GROCERY LINE SOLD IN A DAIRY ON A SATURDAY AFTERNOON

Wanganui Chronicle, 21 January 1947, Page 8

GROCERY LINE SOLD IN A DAIRY ON A SATURDAY AFTERNOON

‘•There is a good deal in what counsel says, but as the law stands the shopkeeper is obliged to comply with the Act,” said Mr. J. H. Salmon, S.M., in the Magistrate's Court, Wanganui, yesterday, when James Edward Gilbody was charged with failing to close his shop at one o’clock in the ofternoon of Saturday, November 30, for the remainder of the day. Counsel for defendant. Mr. C. 1?. Treadwell, had said that the Court would appreciate that when regular customers walked into a dairy with a grocery attached and made a legitimate purchase, it was very' difficult to refuse when they asked for a small grocery line. Competition was very keen and if not served the customer would go elsewhere. “I suggest that it is not the shopkeeper that is to blame, but the person who goes to the shop and asks for these particular lines,” counsel addea. Mr. H. A. Gatward, appearing for the Labour Department, said defendant had a shop in Liverpool Street which was subdivided, one portion being reserved for groceries. The bolts and locks were satisfactory and on one occasion defendant was warned that he must keep the door of the grocery shoft locked when it was not permitted to be open. At a later date, however, the inspector again called at the shop, the time being 1.55 p.m. on a Saturday. A woman had just purchased a bottle of milk and some material for cleaning windows. The door between the two shops was open. • Mr. Gatward added that on the first occasion he was prepared to warn defendant and give him a chance, but on the second occasion it was felt that he was flouting the law. Mr. Treadwell said defendant was a young ex-serviceman who was rehabilitating himself. The magistrate imposed a fine of £l, costs 10s.