PISTOL AT QUARREL

Southland Times, Issue 21430, 26 June 1931, Page 8

PISTOL AT QUARREL

• YOUNG MAN WITH AUTOMATIC. ' FINE OF £25 IMPOSED. ' Noticing a young man with an automatic pistol in his hand quarrelling with a man in Ashley Street, Palmerston North, in the early hours of last Friday morning, a passerby notified the police and the two men were apprehended. As a sequel Arthur William Smythe, of Palmerston North, aged 29 years, was charged in the Police Court with being in possession of an unlawful weapon in a public place, and was fined £25, in default one month’s imprisonment.. The other man, who was jointly charged with Smythe with fighting in a public place, pleaded not guilty, and was convicted and discharged. Smythe pleaded guilty to both charges. Senior-Sergeant Whitehouse explained that the two men had been fighting in Ashley Street shortly after midnight. Smythe, he said, had a fully-loaded automatic pistol in his possession, the weapon having five cartridges in the magazine, whfle the safety catch had been released. “The trigger had only to be pressed for the pistol to open fire,” said the senior sergeant. “It is a very serious offence to carry an automatic pistol, for this particular firearm is unlawful.” .No time was allowed to pay the fine.