A CRAFTY CRIMINAL.

NZ Truth, Issue 218, 28 August 1909, Page 4

A CRAFTY CRIMINAL.

A RASCAL, ROGUE AND RECEIVER.

William John Noman's Sordid Greed.

A CONTEMPTIBLE CftEATUftE.

Censured By Mr Justice Chapman.

The champion thief and liar that this paper knows is William John Noman, expressman,- bt Wellington, who was presented by his Honor Justice Chapman with eighteen months' cold storage recently at the Supreme Court. • Noman the No-good can consider himself damn liidky that he got olr so light, as the manner m which lie attempted to incriminate two innocent men, Howard and Graham, duly, elects Jiiin. for the Liar Stakes and shows him to be the shyster that he is. Noman the Nark can also, m his meditations m his ceil m the Hydrdpaj tnic on the Terrace, dwell on the dastardly way m which „ HE CORRUPTED A "YOUTH called . John Philpott Wilson ( who was head storeman for Young's Chemical Co. and getting the overwhelming salary of £2 per week for his strenuous efforts oh behaK of the pill emporium. Noman the Nasty should also bury his head- m the sand over the despicable manner m which he tempted Charles . Kruse, ah elderly storeman m the employ of the Stewart Timber and (Glassware Company. Kiuse, like Wilson, succumbed to "this skunk's temptations and fell, and at his time of life it is too late to make a fresh start m the world; so the execrable expressman can consider himself the ptitrid cause 'of bringing down the grey hairs of a man who has had an irreproachable past iri sorrow to the grave. Frorii ithe evidence gathered m the Lower Court, Noman's method apparently has been to get his victims into his deT)t aha then pTess tnem for payment. If the poor devils were unatole to pay then Shylock . Npinari asked them for goods from their various stores m liquidation of his debt, and, these s"tores being obtained, he handed them to canvassers to sell, as Mr Justice Chapman pertinently pointed out, "for his own enrichment." Noman the Noxious has ruined two lives, and, m a way to be .expected from such as he, attempted .to ruin the. lives of two more to save iiis own dirty hide; but he fell m,, and was proved to he a rotten iiatr. To show what one of the roblred firms think of Nark Noman's yams, the case may he mentioned of William James Howard; cm T ployed by Stewart and Co. and accused on Noman's statement of stealing nails and iron. The case, which was solely built up on this thief's evidence, was bumped out by Beak Kidflell last week, and Howard was promptly reinstated m his billet. Noman was also proved a liar over the case of Hamilton Graham, whom He also accused of supplying him with iron. So rotten- was Noman's tissue Of falsehoods that the police aslcetl permission to withdraw the case. A further case of alleged theft of tools against Howard was also withikawti. 'the ; N6*goba is also evidently no new chiim at THE WAREHOUSE PILLAGING (JAMii!, as was elicited by Lawyer Meredith's . able , cross-examination of him m , th'e case, of Howard. This young lawyer ftanded A'oman tlie most uncomtortaßle 10 minutes -that he ever had m bis lile, • and , the informer was forced into some damnable admissions. The cases, of which) ] there are four, occupied the attention of Beak Riddell on Wednesday and Thursday of last Week, and are as follows :— NOMAN AND WILSON. John Philpott Wilson, for whbin Mr T. Wnford appeared, and William John Nanian, for whom Lawyer DiXj of the soft felt hat and specs., r appeared, were charged that between July 1 and August 1 they stole 32 bottles of emulsion value £6, 2s Sd,- 124 boxes Uuticura soap value £23 ss, 20 bottles lino's .!