Member of Fire Brigade Admits Giving False Alarm.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18577, 27 September 1928, Page 11

Member of Fire Brigade Admits Giving False Alarm.

TROUBLE AT NEW BRIGHTON BRINGS YOUTH, AGED EIGHTEEN, BEFORE S.M.

RAYMOND VICTOR ALLAN LAWRY, aged eighteen, was charged, before Mr E. D. Mosley, S.M., in the Magistrate’s Court this morning, with giving false and malicious alarms of fire at New Brighton on June 12, June 26 and June 29. Mr Thomas appeared fox- the accused.

" On the first occasion.” said ChiefDetective Carroll, “ the accused, who was at that time a member of the New Brighton Fire Brigade, gave an alarm from a box. He thought there was a scrub fire, but there was none. He went out with the brigade. He knew that he had been instructed, along with the other firemen, not to give alarms for scrub fires unless they were pretty severe. On the second occasion, the accused knocked the shutter down in the fire station, denoting an alarm, and the brigade turned out. On the third occasion, accused gave the alarm when a social was being he.ld at the Fire Brigade Station, and the brigade had to leave and turn out to the scene of the false alarm. The accused has admitted all the false alarms.” Mr Stokes, Superintendent of the New Brighton Fire Brigade, gave evidence as to the false alarms. . “What sort of a boy is he?” asked Mr Thomas. “ Oh, all right, as boys go.” “ He would go that way,” said Mr Thomas. The Magistrate: A bit of a larrikin? Witness: Yes. In the witness box, the accused admitted giving the alarm on the night of the social. It, was looked on as a joke and had been done before, and was also partly regarded as a chance to show visiting firemen how smartly New Brighton could turn out. On the occasion of the first, false alarm, he did not tell the Superintendent that he

had given the alarm, for the scrub fire was out when the brigade got there, and he was frightened that he would get into trouble. The knocking of the shutter in the station was a pure accident.

The Magistrate recalled the witness Stokes to the box. “ What is the joke about ringing the alarm during a social?” “There's no joke for the firemen. They have to leave their annual dance. It may be a joke to outsiders who want to see the brigade turn out.”

A fireman named Harper said that he was on duty on the night of the dance. He and accused had been talking about the “ annual ” false alarm, and who was going to ring it. The charge relating to the “ annual ” false alarm was dismissed. The alleged scrub fire false alarm charge was also dismissed.

“ The other charge must be upheld,” said the Magistrate. “ The accused knew that he had given a false alarm, and made no effort to nullify it. It is particularly bad in the case of a volunteer fire brigade. The men have to give their own time, and there is also a considerable expense incurred in turning out a motor engine. It is only fair that accused should reimburse the fire brigade. I don't want to enter a conviction.”

Compensation to the brigade was fixed at £2, and the accused was dismissed under the First Offenders’ Probation Act.