CITY POLICE COURT

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22066, 23 September 1933, Page 21

CITY POLICE COURT

Fbidat, September 22. (Before Mr H. W. Bundle, ,S.M.) THEFT FROM MOTOR CARS. ' A returned soldier, who was represented by Mr C. A. Hamer, appeared for sentence on two charges of theft from motor cars.—Mr Hamer stated that the probation officer’s report showed that the accused bad previously borne a good character. His action was due to the effects of war injuries. When he bad drink he lost control of himself. If he were convicted he would lose part of bis pension, but counsel believed that some form of supervision was necessary.—Chief Detective Young said that in respect of one offence the accused was caught in the act, a constable having seen him after he had pawmed some articles. It was not until the second charge was sheeted home to him that he admitted it.—The magistrate stated that the circumstances were such that, were the man normal, he would have no hesitation in imposing a deterrent sentence, but the reports all showed that the accused had suffered a severe head injury when on active service. Considering all the facts and the opinion of a doctor that if the accused abstained from liquor he would be quite normal, the case would be adjourned for two years, the podice to have the right to bring it forward at any time. Conditions were that the accused would be prohibited, that he would submit to medical examination monthly, and that he make restitution of £3 10s, A FALSE STATEMENT.

Frederick William Ozanne pleaded guilty to a charge of making a false statement for the purpose of obtaining a benefit under the Unemployment Act. — The chief detective said that the accused, had failed to disclose the fact that he was doing intermittent work. As a result he had received £lB more than he would otherwise have been given. Since this had been discovered he had been allowed only one day’s work a week, and was receiving only 8g to keep himself and his wife. He had been sufficiently punished. —The accused was convicted and ordered to come up for sentence if called upon within 12 months, THEFT BY SERVANT.

A girl 20 years of age pleaded guilty to a charge of stealing a purse, a string of beads, and £4 in money, of a total value of £4 8s Cd, the property of her employer.—Chief Detective ' Young Said that the accused was employed by the complainant as a domestic servant. In the absence of the complainant’s wife the accused was recently left in charge of the house, and when the complainant returned home from work she? asked him if a visitor had been expected. She stated that she left the house for a short time and came back to find a woman sitting inside. The complainant’s wife, on her return,_ said that no one had been expected. Suspicions were aroused, and when a search was made it was found that the money and the articles mentioned in the charge were missing. A detective who wae_ called in regarded the accused's explanation as unsatisfactory, and when she was interviewed she made a statement admitting that she had been responsible for the thefts. The money was returned, but she stated that she had burnt the purse. Her employers were prepared to retain her services.—The case was adjourned until Monday so that a report could be submitted by the probation officers. Publication of the defendant’s name was prohibited in the meantime. WIRELESS REGULATIONS. Richard Murdoch pleaded guilty to a charge of having wireless apparatus for sale without a license.--Sub-inspector Cameron said that the defendant purchased four sets, two of which had been traced. These offences were difficult to detect, and the Telegraph Department pressed for a substantial penalty.—The defendant said that two sets were taken over by relatives, and he made a. profit of only £1 on each of the others. One had broken down, and he had been put to considerable expense. He was on relief work.—-A fine of 20s and costs (10s) was imposed. _ On charges of having unlicensed wireless sets in their possession, the following defendants were each fined 6s and costs (10s): —John Desmond Clark, Alexander Luskie, Isaac M'Queen, J°ho Oaten, Noel Redden, Clemens Schlaadt, Edward Scott, William Orr Smellie, and Henry Woodger. On a similar charge James Maddon Caley was fined 5s without costs. CHIMNEY FIRES. On charges of allowing chimneys to catch fire Samuel Henry Barnes, Frank William Barnett, and William Walter Fraser were each fined 5s and costs (10s), LICENSING ACT CASES. Alfred James Boyes, for whom Mr B. S. Irwin appeared, pleaded guilty to charges of procuring liquor while prohibited and being unlawfully on licensed premises.—The defendant was fined court costs (10s) on the first charge and was convicted and discharged on the other. Stephen Boreham pleaded not guilty to a charge of being unlawfully, on licensed E remises.—After the evidence had been card the.magistrate said that with some diffidence he would accept the defendant’s story that he was invited into the hotel by a member of a visiting football team. The information would be dismissed. TRAFFIC BY-LAW CASES. Henry Evans Edward Scott was fined 30s and coats (3s) on a charge of dangerous driving. Ernest J. Hope was merely convicted on a charge of driving a public motor car without having produced a medical certificate.