<'ruit S,alts value £3 11s 6d, 32 bottles Painkiller value. 29s 4d; * 1 bottle Steam's Wine value 3s 9d, 10 bottles 'Pink Pills value 24s 7dj .60 boxes Beecham's Piils value £3 7s 6d, 17 boxes Doaii's Pills yaliie £2 6s 9d, and other goods including some gallons of vinegar and a Keg of Cream of Tartar, the total value being £50 is lOd. Wilson pleaded guilty, and Ndnian pleaded guilty to receiving only. Sergeant Mathesori said he arrested the accused Noman, and he and Cop. Taylor went next day to his house and found a large quantity of Cuticura Soap and the other articles. The articles were under the bed. Witness asked accused to ac-^ count for his possession of the chemist shop, and lie made a statement and said he wished to make a full confession ■6E tlie matter. The confession, which was read out, stated that WiJson was m Noman's debt for borrowed money and paid it oil with goods stolen from Young's Chemical Co. Witness arrested Wilson the same day and he also made a statement to the effect that, lie had borrowed various . sums from Noman arid that when he could not pay Noman asked him to. get him the stolen, goods, including a box of pills for a young lady whom he had got into trouble. To Lawyer Wilford : Accused Wilson said, "This is a good job. My life has been hell since I got into Noman's clutches." Wilson told him the truth right out. L.aMrysr Wilford wan ted to put, through his Worship, the question as to whether the information given by Wilson was not instrumental towards Noman's other escapades being found out. Lawyer Dix objected. His Worship didn't think the question relevant. tiop. Taylor was with Sergeant Mathe- ; son when he arrested Noman and when the statement was taken down. " a " r [ . Alexander Lowe, manager- of .. Young's fchemical Company, said Wilson had been m his employ some two years. He was last c^'tino; £2 per week as a storeman. There were two storemen there. Wilson had to receive goods, store them, and see, that- they were delivered properly. Witness took stock. in. April and missed the ca?e of Cuticura Soap. Wilson was spoken to about the shortage, and he said he did not know what had become of it. - Accused Wilson, when charged, said, "I have been weak enough to be forced into Ibis." . „: i Nomon had nothing to say. Wilson made "no plea" on the advice of his solicitor, to see whether he could not plead under Section 4~4 of the Crimes Act, which deals with CRIMES COMMITTED UNDER COMPULSION. Both accused were remanded to the Supreme Court. NOMAN AND KRUSE. Charles Kruse, an elderly storeman at Stewart and Co.'s, and Noman were charged with the theft of 3£cwt. lead £4 19s 9(1, 1 D.13. Oil 15s, 1 P. Oil 14s 7d, 2S Yellow Ochre fls 4d, 28 Indian Kcd Bs, 28 Oxide 9s 4d, 4 tins Sienna 4s, 1 Ices » ails 14 s Gd, 281hs B. G-reen 9s 4d— Total value £9 3s lOd— Property of Svewart and Co., on March 1, 1909. Mr Wilford appeared for Kruse and entered a pica of not guilty. Lawyer Dix appeared for Noman. Sergeant Matheson gave evidence us to finiing the goods stolen In a room under Noman'i house. Witness asked Woman if

