EMPLOYMENT ACT

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23595, 3 September 1938, Page 5

EMPLOYMENT ACT

EXCESS SUSTENANCE DRAWN CHARGES OF FALSE PRETENCES TWO MEN BEFORE COURT Charged with obtaining by false pretences, benefits under the Employment Promotion Act, Laurence Charles Dennis and Timothy Peter Flynn appeared before Mr H. W. Bundle, S.M., in the City Police Court yesterday. Dennis was charged on one count, the amount involved over a period of three weeks being £6 9s. Flynn, against > whom two informations of false pre- / tences were brought, was stated to have received £l4 Os 8d more than he was entitled to, and he was further charged on two counts of mak- . ing false declarations under the Employment Act. Mr A. G. Neill appeared for Flynn, nnd Mr C. J. L. White for Dennis. " Discharging a Debt" With respect to Dennis, Chief-de-tective Young explained that the accused, who was on sustenance, had, during the period mentioned, made the usual weekly declarations in which he stated that his earnings were nil. It was found, however, that he was working, and on being question he at first said he had received no pay. An inquiry at the fishshop where he had been working, however, revealed that he had earned a total of £6 9s in wages. The accused still denied that he had received the money, and maintained that it was an offset against the £ls which he owed the owner of the shop. "The department," Mr Young said, " regards this breach as a deliberate one." Mr White, on the accused's behalf, said that he was a married man with four children. He had been in a fairly big way of business, as a fishmonger, but he fell on bad times. While in business he borrowed £ls from another fishmonger, and out of gratitude, assisted him by opening oysters, and doing odd jobs so as to work off the debt. In view of this, his employer assessed his wages on a more generous scale than usual. Counsel suggested that working in this way to discharge a liability was a vastly different proposition from actually receiving wages. Norman Hym, the other fishmonger referred to by Mr White, gave evidence that the accused had borrowed £25 from him, and later, had worked for him, drawing only a few shillings each week. The balance of his wages, witness retained in reduction of the debt. A fine of £7 10s and costs (10s) was imposed. Remanded in Custody Outling the charges against Flynn, Chief Detective Young stated that between January 6, 1937, and March 27, "1937, the accused was on sustenance, and had made the usual weekly declarations, in which he stated that he was receiving nothing by way of rent. Actually, he was letting three rooms at 30s per week. In later declarations, he swore that he was maintaining a daughter, when actually he was not doing so. As a result of the two offences, he received £l4 0s 8d more than he was entitled to. In respect of the false statements, he had received employment by stating that his income was nil, when, in fact, he was receiving rent for rooms. Mr Neill explained that the accused had been a successful farmer, but he had lost everything, largely through ill-health caused by war services. He understood that he was entitled to receive a certain amount in rent, and this was why he had not. included the amount in his declaration form. The magistrate ordered the accused to be remanded in custody until Monday.