A SUNDAY RAID

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 160, 27 September 1927, Page 16

A SUNDAY RAID

LIQUOR AFTER HOURS A WHANGAREI PROSECUTION (Prom Our Own Correspondent) WHANGAREI, To-day. When the police entered the Commercial Hotel, Whangarei, on the evening of September 10 and found six persons in a sittingroom and four empty glasses on the table, prosecutions followed. cases were heard by Mr. J. H. Salmon, S.M., yesterday. Cyril Powell, licensee of the hotel, was charged with selling liquor after hours, exposing liquor for sale and permitting drunkenness. Sergeant O’Grady detailed the circumstances and said one of the men, Swanberg, was very drunk. Mr. Trimmer, counsel for the defence, said three of the men had just walked in as the police arrived and had not had a drink. ARRANGING A CONTRACT One of the others, Swanberg, was a baker, who was arranging a contract for the supply and delivery of bread. He liad not had a drink. The other two were friends of the family and were there to spend the evening listening to a new mechanical musical instrument of which there were only three in New Zealand. These men, Carroll and Former, had each had a glass of shandy at the invitation of Powell, who had one*with them. Evidence, which was unshaken by the police, was given on these lines by C. Powell, R. Carroll, C. Swanberg and J. Former. Corroborative evidence was also given by Percy Keay, commercial traveller, who was in the room throughout as a boarder and who had not had a drink; also by J. Horn, who had brought Carroll and Former to the house. He was out on an errand for Mrs. Powell, when the police arrived. All declared that Swanberg was quite saber. The magistrate said that the police evidence was clear that four glasses, not three, as stated by the defence, were there and Swanberg was far from sober. The explanation of his presence was unsatisfactory. He did not believe the other stories either. APPEAL TO BE MADE The licensee was convicted and fined £5 for selling liquor after hours, and £3 for permitting drunkenness. The three others were fined £ 1 each with. 10s costs. Mr. Trimmer applied to have the fine raised to .£ 5 Is in each case against the licensee to allow of an appeal and this was done.