ONE MONTH IN GAOL

Southland Times, Issue 22378, 18 July 1934, Page 8

ONE MONTH IN GAOL

BOOKMAKERS SENTENCED. (Per United Press Association.) Auckland, July 17. Two well-known bookmakers, Francis Brewer, aged 47, and Thomas Curran, were sentenced to-day by the Magistrate, Mr Wyvern Wilson, to one month’s imprisonment each for occupying premises used as a common gaming house. The police prosecutor said that Brewer’s books showed he took 566 doubles for the first day of the Wellington races. After listening to a strong appeal by Brewer’s counsel, who described him as an honest and generous man of high reputation and denounced the law relating to bookmaking, the Magistrate said Brewer had been fined £lOO in 1927, 1929 and 1930 and £75 in 1932. His books showed he continued business just the same immediately after the last fine. “Now, what is the position? Is the law to be enforced? Does a man have to pay £lOO every year or so and keep on keeping gaming houses ? That is not the law. I am asked still to go on fining him because he is an honest, friendly, kindly man. If I do that he simply keeps on breaking the law. That kind of conduct cannot be tolerated. Fines don’t even check this sort of thing. I am here to see that the law is enforced. It will have to be a term of imprisonment in this case.” In Curran’s case the police said he had taken 590 doubles on the Wellington races. He had been fined £5OO, including £2OO within four months last year. The Magistrate said it would be only idle pretence to continue fining him.