CREDIT OBTAINED BY FRAUD

Taranaki Daily News, 21 August 1930, Page 14

CREDIT OBTAINED BY FRAUD

IMPRISONMENT FOR ONE MONTH.

CASES HEARD IN POLICE COURT.

Charged wth obtaining credit by fraud at New Plymouth, William Edward Walker pleaded guilty before Mr. R, W. Tate, S.M., in the New Plymouth Police Court, yesterday. He was sentenced to one month’s imprisonment with hard labour.

Walker had come to New Plymouth about two. months ago, said Detective Meiklejohn, and stayed two weeks at Alice Lang's boarding-house, running up a bill of £3. . He used, to get up hi the morning and. make out that he was going to a job, often taking his lunch. After two weeks he left the • house and went to stay at . Agnes O’Sullivan's, where he had run up another bill of £1 17s Gd and had*mado out that he would pay his bill, . There had been other places at which .Walker had stayed and failed to pay his board, said Meiklejohn. Last year he had been brought before the Court for the same class of offence at Palmerston North and two months after that he. had been convicted of theft. In 1927 ho had been convicted of being a rogue and vagabond, in 1926 ho had been imprisoned for forging and uttering and in 1924 he had been found guilty on two charges of failing to maintain. “He is a lazy man who will not work,” said the detective, “and" is a bit criminal into the bargain.” ', ■ For driving his lorry along South Road in a manner which might have been dangerous to the public Lionel St. George was fined 20s (costs 10s). It was explained that the scene of the accident was by the timber yards near Cutfield Road. A tram was coming from the breakwater and St. George was driving towards the breakwater. There was good visibility and one could see a distance of 12 chains. Th© tram driver saw St. George coming, straight down the track. St. George continued on the track all the way. The motorman applied his emergency brakes and St. George collided head on with the tram.

It was a wet' day, said Mr. R. H. Quilliam, and St. George was driving a big lorry on the tram lines. He saw the tram but must have made a mistake in the distance because when he tried to pull off the track his lorry began literally to dance. The tyres had caught in the tram lines. He did the wisest thing and decided to keep straight on, meanwhile applying his brakes. Otlierwise there would have been a dangerous skid. The collision was so very slight that it made hardly a scratch on the tram or the lorry. St. George had to plead guilty but he did want it understood t)iat the accident was not due to reckless folly, but was a pure mishap. The by-laws provided that a man should not drive on the tram lines.

For leaving his car in Currie Street in a position to obstruct traffic Thomas Carey was fined 20s (costs 12s). Defendant wrote pleading guilty and saying he was a stranger to the town. The man had left his car completely blocking the small lane leading from Currie Street, said Inspector Day. Com-mon-sense should have made him know better. In the. claim of Alfred A. Francis v. Elsie Vera Foote for a variation in maintenance the magistrate made an order that the two children be at the rate of 7s Gd each, the arrears of £3l to be paid off at the rate of 2s 6d a week. ’ •