THE ELLIOTT CASES.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 207, 26 May 1908, Page 9

THE ELLIOTT CASES.

REMAININC CHARGE HEARD. ' VERDICT-OF NOT GUILTY. ' THREE; ■YEARS' IMPRISONMENT ON OTHER CHARGES. At 1 tho ' Supremo Court yesterday afternoon, ' Albert' Clarence Elliott, land and estate agent, \yho recontly ploaded- guilty, in tho .- Magistrate's Court to several charges of theft and false preteneosy was tried on a chargo of having, 011 October 18, 1907, rcceivedytho sum of'£l2 from Henry Rolson Wood; on .terms, requiring him to account for. the: same to Sir Kenneth Douglas, and fraudulently omitting to account for tho same, thereby committing,theft; Mr. Myers represented'tho Crown. Mf\ Wilford (instructed by Mr. J. J. M'G rath) appeared oii behalf of tho prisoner, who'pleaded not guilty. , The following jury wero enpanellcd:—M. Barr (foreman), E. A. Oxley, E. S. White, IV S. Hay, H: S. Jupp, W. Styles, T. Mayer, AY.; H. Staples, P. Millorj 1. Kamyanski, 'Arch. Sutton, Jas.M'Gill, and Walter Urouhart.' • '

■Arthur James Wicks, - musician, rosiding at - Newtown, was tho first witness called. Ho . staipd, that ho had previously lived, at 'Hay: StreiSt, Oriental Bay. The .rent for the last-mentioned house was collected by tho pnsonor. When : witness vacated tho house he. sold to a Mr. Wood, , tho .new tenant, some furnitlire for £18.10s.; Witness gave prisofljerM,firin;authority. at the jnstanco of . prisoner.; to collect the money and pay . £12 'to Sir'iKenneth.jDoiiglas;;'' At; tho. time .witness had;- not paid, all; tho rent duo by him, •Witness had never 1 collected- the amount himself: .He had since ;been 9 sued: by Sir -K. Douglas for ;tha ;money. , Witness , was cross-examined at length by Mr;3'ilfoM, who'asked hinl if ho had not, on;?ij«cified , datds, borrowed money from and' other pirSonS. Witness replied ill Sonio instances' 'that -he had. not, and in others that 'he did' not remember. ' -Mr . Wilford ever leccive sums or money from'prisoner? ' 'Witness: Yes. ' ' $ d ,, J °"l bonw from him? 10s. r—l.don.t knbw how much. It is QJi™ possible I don't 1 ow6 him anything at