he could account for them being there and could not get any satisfaction irom tain. When out on bail Noman made a lull statement. In this confessio* Woman said he had purchased some potatoes, onions and other goods for kruse, who paid for them with the stolen goods and received £3 m cash as well. - .Witness then sent Cdp. Taylor for Kruse. W[hen he came witness read the statement to him and asked for an explanation. , kruse made the statement that Noman's statement was not by any means trile and that he had told a pack of lies. 'l'he only true part about it was that he had purchased %wa sacks of potatoes and 10016 of onions, which he had paid for. He had never supplied Noman with Stewart's goods. "In a further statement kruse admitted giving Nbman ' the goods,' but did not put them through the Books.Acciised 'intended to pay Stewart and Ob. for them when Noman paid ■ him. Evidence was also given by Cdp; Taylor and Herbert E. Wilson, secretary to t&S Stewari Timber Company; Kruse reserved his defence and wad committed for trial. Noman again pleaded guilty to rafelvitfg, but hot to theft, tie waS remanded to the Supreme Court: ■ NOMAN AND GRAHAM. - Hamilton Graham, expressman, and ftf(H man were next charged liat on " JUly 31, •1909, they stole 24 sheets of ' cbrrftgatet iron from Martin Kennedy's building m Manners-street. Graham pleaded not guilty, and was defended by Mr. Wiifofd. _ Sergt. Matlieson said .he had sent Cop. Taylor for accused GraTiam and READ OVER NOMAN'S STATEMENT to nirri, m which he said .he had purchased the iron from accused for 235. Accused niade a statement that he had purchased the iron frdm Messrs Dutch and Callaghan for £1. Inquiries elieiteji the fact that accused had not. bought tHe sheets 6f iron from them. J. J. Dutch, Carpenter for Martin Kennedy, gave evidence that at the end ol July he sbld soTne old iron to" accused for £1. Accused never purchased any hew sheets bf iron, ottly useless cuttings. To Mr Wilford : Used iron was always tailed old iron. The .sheets- Graham haa he bought frdfn witness. John Joseph Gallaghan, foreman ■ lot Martin Kennedy, said there were 244 sheets of new iron on the job m- Man-ners-street, and he could account for Z3B. In all jobs '.a few sheets wbuld be.ciit to waste. ,At this stage Sub-Inspector Norwood said the police did not desire to go any further with the case, and Graham Was discharged. NOMAN AND HOWARD, William James Howard, storeman at the Stewart Timber Co., was' next charged yrith Noman with the theft of one keg of lead-headed sails and seventeen sheets of flat iron, valued at £5 15s, the' Brer perty of the Stewart Timber Co. Howard pleaded not guilty, and Lawyer Meredith' kept his end of the sticK Mp. Ndriiah th'e coward pleaded guilty ■to receiving dnly. ' Sergt. Matheson said that Nbmati niade a statement saying that he had purchased the Keg bf nails frbin Howard fflr-12s. There was no one present at the time. When shbwii the statenieiit Howard said he did not know anything about it; Ho* ward afttetwSfds said he had glvefe a few old sbeets of packing iron to accused Noman. L ; • ' Cbp. Taylor gave evidence of Bavifig found the iron at Neman's house. ' Thetis were 24 sheets altogether. To Mr Meredith :. Only live sheets were branded Calex. Gould not say .what the others were, But they were of inferior quality. - v Noman gave evidence as id going fd Stewart and Co. to ask the pric<s tff hails, and the accused Howard placing the keg on his express. In the course of a few days Howard came and asked him for 12s, and said it would be all right. Witness also w"ent to Howard to ptiee some iron, and Howard gave him 17 sheets of damaged flat iron. There was no mention bf payhieiii. To Mr Meredith : Never had any trouble with siieak thieving before. He admitted havihg had trouble with the Jafrah Timber Co. over a load of timßer, but fiafl paid for it after. ' Was not accused bf stealing ah extra sack of • potatoes from Thomas aiid Co* Admitted he was ordered out of the yard by Mr Stewart; but it was riot for stealing nails. J. Watson, acting Secretary of thS Stewart Tirilbet Cb., said HdWtird was a storem&h with his firm. Could hot itiefitify the keg of nails. Went to Notriian's house and saw a shed there with 17 sheets of flat iron, and identified t^'d sheets branded Calex, which must have coihe from his Company at one time. For the defence, accused Howard elected to give evidencie On His own behalf. He said he was a stdremuh at Stewart and Co., and knew accused Noman. .Nbman's evidence was riot correct. Ngver gave him any nails or iron marked Calex, and when he said witness did he was lying. Witness , gave Ndriian some did' iron pacting, and had sortie to others aS Well. This iron was generally sent to the tip as it was not saleable. 'It was witness' duty to clear the store of this old iron. To Inspector Norwood : Wheh Noiflan said he gave witness 12s for the nails he Was lying. Mr Riddell said, m his opinion, there was not sufficient evidence to convict accused Howard, ami THE' CASE WOULD BE DISMISSED against- him. He proposed to treat /this case as an isolated one from the others against Noman. He Would convicjh ««v cused and fine him £3 m default 14 days ; 48 hours were, allowed m which to pay the .fine. A further charge .of Iheft of tools against Howard was withdrawn by the police. Kruse, Wilson, and Nomari all came before. Mr Justice Chapman on Tuesday. Kruse 's case was held over to a future date, and both the other accused pleaded guilty, the latter to receiving. Mr Wilford called Harold Bernard Oakes and Frederick Holds worth to testify as to Wilson's good character, an* also produced a letter from Young '^ Chemical Co. for his benefit. He asked the. Court to treat Wilson leniently. His Honor said he would consider Wilson's case, and remanded him. Mr P. J. O'Regan appeared fpr Noman, and endeavored to paint his client a bright white color, and when he had finished Noman looked like a washed statue. • Honor, m dealing with Noman, declared that he would be quite, failing m his duty to society if he did not inflict a. somewhat severe sentence on Noman. If Noman had had previous convictions, the penalty would have been more severe. Tlie Court had before them a string of crimes which could not have occurred Without- Noman's aid. He considered Noman the real author of these crimes. The prisoner had taken advantage of his calling and the weakness of his associates and had systematically enriched himself by the thefts. He had no necessity for doing so, as on prisoner's counsel's showing he was a man of some little means. ' Prisoner would be sentenced to IS months' imprisonment on the two charaes, seateaoea to bt coacurceat,