WIFE SWOONS IN DOCK

NZ Truth, Issue 1044, 28 November 1925, Page 10

WIFE SWOONS IN DOCK

A RAILWAYS THEFT Crime Brings Shame Into A Home (From "Truth's" "Wanganui Representative.) Some employments, touching on the transport and handling of goods, are full of temptatian; and for that reason punishment is relentless, even though domestic tragedy ensue. So it is with mixed feelings that the public will regard the^ spectacle presented by a Taihape railwayman and his wife m the criminal dock at Wanganui.

After serving the Government on the railways for twenty years, William George Hagan, a guard, appeared with his wife to answer charges (stealing and receiving) concerning 23 pairs of camel-hair slippers. / There was a good representation of the .Taihape police force, and a fajr gathering of the railway staff. A lengthy case, boiled down, amounted to this: That when suspicion fell upon the unfortunate guard, a search warrant was executed. Three pairs of slippers were found m a box* at his house. , These Mrs. Hagan stated she had purchased m Christchurch. A fourth pair was discovered elsewhere, anc] these Mrs. Hagan stated she had purchased m Palmerston North. Unfortunately, m neither case, ■could Mrs. Hagan give the location of the shop and Hagan's explanations were also unsatisfactory. The slippers were put on a wagon at Auckland on May 11. The wagon was sealed. More goods were added to the wagon at Ohakune, when it was resealed, and Hagan had charge of the train. On the morning of May 13 the slip.pers were missed from the wagon m Taihape yard after the wagon had remained there one night. The seal had been broken.

The original Auckland seal had been discovered m the yard two days later. A porter, Colin A. Sainsbury, testified that it was sometimes the practice at Taihape for wagons to be' worked by carriers. He had seen carriers break the seals, but that was not a general practice. / After hearing the evidence of Constable King and Sergeant Dan O'Neill, the jury returned a verdict of guilty of receiving three pairs of slippers against the unfortunate guard and his' wife. Lawyer Jim Hussey" appealed for leniency and told how Hagan had been a good servant of the Department for 20 years. His wife cared for a young family of five. His Honor • Mr. Justice Ostler, m passing sentence, said that the Railways Department had experienced a good deal of trouble on the Taihape bection m regard to systematic thefts. He then sentenced Hagan to twelve months' imprisonment and committed the wife to probation for one year. On hearing the sentence the wife swooned and had to be assisted from the dock.