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COAST COURT CASES

THEFT CHARGES PROVED j SITTINGS AT TE ARAROA (Herald Correspondent.) Charges of theft against- several per-, sons were dealt with at sittings of fl ll Police Court at Te Avarua lust week.• Convictions were entered in all eases, though in respect of two of the accused the convictions were for receiving stolen , .-opei'ty, the theft charges being withdrawn. Constable A. C. Strawbridge, ot Te Araroa, prosecuted in all cases. At a sitting of the court at Potaka, Te Araroa, on Friday, before Messrs D. J. AlcNaught and C. It. Jk. Wood, Korengawai Waenga was charged with receiving from some person unknown at (jape Runawav on or about August 18 a, shirt valued at 9s 6d, the property ot the Waiapii Farmers’ Co-operative Coni- j pany. Cape Runaway, well knowing iT to have been dishonestly obtained, ami was also charged with the theft of the shirt, from tho company s store on the same date; and Waenga Waenga was charged with receiving the slnrt at Capo Runaway on August 8 from Mrs. Nurengi Komene, knowing it to have been dishonestly obtained. The accused, who were tried together, both pleaded j not guilty. , ! Constable Hira, who had arrested the two accused on the same date, gave evi- j dence that on August 13 when at Cape' Runaway ho saw the accused Waenga; Waenga on horseback wearing the slnrt which was the subject of the charges. ( The witness stated that be noticed the accused ride into the manuka, and Intel | appear without the shirt. Witness then, followed the marks made by the accused’s horse, and found the shirt m a I t.oitoi bush. The accused when accosted ( by Hira denied that lie had a. slnrt on when Hira first saw him; later he admitted that he had been wearing a shirt, but denied that lie had placed it in a toitoi bush, stating that he had hung it on the fence. When questioned by Constable Hira as to how he came by the shirt, the accused stated that a man named Bill had given it to him, and that he did not know the man’s surname. He told Constable Hira that he bad taken the shirt off because he did not want to get it dirty- . .. Constable Hira also gave evidence, m connection v.itr, the charge against Korengawai Waenga, from whom ho had obtained a statement in reference, to the shirt. In the statement the accused said that he had bought the shirt from the Waiapu Farmers’ Co-operative Company’s store some months previously, and as the shirt had been booked a record of the purchase would be held at the store. He bad given the shirt to Iffimara Paturana. who is at presentserving a term of imprisonment on <i charge of receiving a shirt belonging to the same company at Cape Runaway from some person unknown. Constable Strawbridge gave evidence of an interview with Waenga Waenga at which he obtained a statement from the accused, who said that the shirt that Constable Hira had seen him wearing was given to him by Mrs. Nurengi Komene. He stated that ho had taken it off because he did not want to get blood on it. He was going to kill a cow for beef, but when he took off the shirt he did not have the cow ready to kill. The cow was then on the other side of the river, and before killing it he was going to drive it to the pa, and then shoot it. He did not have the gun with him, and had no intention of killing the cow in the vicinity of where the shirt was placed. The accused denied that lie had told Constable Hira that a man named Bill had given the shirt to him. Constable Strawbridge added that Mrs. "Komene had informed him that the shirt, given to Waenga Waenga had previously been given to her husband by Ihininrn Paturana.

Mrs. Queenie Waititi, postmistress and manager of the company’s store a l Cape Runaway, stated that she find tio recollection of having sold a shirt of the same description as that which was Cue subject of the charges to Korengawai Waenga, and that there was no record of a sliirt of that description in her ledger. George M. Colebrook, To Araroa manager for the company, definitely identified the sliirt as one sent by him to the Cape Runaway branch on or about April 21, 1933. Both accused were convicted and sentenced to three months’ imprisonment with hard labor on the charges of receiving, the theft charge against Korengawai Waenga being withdrawn. PROBATION FOR THEFT Electing to bo dealt with summarily, Mark White, a. Maori of Hicks Bay, pleaded guilty to a charge ot stealing at Hicks Bay on September 3 a bridle and a n rupper valued at £2 ss, the property oi Roto Rangihuna. fhe facts us outlined by the police v ere that a horse owned by Roto Rangihuna had allegedly been removed by gome unauthorised person from a liorso rack at To Araroa, and had been abanUon(?u in Hicks Bay, where the accused saw it, and took the crupper off the horse and placed it on bis own horse. The accused informed Constable STrawbridge, that he, saw the bridle near Rangihuna’s horse, and put it on Ins horse. The accused was admitted to probation for six months THEFT OF RECORDS On Saturday, before Messrs. M. Ryan and D. ,1. MeNaught, J.Ps., at To Araroa, Pona Houkamau was charged with the theft on September 3 at Te Araroa of two gramophone records valued at Bs, the property of Henry Bewes. The accused pleaded not guilty to theft, but admitted that he had taken the records for a joke. Constable Strawbridgc gave evidence of having obtained a statement from the accused to the effect that he was at Mrs. Riki Karaka’s house on September 3. and that Hariti Huiluii also was there, she having brought with her two records that she had borrowed from Henry Dewes, for whom she worked. The accused took the records with him when he left, and later concealed them by the roadside. On the same evening lie returned the records to Miss Huihui, this lieing after Miss Huihui had reported the matter to Constable Stvawbridgie. The accused in evidence admitted that his statement to the constable was correct, but held that lie had no intention of stealing the records. Glider crossexamination lie admitted that lie had three previous convictions for theft, and one for converting a horse to Ids own use. Remarking that they were satisfied that the accused had stolen the records and that he would not have returned them had the matter not been reported to the police, the bench convicted the accused, and sentenced him to six week’s imprisonment with hard labor.

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Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/PBH19330912.2.5

Bibliographic details

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18191, 12 September 1933, Page 2

Word Count
1,138

COAST COURT CASES Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18191, 12 September 1933, Page 2

COAST COURT CASES Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18191, 12 September 1933, Page 2