put for a significant fact being brought under the notice of Mr Justice Chapman, in the Supremo Court on Saturday when he had expressed emphatic opinions upon, the conduct of Cecil I: Stanley Chaplin, a youth, for wilfully; detaining, postal packages, prisoner would probably hard been sentenced to a term of imprisonment. Mr 11. O'Leary had applied foriproba-; tion on the ground of ■ the peculiar character of the case, as prisoner could not mave benefited by . detaining ' the packages. Of the "packages detained, 96, consisted of newspapers and .circulars/ Six of the seven letters found had ; been cleared by accused from’ a letter,' box two days before his arrest, and he had overlooked them. The only suggestion,tliat Jie had -intended , to benefit by detaining the parcels could only come from the fact that he bad one containing ladies gloves and kept it in his possession It seemed to be a case in ivhich accused found, himself ■ in the court through laziness. He had been top lazy to delive the packages which he had detained.

Mr Hr H, Ostler, on behalf 4 of the Crown, intimated that no tiling* was known : against prisoner’s character previously. 4 : His Honor said that the difficulty about the case—and one. which had: lir,-. pressed itself on the other judges—was that innocent persons might get into; trouble through, such conduct. There was nothing that spread suspision quicker than this kind of thing. “1 am sorry," he continued, “that X cannot accedo to the request to admit you to probationvery sorry indeed—but the circumstances are such that it would be wrong on my part to,do so The offence of which you have been convicted is a very, serious one. If X ,could : accept the, : explanation that there; was no element of rishonesty in it, I might take: a different view of it, but the-misappropriation , of the contents o fone'.package is.admitted. X cannot regard that -as otherwise than;, a very serious item to be 1 considered, when looking at your whole conduct., It is true that O’ou are not charged with stealing, but, you are charged with ,’wil- : fully detaining a number of packages. You had some object—though it isidifficult to see, what that: object was—and vou not only detained the package' but' i you made away with it; , Somebody else might have: got into trouble over ;.thaf, and "that is why it'is- very difficult: indeed to admit to probation anyone who is convicted : oh, suo ban .offence as this. Mr Ostler:. The gloves were: not gone. The parcel had been opened‘but ‘ the gloves were-still the’re. 5 ■ His Honor: I did not understand that explanation from the depositions. In these circumstances ,it may be that your case can he differently, dealt with. ; A s '. there is a doubt as to whether there-was any dishonest intention I will - assume that this ■ putting,;, away of the . parcels, not of very high value, was dbnenvithout dishonest intention and’:was an,' irregularity, -in these circumstances I ; think I can- see ray way, to abstain from .imprisoning ybu at, present, but, let me tell you tliis: In a . ease, recently .an which I ordered a young man to-, come, up for sentence when , called- upon lie misbehaved 'himself, and' .1 ordered him to bo brought before tho. court and I sentenced-bint. On this charge X shall not admit ou to .probation.■ : It - ..wi1l hang over you. If you are convicted; of any crime of .dishonesty, or if you are disreputable,' though :you' might;;not be guiltv of any crime of dishonesty,.: : you■ will "be brought before the court , and sentenced . on; this .charge. --1 alii .not sure that I am not straining a - point considerably in doing, this, but I am extremely reluctant, to send a youny man to prison, and the only thing that - enables mo to abstain from doing so on this occasion is that the circumstances of this case are peculiar, as they admit of a'doubt as to whether you had any dishonest intention",• .. , - ; ■Prisoner was ordered to come up lor sentence when .called,upon, and directed to pay £5 towards the costs' ■ot the i poseoution. ; .r:';' '