FIRE AS A JOKE
NEPHEW FACES ARSON CHARGE COMMITTED FOR TRIAL (Special to THE SU CHRISTCHURCH, Today. That he had lit a fire outside a window of his aunt’s house and then, realising the seriousness of his joke, had stamped it out, was the defence advanced by Harold Petheran, aged 27, a labourer, who pleaded not guilty in the Christchurch Magistrate’s Court yesterday to a charge of arson. Margaret Curry, a single woman, who lived in the house, gave evidence o£ the finding of charred sticks soaked in kerosene outside a window. She said Petheran and his wife had lived with her until she asked them to go. The damage was about £7. Detective Thomas, who produced the sticks in court, said he saw no signs of the blaze having been stamped out. Accused was committed to the Supreme Court for trial, bail being allowed in self for £250 and one surety of £250.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/SUNAK19290612.2.144
Bibliographic details
Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 687, 12 June 1929, Page 11
Word Count
154FIRE AS A JOKE Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 687, 12 June 1929, Page 11
Using This Item
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Sun (Auckland). You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 New Zealand licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.