CITY POLICE COURT

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23108, 6 February 1937, Page 2

CITY POLICE COURT

Friday, February 5 (Before Mr H. W. Bundle, S.M.) UNLICENSED WIRELESS Charged with being in possession of an unlicensed wireless set, James Wilson was convicted and ordered to pay costs (10s). PROHIBITED PERSON FINED Melvin Jack Forrester, who was charged with procuring liquor during the currency of a prohibition order, was fined 10s and costs (10s). UNLIGHTED CYCLES Charged with riding bicycles without lights, Maurice Charles Garthwaite and Jack James Howell were each fined ss, with costs (10s). MOTORISTS CHARGED Murray White Austin, who was stated by the police to have crashed into a cable car when backing out from the pavement at the foot of High street, was charged with driving without due care and attention, and was fined 30s and costs (10s). —Archie Winning, who backed into another car while leaving a park in the Octagon, was similarly charged, and was fined 40s and costs (10s).

John Henry Ferguson, who lost control of a car he was driving and crashed through a fence, was charged with driving in a manner which might have been dangerous to the public. He was fined £5, with witnesses' expenses (£1 16s) and court costs (6s), the conviction to be endorsed on his licence.

For overtaking a vehicle on a street intersection, Colin Veitch was fined 20s and costs (10s). Neville Slater was fined 20s and costs (10s) for parking a motor car in a prohibited area.

Charged with driving a motor car at a speed exceeding 30 miles an 'hour, Norman S. Stanton was fined £3 12s, with costs (10s), and witness's expenses (8s). Alexander Hamilton, who pleaded guilty to a charge of failing to give way to traffic on the right, was fined 40s with costs (12s). A GRAVE CHARGE

Francis Vere Lauder Nelson was charged with having attempted to commit a grossly indecent act. —The accused pleaded not guilty, but after hearing the evidence, the magistrate convicted him and ordered him to be remanded in custody till Monday, to allow a medical examination to be made "AN INCORRIGIBLE ROGUE "

William Gilford Alexander Grainger pleaded guilty to having stolen a blow lamp valued at 17s 6d, the property of Thomas Brown and Co.; a nailbag, a hammer and a saw of a total value of £1 8s 6d, the property of Lindsay George Waters, and a pair of pipe-tongs vaued at £l, the property of Morrison and Warren. He also entered a plea of guilty to a charge of obtaining credit by fraud, by incurring with Anna Kathleen Treacy a debt of £ 1 2s for board.—" This man is best described as an incorrigible rogue," said Chief Detective Young, "and the offences are both petty and mean." Regarding the theft charges, the accused made false representations to the owners of the. tools, borrowed the articles and sold them. He incurred the debt by representing that he was in work. The accused was a married man, with one child, but was living apart from his wife. He was going about the town calling on land and motor agents, and in one instance actually signed up to purchase a house, the seller having packed his furniture before the fraud was discovered.—ln answer to a question by the magistrate, the accused said that half the time he was under the influence of liquor.—Chief Detective Young: " I do not think land agents would drive half-drunken men about looking at houses." The magistrate: " Some of them might."—On each of the first two charges the accused was sentenced to two months' imprisonment, the sentences to be cumulative, and on the other two charges he was convicted and discharged.—The accused was also convicted, and discharged on an information that he was an unlicensed motor driver. CHARGES DISMISSED

Ellen Plank, who was represented by Mr B. S. Irwin, pleaded not guilty to charges of exposing liquor for sale after hours, selling liquor after hours, and opening licensed premises after hours.—Senior Sergeant Packer stated that at 11.35 a.m. on Sunday, January 10, Sergeant Stark and Constable Timmins paid a visit v to the Caledonian Hotel. They found Mrs Plank behind the bar and a man named Michael Davis in front with a half-empty glass of beer before him The explanation given by the licensee was that Davis was a relative of hers and that she had seen him passing the hotel She had invited him in for a " yarn" and had supplied him with a drink, which had been a gift.—Evidence was given by Sergfeant Stark, who admitted to Mr Irwin that there was no attempt at concealment. The defendant could easily have let Davis out of the bar before witness came in, or she could have placed the glass under the counter.—Mr Irwin submitted that the charge should be dismissed, as it was a genuine case of a hotelkeeper having a guest. If the person was a legitimate guest, there was no reason why he should not be in the bar, although counsel admitted that such a guest was usually entertained in the sitting room. The defendant first took Davis into the dining room and then asked him to come into the bar,, as she wished to do some work in there. During the course of conversation she offered him a glass of beer. When Sergeant Stark knocked at the door the defendant ordered the maid to let him in. and did not attempt concealment. Had Davis not been a genuine guest they could easily have walked out of the bar.—" The bar is not the place for a licensee to entertain guests," said the magistrate, " and this in itself is sufficient to make an officer inspecting the place suspicious " On the evidence, however, continued the magistrate, he considered the defendant was entitled to have the charges dismissed.—A charge against Davis of being unlawfully on licensed premises after hours was also dismissed.