BANK WITHDRAWAL SLIP WAS FORGED.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 19154, 21 August 1930, Page 14

BANK WITHDRAWAL SLIP WAS FORGED.

ACCUSED DECLARES HE DID NOT KNOW IT.

Edgar Arthur Barbarel, a labourer, denied in the Supreme Court this morning that on July 15, knowing a Post Office Savings Bank withdrawal slip for £lO to be forged, he attempted to utter it to a clerk in the bank. Mr Justice Adams was on the Bench. Mr Donnelly prosecuted. The accused was not represented by counsel. The case lor the Crown arose out of a case in which the accused’s brother, Auguste John Barbarel, was convicted of forging withdrawal slips on the account of his father-in-law. a man named Fort. Some time between last Jantiary and July, said Mr Donnelly, Fort’s bank-book was stolen from his' home. He went to the bank to report the loss, and then found that £220 had been withdrawn from his account by his son-in-law, the brother of the accused. A watch was set in the Post Office bank, and instructions were given to detain anybody presenting a withdrawal slip on the account of Fort. On July 15, the accused presented a withdrawal slip on the account. The clerk who took the slip tore it up, and then, telling the accused that he had accidentally destroyed it, asked him to make out another slip. Accused went to a desk, but after destroying two or three forms, he informed the clerk that the book was not his. The clerk said he was led to believe that accused was acting for his father-in-law. The clerk told him he -would have to get a special form, and took him to the accountant. Subsequently accused was arrested. In a statement to the police he said a man had handed him the book in the Square and asked him to withdraw the money for him. That story, said Mr Donnelly-, sounded absolutely incredible. Evidence in accordance with Mr Donnelly’s opening -was given by John Henry Williams Lane, clerk in the Post Office bank, St Julius James Dunne, accotxntant in the bank, and Detective James M’Lean. The accused’s brother, Auguste John Barbarel, said that he gave accused the bank-book, and told him to withdraw the money. “ You Are Innocent.” Accused: Did I know anything about that receipt being forged?—No, you are absolutely innocent. To Mr Donnelly'-: Witness stole Fort’s bock, and stole the money. Neither the accused nor anybody else knew of it. Mr Donnelly: Is it not a fact that your brother knew all about this? Witness: He knew nothing about it. Accused's Evidence. The accused in evidence said the bank book and withdrawal slip were handed to him by the last witness. It was the first time he had ever seen the book. He had never attempted to withdraw money from the account before. To Mr Donnelly witness said that he did not ask his brother whose book it “There is not much curiosity in y*our family,” commented Mr Donnelly. His brother, the witness added, was in a hurry. “And handed you the book on the wing, as it were,” asked Mr Donnelly. Witness added that he made the statement he did to the police with the idea of protecting his brother. The jury retired at 11.30 a.m. and returned to Court at 11.55 a.m. with a verdict of guilty. Accused was remanded till to-morrow for sentence.