PROWLER CAUGHT
CONSTABLE’S MIDNIGHT CHASE
PYJAMAS AND BARE FEET PA GISBORNE, Dec. 30.
A pyjama-clad, bare-footed constable's chase and capture of a midnight prowler in his home at Waipiro Bay last night was described in the Ruatoria court today when Walton Mateha, aged 31, a Maori labourer, was sentenced to a total of 18 months’ imprisonment. The accused pleaded guilty to assulting a girl aged 11, being a rogue and a "vagabond, and resisting a constable. The Bench treated the assault as an aggravated one and sentenced the accused to five months’ imprisonment on this count, 12 months’ on the second, and one month on the third, the terms to be cumulative.
The prosecutor said the accused entered the unlocked back door of the constable’s home and entered a, bedroom where two girls, aged 11 and eight, were sleeping. The accused awakened the elder girl but she managed to elude him and call her father, who heard the prowler leaving by the back door. The constable, in his pyjamas and without shoes, caught the accused after a 50 yard dash. A struggle ensued before he was overpowered and locked up. The accused had a list of 14 previous convictions, some of which were for a similar type of offence.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ODT19491231.2.95
Bibliographic details
Otago Daily Times, Issue 27277, 31 December 1949, Page 6
Word Count
209PROWLER CAUGHT Otago Daily Times, Issue 27277, 31 December 1949, Page 6
Using This Item
Allied Press Ltd is the copyright owner for the Otago Daily Times. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons New Zealand BY-NC-SA licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Allied Press Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Log in