MUSICIAN’S THEFTS

Waikato Times, Volume 107, Issue 17997, 16 April 1930, Page 4

MUSICIAN’S THEFTS

SAXOPHONE AND GUITAR. TWELVE MONTHS’ REFORMATORY. Described as a musician,, a young man named Albert Edward Lee, aged 22, hopped blithely on one foot into the dock when his name was called at the Hamilton Court to-day, to answer charges of stealing a saxophone valued at £45, the property of Victor Caleb Lowe, of Hamilton, and a guitar valued at £2 10s, the property of Michael McCormack. Senior-Sergeant Sweeney said accused was a music teacher and had been teaching Lowe to play the saxophone. Some time ago the instrument got out of repair and Lowe gave it to Lee to repair, but could not get it hack, despile repeated requests. It was only when he found it impossible to get any satisfaction from Lee that Lowe mentioned the matter to the police. It was eventually discovered that the instrument had been pawned for £2 locally. In the case of the guitar, Lee called at Mr McCormack’s house, where he said he understood there was a guitar for sale. He obtained possession of the instrument on representing that he could ITncl a buyer for it. instead of doing so, he pawned it for £l. In a written statement to the police, Lee said he had been forced to do what he had owing to being hard up.

It was stated that accused had been in trouble twice before, having served a term in a Borstal Institute for theft of a saxophone at Dunedin. He was sentenced to 12 months' reformative detention.