CONSTABLE FINED

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26034, 24 December 1945, Page 6

CONSTABLE FINED

DESERTION CHARGE WAGES OWING FORFEITED A conviction was entered and a fine of £lO was imposed upon David Arthur Stuart, a former constable now employed as a share milker at Rotorua (Mr Cooney), in a reserved judgment given by Mr S. L. Paterson, S.M., in Hamilton on Friday. The charge preferred/ against Stuart in the Police Court at Rotorua on December 11 was that he deserted from the Police Force and refused to obey the lawful command of a superior officer. Mr Paterson said the evidence revealed that the defendant joined the force in 1936, and was then subject to the Police Force Act, 1913, which stated that a constable could not leave 1 the force without the permission of the Ministers in charge, or without giving one month’s notice in writing to the Minister. - Resignation Lodged ■ In June, 1943, the Police Force Emergency Regulations were gazetted, and these provided that a constable could only leave the force with the Ministers permission. On October 11 Constable Stuart lodged an application to resign as from November 22. His reason was that he could not adequately support his family of four children, one of whom: was an invalid, on his police salary. (He wished to take up farming. The commissioner’s reply stated that Stuart’s resignation could not be accepted at present, owing to the staff shortage. It added that Stuart had been treated very liberally, as the department had recently spent £220 on his behalf in transferring him at his own request from Hokitika to Rotorua. Stuart then lodged another application to resign on November. 22. He was ill, and produced a medical certificate showing that he was unfit for work until November 30. On November 30 Stuart’s uniform W&s left at the Rotorua Police Station with a report stating that he would not return to duty. As he had received no further reply to his second application, he concluded that permission would be granted. He then commenced farming. Mr Paterson said the defendant had committed a breach of the Emergency Regulations in leaving his employment without the permission of the Minister. Mr Cooney had suggested that the regulations were ultra vires because they contravened the statute made in 1913. This submission was not tenable, said the ' magistrate, as the regulations were validated. Stuart was guilty of desertion and must be convicted. 1 Salary of £457 The magistrate said he considered Stuart’s salary of £457 per annum sufficient to keep him and his family at a good standard of living. He also stated that the defendant might find cause to regret leaving a steady job. In later years jobs might be harder to find.

Mr Paterson said the maximum penalty was a fine of £2O and the forfeiture of all wages owing to the defendant. The defendant in this case was owed £55, but the court could de nothing but order its forfeiture. The defendant, if he desired, could apply to the Governor-General to have the order altered. The fine, concluded the magistrate, should be substantial in order to be a deterrent to others.