." You issued 1 tEc' 'first I 'warraiit against oris-onerp-i-Ycs. . * . t . _*"• •' - v * ■ And'sworo ' tho £l 2 Jvad : Hot been acc6Untod ni6! k a 'it had been. YotljlgaVe the , authority ,'to vprisoiibr on October; 17;k-Did--.you:; not•: cancel it on October: ISbecauso yoir wantcd' tlio money for a.,L6an. Company I ; don't -think. so. Because.prisonerf'gave mo the difference between £18 10s. and. £12.' . • Do/you ..Say that'lyou' didn't cancel the oraor,', arid-.that* you received £6 10s. ?—I ditln t f cdncel ' tlie: order. Prisoner gave -me thi) idifferfenco''.betwean-'what- ho should havo received from Wood and what ho had- to pay to Sir Kenneth Douglas. ' . Is it notiXfaaKZ/Uiat you'ouxi :prisoner bc- , tweeny £70-■ atid£Bo fel-won't swear until to; say. I.owe anybody;moffiyl: lb'ok into the matter? ■How ma,'ny, timfS ,li'as'pfisaner saved, you bcoli ifl financial 'diificultiesP —Noftbr. 7"';' • ' ; V" . 'CiHirt tliat he.-had^hslpedryDur^yes."* :'lf .'you'don't: know': tho.'.'.position between yourself ;and prisoner/why did'Vou'vlay 'the' first information.'against, prisoner?—THo £12 had not been accounted for.' 1 ■ *. ' Aft«r pn6onor gavo himself up, didn't you do. you'r>.best .-to jEavb 'it ?. • Is it not:, that ypu .wentyto the police and td.;th&.Grown I?rbsefiiit'or?—l did see' theni with;,l'of6rence i;tp .the 'matter. '■ Sir Kenneth Douglas deposed that he was the house in Hay Street, atidvthat ho 'liadrsued Wicks for £12 On acr count-of,rent. ~f • • . , .(This.: concluded the. caso. for. tho t prosecu-. Mr.VWiiforiy ; bn'.beHalf of "tlibrprisoner, said-it might bd; asked- why. his client had bothered to defend :; .ihq case.\ - It was true that prisoner ' hiid plcacled .guilty to much subject matter of:the charge . was only a drop in the biioliet-'comparod .'with the total sum ; • whiqh pprisonor. admitted having dishonestly obtained;' and-'foi 1 which'' .'he would shortly.-.payrdherp'enalty'.xTHiS-object -in defending hiijjaolf - against the present chargo was . that' hg . was . not guilty;: Ha (counsel) would: liko/fe- sgo ihe jtiiy/'oy'giving. its verdict ./without leaving'ithe bos,.-,signify :what it. tho principal witness.; obody ; mofe • -miserablo than '.'^i^' > himself up" to' tho pohce.J., .-v •' , Pijst^prj;'.!from ihe^dock,'-also' th'mjury briefly.;-- Stated'-.that he had Morcs'.and^,sctp6s • of : .times, and 6'ughout ; ha'd'~been [,a Tgood friend ..to' .whictf, -he stated,, he, had : lent} to. - J and ''conoßde'd. by stating that;Wicks,still.,owed him ..between £70. and £80, i,wlijohj' ho hoped; - ; hiscreditors would' get from ; him.. • : .v'.' y^VH(^<rar)v.in:'«tiiuiwg. : np > ' pbinted out that" MfoTe:iconvictingithe; : prisonor. the: jury: would .'hive 'to be Satisfied that ho had com', mitted.vai dishonest actir.;- It -must' in considering that point depend ion the: evidenco of -WickSKv/If it.,found/that Wicks had an indirect 5 object; in;; laying the information, iVwould.ihave whether, the. fact tainted vhis:j;evidcnco. v-The l , facts went to. shbw .that:'.prisoner:, had...assisted nWioks in a variety, of ways. i :.

Tho jnrjl, which retired-at 5.45, returned at, 6;o with a verdict' of not guilty. RESERVED SENTENCE, i. THEFT 1 AND ; ' FALSE PRETENCES. ,-■ THEEE' [YEARS' IMPRISONMENT. - -Sentence- was' then passed on Eliiott in connection '-jvith 'offences to which ho lmd ploaded'giUlty'ah tho Lower • Court; The charges to' Which J he had admitted were as follow:— 12, 1907, at Wellington, havjng rcceivod from one Vera .Tregear/the'; sum of £83 .in money on '' terms requiring. bim.to. account for same to ,the said Vera Tregear,, ho did fraudulently oiqit; to account .for the samo, , thereby committing theft. . -That on June 22," 1906, at Wellington, having, received from one Mary Robinson thb sum of £300 Jn- money on terms requiring him to'account for tho samo , to ..the said Mary Robinson, he did ■ fraudulently, -convert the - same to . his ; .:,v;OTm.,ii9ei;. (hereby 'committing, theft;' .. iTnat On June 22, 1906, at Wellington,. by. means of.-falso pretences, he did ob- . - tain . from ono; Mary Robinson the sum ' of. £300 iij, nioney, with, intent,to de- . . fraud. , ~v.\ , ■ That between March 2 and March 20,; f , 1908,-iat Wellington,, by means.of false: pretences, ho did obtain from Sydenham James Flewellyn the sum of - £700 in ! -, money, with - intent thereby, to defraud. .. . That on March 31, 1908, at Wellington/by means-.of false protences, ho did .obtain from-Erne3t Henry Anderson tho m sum of £200 in; money, with intent to - defraud. • .' .- • , • : Mr;'Wilford stated'that the prisoner, who was thirty-two years 'old, had been employed formerly for'twelve years in the Telegrnph Department,' and during that period 110 had rendered to the Government faithful sorvice. Ifour years ago; when ho' loft td start in business; 'he .had 'only £25. thd first''venturo -'upoii which ho entered— which was in connection with a consigninont of fancy goods—resulted in a loss of £100, which necessitated the borrowing' of money 'at ; high'■ rates of interest. The next. Stop which he took was the endorsement; of,, bills, and, as everybody was aware, that'; led; to the . payment of them for frionds/ 'In : ii. short period prisoner found himsolf witli' a considerable' load on his shoulders; ' Vi'hen lie'wan driven into a corner he offered exorbitant bonuses , for smal] loans. In ono instanco he paid £50 for th'Q'loan ;of £200 for a "month; in another' " £15"; for-the; loan ; 0f... £50 for two /months; o !tnd; sp,,on. J lt ' ( wa3 a' case of aityaccommodation. When, m'a,position,,.with; pra'ct|cal]y'no chance to make way, he offered aiiy rate so long as temporary accommodation could be obtained.

