CITY POLICE COURT

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21361, 15 June 1931, Page 4

CITY POLICE COURT

Saturday, June 13. (Before Mr J. R. Bartholomew, S.M.) THEFT OP COAL. A man whose name was suppressed pleaded guilty to the theft of a quantity of coal, valued at Is, the property of the Railway Department.—Senior Sergeant Cameron stated that the man was making a voluntary appearance. 'There had been a number of complaints from coal dealers about the theft of coal from trucks at the Pelichet Bay siding, A watch was kept and the accused was seen filling a sack from one of the trucks. On being taxed with the offence ho frankly admitted it. He was in dire circumstances, for he was receiving 37s 6d a week on relief works, out of which he had to- pay fl per week rent and support a family of six. He seemed to have been driven to commit the offence, and the police did not wish to press for a penalty.—The accused said he had a sick child and had. to get a fire, so he went down to the yards and helped himself. He had never stolen before. The Charitable Aid Board could do nothing to help him and he could not get anything to do.—The magistrate said that the circumstances of the case were distressing and he did not wish to enter a conviction against the man. The charge would be dismissed. At the same time, however, a warning must be given that thefts of this sort must be checked, and, further, that the treatment of this particular case did not establish a precedent. FALSE PRETENCES.

An elderly man named John M‘Dowell pleaded guilty to a charge of obtaining the sum of £1 from George Albert Skene by falsely representing that he had £4O in the Post Office Savings Bank, and also to two breaches of his prohibition order.—Chief Detective Quartermain said that M'Dowell went to Skene’s shop and ordered four pullets to be sent to his mother’s address. He then found that he had no money with him and showed Skene a bank book with £4O credit in it. On the face of this he also asked for a loan of £l, which Skene advanced. Inquiries were made and it was found that this book had been reported as lost and that the accused had withdrawn the whole of , the £4O. Drink was his chief trouble. —The magistrate said that the accused had a warning from the court quite recently and did not profit by it. On the charge of false pretences he would be sentenced to one month’s imprisonment, and he would be fined 10s and costs on each of the breaches of his prohibition order. A REMAND GRANTED. A young man named Arthur Gavan was charged with breaking and entering by night the warehouse of Charles Tucker and stealing goods valued at £175. The accused was represented by Mr White. —On the application of Chief Detective Quartermain the accused was remanded until Friday.