THEFT OF SAFE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26709, 2 March 1948, Page 4

THEFT OF SAFE

HARD LABOUR IMPOSED PERSISTENT OFFENDER P.A. GISBORNE. Mar. 1. A sentence of three years’ hard labour was passed by Mr Justice Fair in the Supreme Court to-day on Douglas Wright, aged 37, a labourer, of Auckland, who was convicted of the theft of a safe containing approximately £9OO from the Matawhero Hotel on December 28. Wright was also declared an habitual criminal and barred from obtaining a driver’s licence for 10 years. The Judge said Wright had a record of serious crime and in spite of substantial sentences over the past 10 years had persisted in a life of crime. He described the latest crime as an impudent theft. Mr Justice Fair, said he regretted that he could not include in the sentence permanent disqualification from owning or operating a motor vehicle. “ People such as you should only be able to travel in public vehicles and not !n one which. might be used >n the commission of crimes,” he said. “The court has frequently made recommendations for an amendment of the law to allow judges to impose this disqualification, considered essential in dealing with cases of your type in these days when a motor car is one. of the most potent factors enabling criminals to escape detection.