Then prisoner ontered into speculations, in tho ho(io that ho would bo able to wipo off the deficiency. 110 purchased the' business of the Retailers' Association, also property at Ivhandallah, which lid roaded. His health . broke down, and it was then a caso of borrowing from ono person to pay another. ' and tho end soon came. In mitigation of sentence, counsel urged tho • fact that accused had'served tho State faithfully for twelve years, that ho had surrendered himself to tho police ut Auckland and pleaded guilty to the charges, that lie' had not added to his wrong-doing .by perjury, that ho was now penniless, and that ho had been a good husband. Prisoner had not wasted the money which he had handled, and none of it had gone in drink and gambling. His creditors would get something considerable out of. his estate, but tho amount was problematical. Although prisoner was now a criminal in law, sentenco should not bo passed on, him in tho same measuro as it would on a criminal who had been in gaol time , and again. His wrong-doing and misrepresentation were mado with the idea that ho would bo ablo to socuro tho wherewithal to get him out of his difficulties. . A .number of tho people who had lent him money had since reduced by half their claims,' which were mado up of bonus upon bonus. Many facilities for obtaining money wero offered him by people, who' wore • only too. eager to "iqako money at a rapid rate. Counsel, in conclusion, trusted that only a light sentence would be imposed. . • c Tho Crown Prosecutor said it was not for him to. say anything in aggravation of sentence/ but it was his duty to point out that in ono of ' tho cases before tho Court money had been obtained by means of ' a forged, document. TII6 deficiency in prisoner's estate was a very large ono, amounting to thousands of pounds. Tliero < i>re a number of other Cases which-had not been brought before the Court where priso'ior had obtained moneys by, dishonest means, similar to those which' ho had adopts;! in the present instances., Mr. Wilted remarked that it was the duty of the 1 Court to deal only with cases which had been brought before it. > • His Honour said that that was what ho intended to do. It was, he continued, the duty of the. Crown to give to the Court information which would enable it to measure what was really tho propor sentenco for the class of'offenpo befftre him. He had listened carefully to tho address mado by Counsel for prisoner, and thought that there was 110 doiibt that in a certain senso an appeal of .that kind . should be taken into' account. A great, deal of prisoner's difficulty had arisen from the fact that' he had got into deep' water, was paying high rates of interest;. and, Was making every form of struggle to get 1 out of his difficulties. Looking at : some of the dates it. was apparent that he had obtained money,, and that by i fraud', in order to replaco : shortages or. some such purposes'at a, time when the struggle had become really hopeless, and wheh it must have been apparent that the only gain by it was tho postponement of tho time when the inevitable smash must como. Whether prisoner contemplated leaving the country and remaining at liberty in that way no one could tell. lie had obtained, sOmo'of these sums at lCast' by false representations and similar irtcaiis it'a time when he could not have hoped by borrowing ultimately to get out of his difficulties.' It might have been that he was placed, in temptation- owing to the eagerness of some people to put' money in 'his hands, their desire' being to> make a lot of money., However, -that cireutristanco. ought not to influence tho Court. Ho .-lt'buld take some of the; last dates'. In December, 1907, the prisoner obtained- the sum of £83 from a lady, and in March, 1908, £700 from a' gentleman, and in the "same month '■ another' largo sum. At those dates he was fraudulently obtaining sums'of money really as stop-gaps,- so that he -might bo a free man I 'for a little longer.' Ha scarcely Could have hoped for more than that. Ono times mako allowance in the caso of a fraudulent act committed by a pHsofie'r in the liopes that others whom he had injured—and not - himself—might benefit. In those circumstances . even a. case offraud lost its heinousness.■■ Such a liope could not, howevery-;hay{r been' , in' l prisoher's mind when 'he obta.ined the sum which "ho had refddo&d to. The,duty of ; the Court; would.W to' inflict. a substantial .sentence,, but ho'-'did. not' intend .Jo make ■; it: extravagaiit. ; ; : Prisoner would bo sent to gaol.' for three'years "oil' each, charge; the sentences to be'concurrent.' '