MAGISTRATE’S COURT

Southland Times, Issue 23548, 30 June 1938, Page 14

MAGISTRATE’S COURT

WEDNESDAY (Before Mr R. C. Abernethy, S.M.) Frederick Repia, Wettana Kurei and Edward Ronald Carlson pleaded guilty to 10 charges involving escape from the Borstal Institution, thefts and conversion of motor-vehicles. Senior Sergeant Kelly said that the three youths were inmates of the institution and were working on the farm. They were more or less on trust, having worked their way up to that position. On June 16, Carlson went to turn out the horses and it was later found that the three inmates had escaped on two of the horses. They rode the horses to the far end of the Borstal property near Grassmere. Then they went north until they reached the North road where they took a car belonging to David Andrew Muir. After travelling some distance the car ran into a post and damage of approximately £lO was done to the vehicle. They went on to •Makarewa where they converted to their own use a motor-truck belonging to George Alexander McKay. A pair of overalls and an oilskin coat were stolen from the car, which they abandoned after going about a quarter of a mile. Going back to McKay’s premises the escapees stole three bicycles and rode them to Ryal Bush where they converted to their own use a motortruck belonging to Charles Leonard Can-iie. The truck was driven to near Balfour where it ran out of petrol and there it was abandoned. They then rode on. the bicycles which had been carried in the truck to near Riversdale where they camped in the bush for the night and the following day. About seven p.m. the next day they were located by the Gore police and Carlson and Kurei were arrested about 9 p.m. After these two had been arrested, Repia entered a house and stole a blazer, pyjamas and oilskin coats be. longing to John B. McMath. Repia was arrested aboufll o’clock the same evening.

. The Magistrate said it was regrettable that the three youths had escaped from the institution after being placed in a position of trust. They could work themselves out of the Borstal. If they behaved themselves they were likely to have their sentences reduced and nothing would please him more than to be able to recommend a reduction. However, this offence was a serious one, for the escapees had done serious damage, converted motor-vehicles and committed theft. He would convict and discharge them on all the charges, except the one of escaping from the institution.

They were ordered to be detained in the Borstal for a period of two years, the term to be cumulative on their present sentences. SLY-GROG CHARGE Leslie Donald William Manson pleaded guilty to charges of selling intoxicating liquor in the no-licence district of Invercargill, keeping intoxicating liquor for sale and, being a resident in the no-licence district, obtaining beer to be delivered to him in the district, without notifying the vendor. Mr T. V. Mahoney appeared for the accused. Senior Sergeant Kelly said that the accused was a lessee of rooms in the building known as Everybody’s Hall. A raid was made on the premises on June 25 and 17 full bottles of beer were ; found in a kitchen. In a room nearby, a number of men were gathered round a table on which were six bottles of beer. The accused had admitted that the men had come there for beer and he had sold it to them. In a storeroom down-stairs, 14 bottles of beer were discovered. He understood this trade had been going on for some time. The accused had been given several warnings and on January 27 he appeared before the Court on a similar charge and was fined £7 10/-. Many persons visited the premises and he sold the liquor under this cover. It was hard to detect sly-grog selling and he asked the Magistrate to look on it as a serious offence. Mr Mahoney said that on the Saturday night in question, there were three functions on and liquor was being drunk at them. There had been a request for more refreshments in the evening and the accused had complied with that request. This business had not been a profitable one in the past. The Act that provided the penalty was 30 years old and was made when there were not the same transport facilities. It was unfortunate that the first punishment had not been taken seriously. Some second and third offenders had had light penalties imposed by the Court and the defendant might have been mislead by the attitude of the Court in the past in not treating the offence as a very serious one. It was admitted that the offence was a serious one, but he asked that a fine be imposed. The accused had not been making much profit out of the sale of liquor. He sold the beer at 1/9 a bottle and the cost was approximately 1/2. The Magistrate fined the accused £2O, with costs 10/-, on the first charge, and ordered him to pay 10/- costs on each of the other charges. He was given a month in which to pay. The liquor seizod was ordered to be confiscated and destroyed. William Gourley Ricalton pleaded not guilty to a charge of the theft of two suitcases and their contents.

Detective-Sergeant 'Thompson said that two suitcases were consigned to the Railways Department and this luggage arrived at the Bluff Railway Station on February 26 among other goods. When the goods were being put on board the Manganui it was discovered that the two suitcases were missing. On March 18, Constable C. White, of Nightcaps, saw the accused on another matter and noticed two suitcases which he did not think belonged to him. He interviewed the accused who told him that on February 26, he attended a miners’ picnic at Bluff and while there he was talking to a man who told him he was going up to Nightcaps to look for work and asked the accused to look after his luggage. The accused said he could not remember much after that because he had had too much liquor. Subsquently, Constable White took possession of the suitcases, recognizing them as the stolen property. As far as he knew the accused had been conducting himself properly since then, said Detective-Ser-geant Thompson. The accused said in evidence that he had not seen the man who asked him to look after the luggage, before or since. “I am going to give you another chance,” said the Magistrate. ‘‘Your story is a good one, but it does not ring very true.” The accused was convicted and ordered to come up for sentence within a j year if called upon. Cyril Reynolds was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment with hard labour for stealing a bicycle valued at £5 10/-. He also appeared on anothei- charge of stealing a lawnmower. This charge was heard in the Court some months ago and he was ordered to come up for sentence within six months if called upon. The second charge was dismissed. Detective-Sergeant Thompson said the accused had broken his own bicycle and had stolen another. He then fitted the parts which he needed for his machine, from the stolen one. The remains of the stolen bicycle were abandoned by the accused who threw them into a hedge. The accused could be

described as a particularly bad type of sneak thief. AIR PILOT FINED Arthur John Bradshaw was charged with flying a machine at Glenorchy and carrying passengers for hire or reward, the machine not having been inspected and certified as safe for flight within 24 hours. He was also charged with being the pilot of an aircraft registered in New Zealand and failing to satisfy himself before starting a flight with passengers, that the appropriate examination certificate had been completed. Mr R. B. Bannerman appeared for the defendant, who pleaded guilty, and Mr H. J. Macalister appeared for the Controller of Civil Aviation. Mr Macalister said that the defendant made a passenger flight to Glenorchy on February 19 and an inspection was made that day at Invercargill. At 3 p.m. on February 20 another passenger trip was made to Westport and then a flight was made through the North Island. The defendant arrived back in Glenorchy on February 24. The daily inspection regulation was a safety regulation and any breach of it should be regarded as serious. As far as the defendant was concerned, the department’s experience was that he did not have the respect for the regulations that other pilots had. He had given much more trouble to the department than was usually the case with pilots. Mr Bannerman said that the certificate was signed at two o’clock on February 19. The defendant had intended to leave Glenorchy at 9 o’clock on the following morning, but he had been delayed by the passengers. Counsel asked for no conviction because of the confusing manner in which the regulations were drawn up. Any fault belonged to the man who formed them. On the first charge, the defendant was fined £l5, with costs 16/-, witnesses’ expenses £3 16/- and solicitor’s fee, £3 3/-. On the second charge, he was convicted and discharged.