CAUGHT WITH HAND IN TILL

Taranaki Daily News, 30 December 1929, Page 2

CAUGHT WITH HAND IN TILL

ADMITS ATTEMPTED THEFT.

SENT TO PRISON FOR ONE WEEK.

Having been caught with his hand in the open drawer of the till at the New Plymouth municipal baths, Godfrey Ernest Parmenter, aged 19, was brought before Messrs. E. C. Hayton and P. E. Stainton, J.’s P., on Saturday. He elected to be dealt with summarily, and admitted attempted theft of £1 Ils. and a charge of being idle and disorderly without sufficient lawful means of support. He was sentenced to imprisonment for seven days.

When the caretaker’s back was turned on Friday about 5.30 p.m. Parmenter went to the office and opened the till, said Senior-Sergeant McCrorie. Upon being caught by the custodian, he said he knew where the money was and had intended to take it.

‘ Two years ago Parmenter came to New’ Zealand from England under the Church of England emigration scheme, said the senior-sergeant. He had been working on a farm at Inglewood, but six weeks ago he had come to New Plymouth, and besides not doing any work, he had not paid his board. He had been convicted once for theft at Inglewood. In passing sentence Mr. Hayton expressed the hope that imprisonment would be the means of curing Parmenter of his bad habits. The court was concerned about his case, but felt it was necessary to send him to gaol in order to bring home to him his responsibilities.