Magistrate’s Court SHOWMAN ADMITS CHARGE OF THEFT

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28261, 26 April 1957, Page 13

Magistrate’s Court SHOWMAN ADMITS CHARGE OF THEFT

Bernard William Franklin, aged 21, a showman, pleaded guilty in the Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday to a charge that on April 15 at Clinton he stole an automatic electric record changer, valued at £5O, the property of the Railways Department. Mr Raymond Ferner, S.M., remanded Franklin in custody to May 2 for sentence, pending a report by the Probation Officer. Senior-Detective G. C. Urquhart said that Franklin left Invercargill in a rental car on the evening of April 14 to drive to Christchurch. He arrived at Clinton in the early hours of the morning ofi April 15 and stopped at the railway station. He took the record changer from a carton in a railway van, put it in the car and drove on to Christchurch. He was seen in Christchurch and the record changer was on the back seat of the car. Franklin admitted the theft. “He has a record of previous convictions,” said SeniorDetective Urquhart. WILFUL DAMAGE Peter Murphy Diston, aged 30, a workman, pleaded guilty to a charge' that on April 20 he wilfully damaged a window, valued at £2 ss, the property of Margaret May Frame. He was fined £4 and ordered to pay £2 5s for the damage done. Senior-Detective G. C. Urquhart said, that Diston was living apart from his wife. At 12.10 a.m. he went to the premises where his wife was living and smashed a

window to get in. A man, who was a boarder in the same premises, caught piston and held him until the police arrived. The Magistrate said that Diston’s extensive list of previous convictions included three for assault and one for wilful damage.

FALSE PRETENCES Philip Marsh Baylis, aged 37, a workman, pleaded guilty to two charges of false pretences in that he obtained from Arnold Gerhard Wevers, Palmerston North, the sum of £7 10s by falsely representing that a cheque for £l6 10s was a good and valid order, and obtained from Stanley Lewis Clapham £3 by false pretences. Accused was remanded in custody to May 2 for sentence and a probation officer’s report. Senior-Detective G. C. Urquhart said a complaint had been made to the Palmerston North police that a valueless cheque had been issued and £7 10s given in change. Accused, who had stayed at a Christchurch hotel, telephoned the Christchurch police and said that he wished to give himself up as he had cashed valueless cheques in the North Island. He said he had found two blank cheques and had filled them in to obtain ready money. He had been before the Court previously and was at present on probation. CONVERSION OF MOTOR-CAR George Francis Williams, aged

18, a panelbeater, pleaded guilty to a charge of unlawfully converting to his own use a motor-car valued at £B5, the property of William Thomas Dilks, on April 19. Senior-Detective Urquhart said complainant had left his car parked in St. Asaph street, and about midnight, when he went to put a cover over it, the car was missing. The car was next seen in Moorhouse avenue, and when it was stopped, three youths ran from it. Accused had admitted taking the car and telling the youths that he had borrowed the car, a statement that was cor- J roborated by the other youths. Damage to the extent of £lO had been done to the car. Williams was remanded in custody till Monday for a Probation Officer’s report and sentence. ON LICENSED PREMISES Daniel Michael McPhillips and Roy Davies were each fined £3 for being found on licensed premises, the British Hotel, ar Lyttelton, after hours on April 21

SHIP DESERTION Albert Edward Stewart, aged 30, a ship’s greaser, appeared further on a charge of deserting from the overseas ship, British Builder, at Dunedin on June 6, 1956, having already served one month’s detention. He was released on probation for two years pending deportation under the provisions of the Shipping and Seamen’s Act. NO RETURNS OF INCOME Margaret Staples Munro and Robert Clarence Munro were each fined £5 and £6 on each of two charges of failing to furnish an individual personal return of income. They were each fined £1 on each of two charges of failing to furnish a return of income for their business.

Mr P. T. Mahon, for the Commissioner of Inland Revenue, said that the defendants were husband and wife who were in business as architects. They also had a farm at Mount Pleasant and were in a substantial way of business. No partnership returns and no individual personal returns had been furnished by them for two years. FIRM FINED

S. M. Pritchard, Ltd., importers, was fined £lO for failing to furnish a return of income.

Escape From Custody.—Katherine Olive Bates, aged 19, a dressmaker, appeared before Mr M. C. Astley, S.M., in the Auckland Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday for sentence on charges of escaping from lawful custody, and stealing a dress and also money. Her term of Borstal training was extended by‘six months, and in the meantime her child is to be cared for by the State. Bates had previously told the Court that her child was the only thing that she could really call her own, she had been afraid that it would be taken away from her, and had escaped in an effort to retain it.—(P.A.)