Possession of pistol unexplained

Press, 30 January 1986, Page 9

Possession of pistol unexplained

No explanation was offered by a man found in a Lyttelton hotel with a .25 calibre automatic pistol, and 13 rounds of ammunition for it, Sergeant W. P. Creasey said in the District Court yesterday. Raymond Lloyd Cullen, aged 29, a fibreglass worker (Miss E. H. B. Thompson), admitted charges of unlawfully haing them in his possession. He was convicted by Judge Frampton, and remanded in custody to February 14 for a probation report and sentence.

His honour said he was puzzled by the lack of any explanation. “People do not carry loaded firearms around for no reason at all,” he said.

Sergeant Creasey said Cullen was spoken to by police when they visited the British Hotel, on the night of January 23.

The defendant was fouund to have the loaded pistol in a trouser pocket. Some rounds of ammunition were in his back pocket.

An order for the forfeiture of the pistol and ammunition was sought by Sergeant Creasey. He said, in support of this, that there was an order in being prohibiting the defendant from possessing a firearm. No damage was done, and nobody was harmed, said Miss Thompson. She submitted any fears were potential rather than actual.

Cullen, a member of the Epitaph Riders for 13 years, had a stable work record. She said Cullen was unable to explain why he was carrying the pistol and ammunition. DETENTION Because a case of indecency was not as bad as many which came before the courts, a non-custodial sentence would be imposed, His Honour said. Robin Seymour Marychurch, aged 29, a

cleaner, was sentenced to periodic detention for three months. He had been convicted of indecently assaulting a girl, aged 12, behind the counter of a bookshop where he was working on the night of December 13, last year. In explanation to the police, the defendant said the offence had been a bit of horse play which got out of hand. Maiychurch had kissed the girl on a cheek and handled her breast when the shop was empty of customers. CHEQUE FRAUDS

Periodic detention for four months was the sentence given to a woman convicted on four charges of receiving cheques and bank books, and nine charges of using them to obtain a financial advantage.

Lorraine Diane Kanuta, aged 35, a knife hand, (Mr G. D. Horne), committed the offences between December, 1983, and April, 1984, in Christchurch and at Auckland. Kanuta had obtained money, foodstuffs, and liquor worth $2530. The Judge made no order for payment of compensation. On unrelated charges of driving with an excess blood alcohol level, and being an unlicensed driver, at Auckland, Kanuta was disqualified from holding or obtaining a driver’s licence for six months.