NOVEL THEFT CHARGE

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19555, 10 February 1938, Page 18

NOVEL THEFT CHARGE

DISPUTE OVER RECEIPT 'AN EXTRAORDINARY CASE' MAX FOUND (iUILTY (Per Press Association.) CHRISTCHURCH, last night. A charge of theft brought against I Norman Henry Thomas before Mr. .Justice Northcroft in the Supreme Court rested on whether or not Thomas paid £5 to Henry Wealleans, from whom he was alleged to have stolen a receipt for that amount. It was,'said His Honour, an extraordinary case. The charge against Thomas was that he stole from Henry Wealleans a receipt for £5, purporting to be an acknowledgement that Henry Wealleans had received thai sum.from him. The Crown Prosecutor, Mr. A. T. Donnelly, said that Thomas had left a house owned by Wealleans owing £5 in rent. Wealleans issued a summons for that amount, but on September 27, before the case was due to- be heard, Thomas called on Wealleans with a summons, a statement of claim, and some money in banknotes. After Wealleans had written the receipt, the Crown alleged, some discussion arose as to the stamping of it. Thomas, it was alleged, took up the receipt and left without paying the £5.

The question at issue, fundamentally, was whether Thomas had paid the £5, said Mr. Donnelly, because if he did he was entitled to the receipt.

Wealleans and Mrs. Wealleans declared that Thomas did not pay the money. Thomas maintained that he did.

The jury retired at 11 a.m. The Crown Prosecutor, addressing the jury, said: "I admit you have a very difficult task. You have to choose between two men—one of whom must be a gross perjurer willing to go to extraordinary lengths." * After a retirement of nearly four hours the jury returned a verdict ol guilty.