ORGANISED THEFTS OF BICYCLES

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 167, 18 July 1939, Page 9

ORGANISED THEFTS OF BICYCLES

SIX MONTHS’ HARD LABOUR i I MOTOR TYRES, TUBES AND SPARE WHEELS TAKEN Six months’ imprisonment with hard labour, was imposed by Mr. A. Coleman, S.M., in the Police Court at Wanganui yesterday, on John Charles Beecher, aged 24, formerly farm labourer, of Waverley, who pleaded guilty to a series of thefts of bicycles, motor-car spare wheels and tyres in I Wanganui, Waitotara, Waverley and ' Patea. The police, who were repre- * sented by Detective J. Murray, of i Wanganui, said that Beecher’s arrest i had cleared up many thefts of I bicycles. Beecher was represented by Mr. B. ' C. Haggitt and pleaded guilty. There [ were nine charges of theft of bicycles, ' all of the machines being taken from ■ Wanganui, the first on January 27, j 1938. Ten charges were preferred | against the accused for theft of spare ; wheels of motor-cars, and in five of • them an accomplice was named who i is to come before the Court later at Te Awamutu. Seven of the wheels, . all of which were fitted with tyre and I tube complete, were taken from cars : in Wanganui, the spare wheel of a I truck and another of a car were taken ' from Waverley and the other spare j wheel was lifted at Patea. Accused also pleaded guilty to two charges of theft of benzine at Waverley and the theft of a riding saddle, also taken from Waverley. Another charge was read against the accused, alleging the I heft of a bicycle on May 8, 1937, at Wanganui. As this referred to a date more than two years ago the charge has to be dealt with by the Supreme Court, and a remand there was granted. Outlining the procedure adopted by the accused, Detective Murray, who arrested him, said that when employed ‘ as a farm labourer at Waverely he I was in a position to ascertain who re- | quired second-hand bicycles. He 1 would then come to Wanganui, steal , a likely-looking machine, go back to Waverley with it and sell it to the discovered buyer. One bicycle was stolen in Waitotara. brought to Wan- i ganui and given away. The bicycles had since been recovered by the police, • but the money accused had obtained for them had not. Spare wheels were taken from cars ; and were used on a car belonging to a friend of the accused. That vehicle had since been traded in, but the tyres had not been recovered. It. was from a farmer who lived near where accused had been employed, and who 1 had befriended him to the extent of i giving him meals on Sunday, th L I Beecher stole the riding saddle. Thh was sold to a Waverley resident fur j £2 10s. Altogether, accused had stolen . £166 18s 6d worth of goods and had obtained £95 in payment for them. The owners of the bicycles referred to in the charges were: Maurice Born- ' ard Fifield, Eleanor Neilson. Chainey Bros, (three machines), Hilda Margaret Bayley, Royce Clifford Chris- 1 tiansen, Hettie Blackmore, and a boy's , machine, the property of A. M. Zimmermann. The saddle was taken from I J. A. Aiken, Waverley. Spare wheels : were removed from motor vehicles belonging to A. J. Rison, H. W. Wakeling, G. E. Vernon, J. N. Duncan, M. , Ethel Rountree (Eltham), A. J. Alex- ’■ ander (Waverley), Bache W. Harvey, < Ronald J. Campbel], Agnes Pairman, !; and E. J. Strachan. The benzine was ; taken from L. Hurley and R. S. Aiken, I] Waverley. Mr. Haggitt, for the accused, made i an appeal for leniency, and stated that j it was the first time Beecher had been before the Court. During the last six s weeks he had been employed as a car ■ salesman in Wanganui and had given every satisfaction. He had worked in the Waverley district as a farm labourer for nine years and when the . first theft was committed he was re- . ceiving 25s a week and had ran into debt. He started to stem and, not i being detected, he continued. Beecher had not received the benefit of parential control. His mother died when he was ten years of age and from the age of 13 years he had to fend for himself. The magistrate said it was out of the question for him to grant probation for the offences committed during . a long period of time. He appreciated what counsel had said about the death of Beecher's mother when he was very young. However, the Court had not

only to consider the prisoner but the public. Beecher was a distinct danger to the community and he seemed to have made a profitable business out of the loss of other people.