For cutting a corner John Charles O’Brien.was fined 20s and costs (10s). . “ BRUTAL AND COWARDLY ACT." George Joseph Donaldson, for whom Mr I. B. Stevenson appeared, pleaded not guilty to a charge of cruelly kicking a cat. —Harold Stanley Keen, of Grosvenor street, said that as a result of what he was told by his children he went to the defendant’s house and asked for his eat. The defendant said that he had seen two cats_ but did not have one in his possession. Later witness inspected a post and found blood and fur on it.— Clifford Keen, aged 12, said that he last saw the kitten near- Donaldson’s house. Donaldson walked up to it and kicked it twice along the ground to the Other side of the road, where struck a post. He then picked it up and took it info his house. —Margaret Chiswell also said that she saw the defendant kick the cat. He picked it up, and it escaped from his arms and ran away under a house.—Constable Olaf said that the defendant, when interviewed, said that he had merely frightened the cats away,— The defendant said that when he was working in his garden a diseased cat which had been about the place for some days came near him. He hit it on the head with a hoe and killed it. He later threw it into the gutter, thinking that the dustman would pick it up next morning. He then “ shuffled ’’ it across the road, thinking that it could be put in the ash bucket of the people across the road. He then realised that the nest morning was not ash morning, and he picked it up again and put it in his own ash bucket.—The magistrate said that it was not likely that children would mistake the identity of a pet cat. The defendant had not told Keen or the police about his action in killing a cat with a hoe. ■lt was not likely, in any case, that a man who killed a cat in his garden would throw it into the street and “shuffle” it across the road to an imaginary ash tin which he suddenly realised was not there. Altogether it was a fantastic story. His Worship added that he had no reasonable doubt that the story told by the children was correct. The defendant’s action was brutal and cowardly. One might have sympathy with a person who dealt with an animal that was destroying his garden, but one could have no sympathy with a man who ill-treated a cat in the way which had_ been described. He had some hesitation in not sending the defendant to prison. He would be fined £0 and costs (£1 7s), in default 14 days’ imprisonment. AN ABSURD CASE.

Daniel James Creed brought an action against his brother, Richard Creed, for whom Mr Stevenson appeared, asking that he should provide sureties that he would keep the peace.—The complainant said that the defendant had followed him and insulted him. He had also visited their mother and insulted her and demanded money.—Counsel asked that the complaint should be dismissed as trivial—His Worship replied that if every man who was told to go to h brought the other before the court a good deal of trivial business would have to be dealt with. He described the case as absurd, and dismissed the information after the defendant had given an assurance that he would not go near his brother.

CHARGE DISMISSED. _ . John Richard Kerr, who was convicted of theft on Monday last, appeared on a further charge of stealing at Tomahawk crockery valued at 10s, the property of Arthur Davie.—The defendant was represented by Mr R. L. Simpson.—The evidence, which was partly heard on Monday, was continued by Detective Taylor, who said that he saw the crockery in the accused’s house, and asked him where it came from. Kerr replied that it had been brought there by' hie wife and a man named Findlay.; —The defendant, in giving evidence, admitted that the goods were found in his house, but he denied stealing them. They were brought to the house By his wife and a friend, and he made no inquiries about them. —Stanley Thomas gave evidence that on one occasion he saw Mrs Kerr looking out of a window of Davie’s house.—The magistrate, after referring to the evidence which had been given in the previous case, said that he was not satisfied with some of the evidence given in those proceedings, and dismissed the charge, MAINTENANCE PROCEEDINGS, Kerr’s wife, for whom Mr Baylee appeared, took action against him for maintenance, separation, and > guardianship orders on the grounds of failure to maintain, drunkenness, and cruelty.—The cqmplainaut said that she had been married for over four years. Her husband had worked on a farm since their marriage, and the most he had given her in one week was 6s. Recently she had been getting food from the relief depots. She described conditions in the home, and said that her husband was frequently drunk. He had also ill-treated her. A man named Findlay had frequently brought food to the house during the past two years and had been a frequent visitor at her husband’s invitation. —Die hearing was adjourned until Monday morning.