PECULIAR FEATURES

Taranaki Daily News, 16 August 1935, Page 5

PECULIAR FEATURES

SHOPLIFTING CASE AT DUNEDIN. RECURRENT MENTAL INSTABILITY. By Telegraph—Press Association. Dunedin, August 15. A shoplifting case against an elderly single woman, Elizabeth Hoskin, presented peculiar features, first because of the transparency of the subterfuge used, secondly because since a conviction on similar charges at Wellington four years ago she has held positions of trust, and thirdly because medical evidence ascribed her action to mental instability of an intermittent recurrent nature. Under an assumed name Hoskin wrote to the manager of a drapery firm forwarding a hat which she said she, purchased in June, stating that it did not suit her and suggesting replacement by another. It was discovered that the returned hat had been stolen in June and it was recollected that a similar earlier request had been made in respect of a stolen beret. After hearing the evidence the magistrate admitted Hoskin to probation on condition that she remained -with relatives in the country. On two other charges she was fined £5, or 14 days’ imprisonment.