THEFT OF ELECTRICITY
FATHER AND SON CHARGED. (Per United Press Association.) Auckland, July 1. A charge of stealing electricity valued at £2 13/4, the property of the Auckland Power Board, was preferred against Charles Carpenter and his son, Sydney Carpenter, in the Police Court.
Chief-Detective Cummings said that Sydney Carpenter, who was an electric linesman, had attached a flex to a water-heating circuit which was charged for on a flat rate and did not register. The power stolen was used for heating a room. The system had been operating for some time. The offence is difficult to detect, and the Power Board has decided to prosecute in every case. The board has chosen to rely on the honesty of the public to supply the at a minimum cost, and if the offence does not decrease, imprisonment will be asked for.
Mr Dickson, who appeared for the Carpenters, said the father had been out of work for some time. It was the son who conceived the idea during the father’s absence in Wellington. “These people have very little money and their circumstances were such that they committed the offence out of sheer necessity,” said Mr Dickson. The Magistrate (Mr McKean, S.M.), fined accused £5 each and ordered them to make restitution to the Power Board#
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Southland Times, Issue 20219, 2 July 1927, Page 7
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214THEFT OF ELECTRICITY Southland Times, Issue 20219, 2 July 1927, Page 7
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