SERIES OF THEFTS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23436, 26 February 1938, Page 7

SERIES OF THEFTS

‘ SEVENTEEN CHARGES PREFERRED ———■ ..... * CRIB BUILT OF STOLEN MATERIALS) YOUNG MAN’S SYSTEM • This young man is a most audacious thief,” said Chief Detective Young when Francis Charles de Bazin appeared before Mr H. W Bundle. S.M., in the City Police Court yesterday and pleaded guilty to 17 charges of the theft of goods of a total value of £212, 18s 2d be tween October, 1936, and September, 1937. The stolen goods, cbmprising building materials, tools and furniture, were used to build and furnish a crib at Purakanui, which, the chief detective said, was valued at about £3OO. De Bazin, who appeared in the dock on crutches, was represented by Mr O. G. Stevens. He wa* sentenced to four months’ imprisonment on one charge, and the question of penalty on the other charges was adjourned for three months. It was suggested by Mr Stevens that the crib, on which there was a mortgage, could be sold and the proceeds used to compensate those from whom the materials had been stolen, and the magistrate said that he would allow time for that suggestion to be investigated before considering sentence on the other charges. ' ’ The charges against de Bazin were as follows:—February 1, 1937. theft of 40 sheets of malthoid roofing iron and four window frames valued at £42, the property of William McLellan; January 1, 1937, theft of ‘plasterers’ tools valued at £2 10s, the property of persons unknown; October 19, 1936, theft of carpenters tools, valued at £8 15s, the property of Ivan Hughes and others; June 18, 1937, theft of carpenters’ tools valued at £8 12s, the property of David Earl Smith and another; April 13, 1937, theft of painters*, requisites valued at £7 3s Bd, the property of Charles Slater Brown; April 23, 1937, at Sawyers’ Bay, a quantity of tools and a set of overalls valued at £9 12s lld„ the property of Alan Stuart Porteous and others; November 12, 1936, the theft of carpenters’ tools valued at £1 14s 3d, the property of Stronach Souness and others; February 1, 1937, carpenters’ tools valued at £8 10s, the property of William McLellan; March 3, 1937, theft of roofing iron valued at £3 2s 6d, the property of the Ocean Beach Domain Board; March 5, theft of timber valued at, £7, the property of thes Ocean Beach Domain Board; May 13, theft of timber valued at £l6 16a: 6d, the property of the Southland Sawmilling Company, Ltd.; March 11, 1937, theft of timber valued at £23 4s, the property of Wood, McCormick and another; June’6, the theft of two sinks, fittings, and. a quantity of locks valued at £3 17s, the property of Ashley Cooper; June 12, 1937, theft of a bottle jack valued at £3, the property of some person Unknown; on May 29, 1937, theft of 60 sheets of three-ply wood - and two bundles of shingles valued at £23 0s 6d, the property of the Southland and Otago Co-operative Timber Company. Ltd.; January 20, 1937, a canvas cover valued ,at £3, the property of David Alexander Mart; September 10,1937, at Ross Point, theft of goods valued at £4d, the property of Leon Cohen. The accused also pleaded guilty to a charge of procuring two rifles without a permit, on February 11. Method of Stealing Chief Detective Young said that goods to the value of £.49 10s lid had been recovered, leaving a deficit of £163 7s 3d. The accused owned a 30cwt truck during the period in which the thefts were carried out. He acquired a section at Purakanui and then apparently get out with his truck to steal timber and other. building materials and furniture for a crib. He completed the job before Detective Russell was on his tracks. The crib was valued at about £3OO and was built and furnished almost solely With stolen goods. His method of stealing the material concerned in the; first two charges on, the sheet wa:; to take the truck to the yard in Ward street in the evening and help him- _ self. The value of this property recovered was £9. The first theft was made on October 19, 1936, and the tools that were then stolen from workmen had not been recovered. More tools were stolen on November 12, 1936, and the value of those recovered Was only 14s. Again" on January 20, 1937, tools were taken. They had been recovi ered, but it had not beeh possible to find the owners. A canvas bag was stolen on the same day, and it had been used so much 1 since that its value had decreased from £3 to 10s. On March 11, when the accused stole timber valued at £23 4s, he backed his truck into the yard at 8 o’clock on a Saturday morning and took What he wanted. He followed the same procedure on March 5 and March 13. when more timber and roofing iron were taken, and on April 13 he stole paint, varnish and brushes from a man who was engaged ip painting the King's High School. Some of it, valued at £l, had been recovered. He stole more tools on April 23, from a house that was being built at Sawyers Bay. The same methods were adopted in the other cases until on September 10, he went to _a crib at Ross Point and almost completely stripped it of its contents. A wireless set, furniture, blankets, crockery, cutlery, and all sorts of furniture and fittings were removed, and went into the finished job of his crib at Purakanui. . . The other offence was the result of his having two rifles in his possession for which he had not had permits for a considerable time. In view of his record, he would have been refused permission to have a rifle, and the chief detective asked that they should be confiscated De Bazin had quite a bad list. He was before the Child Welfare Court in 1927, in 1932 he was sentenced in the Supreme Court to a term in the Borstal for theft, and then in the Magistrate’s Court in 1934 he was released on probation for theft. One of the worst features of this series of thefts was that, he had stolen several lots of tools from working men, who consequently had lost their tools of trade. ' A “ Kink ”to Finish Job Mr Stevens submitted that there was nothing in the charge of haying rifles without a permit to justify confiscation. De Bazin had been exceptionally frank with the police right from the beginning. He waif a young man who had not had the benefit of a father’s control, and Mr .fitevens expressed the opinion that it was harsh to include an appear-

ance before the Child Welfare Court in the list which had been handed in to the magistrate. He had been committed to the Borstal for his second senes of offences, and he came out with little chance of forming associations with people who would have a good influence on him He was a good worker, but had had a bout of pneumonia which left a weakness. He had applied for a taxi-driver’s licence, but his application was refused, and Me was unable to get outside work because of his health He paid off the section at Purakanui and also paid for a considerable amount of the timber and other reauirements for the crib. It seemed that he had developed a “ kink ” to get the job finished, and when he did not have enough money to buy materials, he just stole them The first theft was so easy that he carried pn. Mr Stevens said that the accused had assisted the police in evex’y possible way and had offered to sell the crib and make good the losses suffered through his offences Restitution would be made in full, ' and he asked that the accused should be dealt with under the Probation Act. De Bazin was convicted on the charge of procuring rifles without a permit and the rifles were forfeited The magistrate inquired about the mortgage pn the crib, and was told that the amount was £9B 12s 6d before he made a decision to defer judgment on the other 16 charges of theft.