MAGISTRATE'S COURT.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1615, 5 December 1912, Page 3

MAGISTRATE'S COURT.

(Before Mr. W. G. Eiddell, S.M.) THE POPLIN.' TAKEN FROM STEAMER'S HOLD. POUR MEN GAOLED.. ONE PLEADS A ."RUINED CAREER." Once more tho offence of cargo pillaging has engaged the magistrate's atteii-. tion. Yesterday morning Henry Madden, Anthony Bannister, Henry Thompson, and Geoffrey C. Wilson wero charged with having slolen two rolls of poplin, valued at £9, the property of George and George, frointlie steamer Otaki. The date given iii the charge sheet was Novemb?r 29. All defendants pleaded guilty. Chief-Dctectivo Brobsrg stated that Madden and AVilson were quartermasters on the Otaki, one of the New Zealand Steamship Company's vessels which traded between England and New Zealand. Onfhe.voyagspi the vessel from Auckland to Wellington Jladden and''Wilson had nut their leads together o,nd' had deoided

■ to get down among tho cargo in one of the holds. They had thereafter broken opau a case froiii which they had taken 120 yards of.poplin. They had first taken the poplin to their compartments, but had later secreted it in another hold. Subsequently, however, this plan of. concealment was changed and Wilson had stowed ono roll away in his bunk, while Madden, had put the other in his. After the arrival of tho vessel at Wellington these two men had, by some means, got into touch with Bannister and Thompson respecting the disposal of the material^- In the meantime, however, Detectives Cameron and Kawle had got to hear of something which had caused them to watch the defendants. It then appeared that n three of the accused had taken the poplin ;e to a dealer's shop, apparently with the s purpose of selling it, and at that moment „ Detectives Cameron and Eawle appeared on the scene. Bannister, who had taken '" the material into the dealer's shop was :) forthwith arrested, and Madden and 11 Thompson, who had been "on guard" ont--0 side, were also taken in charge. Wilson . had been arrested during the course of tho following day. s Detective Broberg went on to stato that cases of cargo-broaching had e been frequent of late, and ser- ■ ioiis losses had resulted. There was, moreover, tho additional fact to be considered that Madden and uu--1 son had taken a naked light into the hold - which was a very dangerous thing to do. t Moreover, Wilson and Madden were guari termasters, and so ranked as petty officers • and therefore it had been their duty to - set a tetter example. The police knew - nothing of Wilson, Madden, or Thompson ', and, though Bannister ,had been once be--1 fore the Court ho had never been charged ■ with dishonesty. The material (damaged > to the extent of perhaps £1) had been i recovered. i Mr. H. P. O'Leary, who appeared for ) the defendants, stated that Wilson was s only nineteen yeaTs of age, and that he ' would be heavily punished quite apart i from any penalty which the Court might i put upon him. His client had hoped to • sit very soon for his second officer's cer- ■ tificate, but now his career as a seaman was ruined. Furthermore, he was a man • of good family at Home, and he would i in future be ostracised from them. Mr. i O'Leary asked the Court to deal with tho . defendants as first offenders, and he supr- ■ gested that ,they should be allowed the i option of a fine. His Worship remarked that he took it i that all the defendants, were aware of the severe penalties to which they were liable if they, engaged in cargo pillaging. This was a class of offence always found moro or. less in seaports, especially where a large number' of vessels berthed. It was an offence which was difficult of detection, and as was to be learned from the papers and elsewhere the shipping companies w-ere heavy losers. But he could not take that into consideration in fixing penalty for an individual case. Ho doubted very much if it would be proper for the Court to impose a monetary penalty for this kind of offence. la some cases a monetary penalty might be proper, but where tho value of the goods was considerable there must be some distinction made from cases where the loss was small. He looked upon Madden as the chief offender as he was an older' man than Wilson, who would/suffer more than the mere loss of liberty which he would be deprived of on this occasion. Madden was sentenced to four months' imprisonment, Wilson to two months', Bannister to one month, and Thompson to one month. . FINED AND ADMONISHED. Oliver Ernest Campbell was charged with the theft of a pair of shoes, valued at 12s. 6d., belonging to Alice Scorringe. Ho entered a plea of guilty, and was ' fined £2 in default seven .days' imprisonment. . . ' His Worship advised Campbell to have done with dishonesty lest he should spend most of his life in prison. OTHER CASES. Thomas Chalmers Leslie M'Gregor was charged with being a rogue and a vagabond. His Worship convicted M'Grogor, and ordered him to appear for sentence when called on. In addition, a prohibition order was issued against the defendant. _ John Eilstxm, was .charged with' having committed an indecent assault on a young girl. He was committed to the Supreme Court for trial. Bail w-as allowed. • For insobriety. Elizabeth Murphy-was fined 10s.