CHARGE OF THEFT

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 9, Issue 57, 1 April 1946, Page 5

CHARGE OF THEFT

fourteen day s imprisonment

FURTHER ENQUIRIES PENDING

Pleading guilty to a charge of stealing a pocket watch and a leather pouch to the total ..value of £l, the property of William Steele, a young man, Charles Allan Henry Furmage, of Thornton, was sentenced to a fortnight’s imprisonment in the Whakatane gaol on Thursday before Messrs. G. A. Brabant and J. King, J.P.s. The offence took place on March 15.

Sergeant Farrell stated that little

-was known concerning accused. He - was a stranger to the district, and had been employed for a short time by Mr Steele on his farm at Thornton, where he was sent by the National Service Department, to whom he had given his name as Jack Johnrson. On March 15, he had asked for a day off in order to go to Rotorua, where he claimed he had some business to transact. His request had ' been granted, and Mr Steele had .lent him a bicycle to go as far as Poroporo where he could catch the Rotorua bus. The bicycle, incidentally, had not been seen since, although accused claimed he left it at the store. He did not return that •evening, and subsequently, Mr Steele, discovering that the property in question was missing, informed

the police, who intercepted accused. He had sold the watch and pouch at a second hand shop in Putaruru. Accused claimed that he was a returned soldier, but this was being investigated. In his possession at the time of his arrest was a drivers license with the original name erased, and the name Jack Johnson inserted. When questioned as to his alleged military service, Furmage stated that he had served in New Zealand, and had been to the Islands with a company of engineers. His records were available at the base office in

Wellington. When asked why he represented himself to the National Service Department as Jack John-

;son accused’s only reply was that he -did so in order to procure a job in this district. Accused was sentenced to a fortnight’s imprisonment in the Whaka-

tane gaol. It is understood from the police 'that further enquiries are being carried out.