Magistrate’s Court Sitting

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 12, Issue 44, 7 May 1948, Page 5

Magistrate’s Court Sitting

Fifteen Charges Of Issuing Bad Cheques Signing valueless cheques with a variety of names, including his own, Ralph Francis Thompson flitted blithely from Taumarunui to Palmerston North, to Auckland, down this Coast via Tauranga to Whakatane, where the Police gathered him in and brought him before Mr E. L. Walton, S.M., on Tuesday to face and plead guilty to 15 charges of false pretences.

With a record of 61 convictions in the last 20 years, he was convicted and sentenced to three months gaol on the first three charges (sentences cumulative) and convicted and discharged on the others. Sergeant D. E. Fraser, outlining the case for the Police, said Thompson had been a patient in the Taumarunui hospital at the beginning of this year. He was a clerk and labourer, born in England. Whilst at the Taumarunui hospital he met the branch manager of a bank and asked if he could open an account. The bank manager agreed, and Thompson became the owner of a cheque book. Later, he deposited £3 10/- and left the district. Thereafter he began an orgy of withdrawals against an account he knew carried no funds.

Usually, the cheques were cashed at hotels or clothing shops. They totalled £32 at Palmerston North, £l4/11/2 at Wanganui, £8 at Marton, £lO at Auckland, £5 at Tauranga and, last year, before the Taumarunui account was established, £l4 1/6 at Hawera.

Thompson said he was a returned soldier of World War 2, that since leaving the Army he had had several operations - for stomach trouble, and had been in hospitals at Auckland, Hamilton and Taumarunui for periods up to five months at a time. His application for Social Security benefit had been turned down, he could not work, and had to find some way of living. Police statements confirmed Thompson’s illness, which, however was stated to be not due to war service, so that he did not qualify for a war pension. It was true also that his first application for sickness benefit had been turned down, but he had later been granted £2 a week, but the Social Security authorities had not been able to find him.

Price Control Breaches

Two country storekeepers, Robert Glenn, Te Teko, and Kenneth Hardy Mackrell, Otakiri, pleaded guilty to breaches of the price Control Regulations in that they had ' overcharged certain items to their customers. Glenn was fined £3, costs £3/6/- on one of two charges and £2, costs £2/12/- on the other. Mackrell, on one charge only, was fined £2, costs £3/2/-. Mr B. Barry appeared for the Director of Price Control against Glenn and Mr G. Otley against Mackrell. Glenn was defended by Mr Otley and Mackrell by Mr C. A. Suckling. It was explained for Glenn that the complaints against him concerned items on charge accounts that had not actually been paid by customers and had been clerical errors. Mackrell pleaded ignorance of a price order.

Plaintiff Non-Snited

Edwin Robinson, insurance agent (Mr G. Otley) claimed from Leonard Keith Barrell (Mr B. S. Barry) £ll/15/-, the cost of repairs to his car following a collision on the east end of the Whakatane River bridge in April of last year, and was nonsuited, with costs £2/2/- in favour of the defendant.

Plaintiff alleged that the defendant’s car had not been as far practicable to the left of the road, and the defendant said he had passed another car safely when he suddenly saw Robinson’s car on its wrong side. The Magistrate said both sides seemed truthful and he could not choose between them.

Liquor “In The Vicinity”

Arthur Neame and John Pottinger pleaded guilty to being in possession of liquor in the vicinity of a dance hall at Awakeri on the night of March 27 last, and Ernest Malaquin admitted having consumed liquor in the same vicinity. Neame and Pottinger were fined £3, costs 16/-, each. Malaquin was fined £3, costs 22/-.

Unlawful Liquor Supply

Joe Kingi, pleading guilty to aiding or assisting some person unknown to supply liquor to a Maori (Kingi) for consumption off licensed premises, was fined £2, costs 21/-.

Civil Default Judgments

N. E. Rigden and Co. v Steve Hotene £l2/12/3, costs £2/19/6; Bridgers Ltd. v Fred Spiers £l2/6/5 costs £3/0/6; Beacon Printing and Publishing Co. Ltd. v Henry Hudson and Wiritiki Hudson, costs only, 18/-.