“BLACK” PETROL

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 86, Issue 110, 13 May 1942, Page 4

“BLACK” PETROL

MOTOR SPIRIT SALES CHARGES AT WELLINGTON (P.A.) Wellington, May 12. Reference was made oy tne police to the existence of a black market in motor spirit, and a “sub-black market” on which petrol bought from a service station for 2s 7ld bad been resold for 6s a gallon, when JOB informations, alleging breaches of the Oil Fuel Regulations against nearly 40 persons, were called in the Magistrate’s Court to-day before Mr. J. L. Stout, S.M. Some of the defendants pleaded guilty, others «<ectej . summary trial and pleaded not 1 guilty, and some elected trial by 11 jury. l< All the informations arose from !' ponce ooservalion ot tne petrol station J of Young and Bell, Ltd., rhornaon. m a numoer ot cases adjournments were <• granted. deiendants founa \ guilty, or who had pleaded guilty, will 1 be dealt with to-murrow morning. 11 Senior-Sergeant G. Paine, who pro- a secuted, said 108 informations nad ? been laid and all concerned what was A known now as the black market in a motor spirit. It was fairly widely known tnat it had been carried on for 9 some Lime, and extensively at that. “The position is that over a period " of three and a-half days police obser- E vation at this particular station re- u vealed that 402 gallons of petrol were fl sold unlawfully, and 302 gallons dur- >’ ing the same period were sold law- t( fully," he said. "Now, the matter is H viewed most seriously by the Oil Fuel II Cont roller and by the Police Depart- ti ment, and I should say, by the array t< of counsel, that it. is now viewed serf- C ously by the defendants. In all. there are 35 persons charged with unlaw- bi fully purchasing petrol from this sta- fi tion. Five of that number are also T prosecuted for failure to supply infor- di mation to the police regarding the C purchase of oil fuel. h; “There is also further evidence* bi of a ‘sub-black market,' where a » f< person has been buying at the T price of 2s 7-ld and selling for 6s 11' a ga.lon. w “Acute Position.” “These purchases are aggravated to | 1( a considerable degree by me fact that w at this particular period the®j was a decided shortage of petrol in this country,” continued Senior-Sergeant a j Paine. “The position was very acute « indeed, and as a consequence the a( licences which had been issued, both L special and ordinary, had been drastically cut; a good many had been cancelled altogether, and the coupon L rationing system had been suspended for the time being." While that had been going on. ap- c 0 parently very little thought had been given to the dangers and troubles that a had been experienced by the men ot rp the Merchant Marine in bringing the 1,1 petrol to New Zealand. It was badly needed by the defence authorities, yet 1 that sabotage of the .seamen's efforts 1,1 had been going on. Pleas ol eui tv to the unauthorised

rieas oi guniy io ine unauinoriseu purchase of petrol were entered by Joseph Cohen. Victor David (twe ' charges). Clifford Downes. Robert , s Thomas Hill (five charges), Mina Annie Kerr and Mavis Lenore Nodwell Chamberlain (joint, charge*, Duncan ' Robertson Menzies. Kelvin Huia f? Clemett, Harold Wilson Morgan, Stan- .. ley Moffitt Morgan. James Robert ? Morris (two charges), Bernard Leonard Shepherd, Cho Nam Wong. Sidney \ George Nathan, John Herbert Francis. (two charges), Lucy Noad, George Benny, and Godfrey Frederick Powell. " Roy Cecil Temple pleaded guilty to improperly using petrol, and Herbert . James Ransom pleaded guilty to aid- ; ing and-abetting Temple’s offence and to making a false statement to obtain ' petrol. Although they pleaded not guilty to the unauthorised purchase of petrol, the following defendants were convicted:- Herbert Henry Ambridge y (two charges), Loeta Constance •_ Farmer. Albert John Harvey, and i Frank Howard James. r The magistrate dismissed charges . of unlawfully purchasing petrol made . against. Frederick Thomas Shepperd. ; William Rimu Woods. Douglas Ross e Harlen and Walter Campbell White. A charge against Lucy Noad of res fusing to furnish information relating k to possession and use of oil fuel was ; dismissed. y Charles Norman Young pleaded guilty Io 15 charges, six of making 5 unlawful sales of oil fuel, four of mako ing a material omission in a return to the Oil Fuel Controller, four of failt ing to keep a record of sales, and one j of aiding in making a false or mislead--1 ing statement to the Oil Fuel Con- . troller. Thomas Irvine Bell pleaded guilty to I two charges of making unlawful sales of oil fuel. 1 Young and Bell. Ltd., pleaded guilty > to unlawfully storing dangerous goods. ’ In the cases against Young and Bell. ’ the firm of Young and Bell. Ltd., and Francis Bedford, arising out. of the , alleged illegal purchase of petrol from . Bedford, defendants elected trial by > jury and the cases were adjourned for