CITY POLICE COURT

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21984, 20 June 1933, Page 2

CITY POLICE COURT

Monday, June 19. (Before Mr H. W. Bundle, S.M.) DRUNKENNESS. Two first offenders, charged with drunkenness, were respectively lined 20s. in default 48 hours’ imprisonment, and 2s 6d, in default 24 hours’ imprisonment. Alfred James Boyes pleaded guilty to charges of drunkenness, and procuring liquor during the currency of a prohibition order.—On each charge be was convicted and ordered to come up for sentence when called on. MAINTENANCE. Alfred Edward Pauley was charged with disobedience of a maintenance order tbe arrears on which amounted to £34 10s. The defendant applied for a reduction of the order.—After hearing evidence by the defendant, the magistrate, remarking that the defendant did not deserve any consideration, refused to reduce the order, but remitted the arrears. THEFT OF OVERCOAT.

Kenneth Morrison pleaded guilty to having stolen an overcoat, valued at £0 Gs, the property of Russell Howard Stewart. —Chief Detective Young stated that the accused met the complainant at an hotel in Wellingtou, and was in the habit of visiting his room. On May 22, he went to the room in the complainant’s absence and stole the coat, eventually going to the police station with the complainant to report its loss. Nothing further was heard of the coat until recently when it was located in Dunedin, the accused returning it to its owner. The accused, who was 21 years of age, had done no work for three years, and was apparently a rolling stone. —A remand was granted until June 26 to allow the probation officer to submit a report, bail being allowed in the accused’s own recognisance of £25, conditional on his reporting daily to the police. BOND SALESMAN CHARGED.

Robert James Linkston was charged with having received from John M'Onie the sum of £ll4 on terms requiring him to account for it to the New Zealand Tung Oil Corporation, Auckland, and fraudulently committing it to his own use, thereby committing theft.—Mr C. A. Hamer represented the accused.—John M'Onie, an engineer, said that about the end of March of the present year he had a conversation with the accused regarding Tung Oil bonds, and as a result he purchased four £3O bonds on April 7, paying the clerk in the local office £ll4 in cash. On his receipt it was stated that he would receive an official receipt from the head office at Auckland, and as, after six weeks had elapsed, this document was not forthcoming, he called at; the Dunedin office of the company. A few days later the accused called at his home, and after apologising for not having forwarded witness’s payment, stated that he was making an attempt to do something for him, and that he might, by holding the payment, bo able to get him some “ pickings.” Witness naturally imagined that when ho paid over his cash he would get his bonds almost immediately, but so far be had received no acknowledgment from the Auckland office. —Kathleen Curran, a clerk in the employ of the Tung Oil Corporation’s Dunedin office, gave evidence that from March 27 to June 2 she was employed by the accused Linkston and not by the company. She remembered the previous witness signing an application for four of the company's bonds and paying £ll4 in cash for which she gave him an interim receipt. Such receipts were made out in triplicate, the original going to the person paying the money, the second being sent to head office, and the third being kept for record purposes. To her knowledge, the company had no banking account in Dunedin, and she paid the amount into the accused’s account. It was no part of her duty to forward any documents in connection with the sale of bonds to Auckland; this was left to the accused. After the witness M'Onie called on the second occasion at the office, witness mentioned the matter to the accused, who said that he would see about it. Subsequently the Christchurch manager of the company came to Dunedin and forwarded M'Onie’s application to Auckland; and witness could say that neither the application nor the duplicate receipt had been forwarded by the accused.—Detective Sergeant Nuttall gave evidence of having on June 12 interviewed the accused, who admitted having received the £ll4 from M'Onie, and used it for Ins own purposes. He also admitted that the head office of the company knew nothing of the transaction. _ He then made a statement acknowledging that he had no right to use the money, and giving full details of the offence—The accused pleaded guilty and was committed to the Supreme Court for sentence, hail being allowed in his own recognisance of £-UU and one surety of a like amount or two of £IOO, conditional on his reporting daily to the police.