OUT OF CONTROL

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 93, 11 July 1927, Page 14

OUT OF CONTROL

Christchurch Boy Confesses to Amazing Catalogue of Crimes 27 CHARGES OF SHOP-BREAKING

(.Special to THIS SUN.) CHRISTCHURCH, Saturday. WE consider that the father failed in his duty in not reporting- to the police the fact that his boy was bringinghome these goods. Had he done so many of these later offences would not have been committed.” A bright-looking boy of ten, not big- for his age, but sturdy, stood on the other side of the table from Mr. H. A. Young, S.M., at the Children’s Court to-day, when the magistrate made this comment.

r pilE child confessed to an amazing A catalogue of crime, all of the breaking and. entering variety. There were 27 charges, and on the floor of the court-room were books sufficient to form the nucleus of a moderately ambitious library, provided that the reader was of fairly catholic tastes, and could run the whole gamut of literature from Nat Gould to Shakespeare. It was not books alone that came within the purview of the youngster, for alongside them were plates sufficient to set up a large family, with many other dishes to make a table decorative. A few pieces of Doulton china almost suggested that the boy was some judge of dinner-ware. TOO MANY TO REMEMBER Quite a while was occupied in reading the list of charges, and when the customary query of the Children’s Court, “Did you do that?” came, the boy often had to be reminded of where the premises were, before his nod of assent came. In the admission of the offences there was a dialogue something like this lasting a-quarter of an hour: “Breaking and entering a shop in St. Albans, and stealing therefrom <£l ISs 2d in money and goods to the value of £2 16s 2d.” Constable (helpfully): That was the shop near the plumber’s, sonny.” Boy (with a grave nod): “Yes.” His big blue eyes roved round the • room from one point of interest to I another, and there was no lack of intelligence in his look. “Breaking and entering a shop at St. Albans with intent to commit crime.”—Nod. "Breaking and entering a shop at New Brighton and stealing goods to the value of £15.” Constable: “That is where you got the scarves and things.”—Another nod. j “Entering a house at New Brighton and stealing 3s from a gas meter.” — "That was the house round the corner from the school,” or “That was two empty houses together.” “BURGLAR A VERY LITTLE MAN” With dry eyes, the nods came regularly, and then the constable told the story of the boy leaving home and taking up his abode in an empty house where his boot marks on the sheets ; told that the “burglar” was a very ! little man, and how he was accus- j tomed to coming to his selected place j of abode, after he left his parental j root, at 2 a.m. under an umbrella which J he had brought from a drapery shop. j He was then taken back to his home j but he only stayed a day or so before clearing out and committing a series of burglaries at St. Albans. All the goods were recovered, but there was an amount of £2 6s Sd which the boy had spent. His first lapse occurred in this way. His mother sent him off to New Brigh-

ton with a shilling to make a purchase for her. Instead of doing this he caught the first tram into town and spent the afternoon at the pictures. Some biscuits were really necessary after the fatigue of watching Tom Mix. and the odd pence went in this way. That night instead of returning home, he slept under a toi-toi bush with two sacks for a bed, and then

commenced his amazing career of crime. Cigarettes, oil one occasion, formed part of the goods stolen, but he evidently realised that cigarettes were not for boys of ten, for they remained unsmoked. NEVER BROKE WINDOWS The Magistrate: How did he get into these shops? The constable: Through the fanlights and in many other ways. Windows were open in Some places, and in others considerable ingenuity was used, but lie never broke windows to get in. When asked for his opinion, the chi Id-welfare officer, Mr. A. Bissett, said that there was only one thing to do with the boy, and that was to commit him to the care of the superintendent of child welfare. He had to keep the boy locked up since he had been apprehended, and he would have to be sent away to Weraroa. The father of the boy said that he agreed to this course, and he admitted that the child was out of control. The Magistrate: Why did you allow the boy to bring all these goods home? The Father: He told us he found the goods in a sack on the beach. 1 was against him bringing them home, but lie brought them when I was at work. Magistrate: Why did you not report it to the police? Father: I questioned him closely, and he maintained that he found them. Mr. Young: But he must have made two or three trips with all that stuff. Father: No, only one I think. The boy: No, I brought them home in two lots. TROUBLE IN WELLINGTON Mr. Bissett: There were names in many of the books. It would have been

very simple to find out the names of the owners. He mentioned that the boy had been guilty of dishonesty in Wellington, where he was selling papers on the street when very young. Mrs. Herbert (Magistrate’s associate): It is astonishing how many of these boys who have sold papers on streets appear before us. It is a pity that they are allowed to sell papers on streets at all at that age. The father explained that when lie came to Christchurch the boy had been left in charge of liis grandmother in Wellington, and it was there that he got into trouble. It was not by his wish that he sold papers on the street. Mr. Young (to the boy): Why did you do all these things? The Boy: I don’t know. A committal order was made and the father was ordered to pay the money not recovered, at the rate of 5s a week. Mr. Young said that the bench was of the opinion that • lack of proper parental control of the boy was responsible for the trouble.