SUPREME COURT

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2234, 21 August 1914, Page 8

SUPREME COURT

EMBEZZLEMENT CHARGES AGAINST 11. A.; CRAMOND ACCUSED PLEADS GUILTY ' SADDEST CASE IN' COUNSEL'S EXPERIENCE 1 In tihe Supremo Court yesterday, before His Honour. Mr. Justice Hosking, . Horace! Arthur- Oraniond, lately:; local r 'manager- for. Tlios.' Cook aiid Son, • • tourist.agents; •pleaded.'guilty/ to eigh't i.:;'.!/ ' charges of.embezzling moneys belongmg to, his employers. The charges'wero:— ' I (1) On;Februaiy 15; theft of'?£l6o . - Cs. Bd. -V-' "(2) On March 31,. theft of £30. (St On Aipril 9, theft of £70. ' (4) On April 17, -theft of £452 Ss. (o) On-April 24; theft of £G7:Bs . "(f>) On-May 5, thoft of £350. ! - ■ v (7). iOn May 8, theft of £250: . (8), On May 13, theft of £50. • ■ . The total amount stolen by. the ac-, cused'was therefore £1435 2s. Bd. Mr:- H. H. Ostjer, of the Crown Law Office, represented'tho . Crown, whilo Mr. M. Myors, with Mr. R. Kennedy, appeared for Cramond. A Statement. ~.'A; statement on behalf of the prisoner, "jT- covering seventeen'typewritten sheets of ' • foolscap, was handed to the Judge. In this statement Cramond said he was 41 years of age and a married man with a: wife and- /our 'children depending upon him. He had been in the service oi Cook and Son for 25 years, and for the past 14 years had been manager of the Wellington branch. During ! this ..' ,Jatter term the business of the .branch .had increased from £14,000 to £30,000 por innum, and' accused had handled .- ' v annually l something like' £50,000. • It required considerable effort to make his salary ( and Commission reach £300: per annum:,; He complained of the manner in ■ which he had been treated by the firm throughout his whole term of service, 5 and declared thai continual i'kiess ■ in i his family had caused: him financial : embarrassmeiit. He had resorted to borrowing from his friends,' and they ' ; all seemed to press him for. ropayment int tlio :;same time. He was ill and low'.spirited, at the time lie committed the ; ; thofts,'and had not fully, realised the . 'nature of his offence until, some'time later. '■ " '' _• :" _ His Honour said he would require' time;td consider the statement, mid he ' proposed therefore to hear counsel and . then .romand-tho-prisoner- until Mondayf nextifor ,sentence.. 'Counsel's Plea for Leniency. .'MK Myers referred. to the case as ' one of the saddest; he had ever had any- . .thing: to" do with' during a fairly long experience in the criminal courts, act- , ,'ing on' somej occasions for the Crown , i and on-other occasions .for accused per- ■ EOiis. i The grounds for such a remark had been ; foreshadowed , in'the : crossexamination of'JMr. Angus (New Zealand .-manager of Cook and Son) in the.. ■ GLowor Court and in the statement now handed' in by the accused. The object • in carrying the cross-examination men-' tioned;:.to such'an extent was Ito give thoi Court and the public some idea of . the circumstances in.which accused had been 'placed. Counsel felt that there wa,s one thing lie could' say without the slightest 'hesitation.: That was that no • jury .of twelve men' could be found who would not make the'strongest recommendation to /tho Court, that . the : prisoner shoulcf! be treated merciftilly.'- , Counsel would go even further and say that , if: accused's case wore left to the , public to; judge—and: this observation was made without-.any ■ : cused would not receive :aiiy,punishment at.all.v-So far the personal minish- . ■ nient' of accused was concerned, bb : had already, been severely, punished by tho degradation andihe his reputa- - tion,-jwhich had-previously , been a good one.-C As for tho punishneiit usually . imposed to aoftas a,deterrent to. ethers. . counsel; submitted', that' irr,this case it was .-not the public.in--tcrest ..to.' imposed'any punishment'; on.. Cramond at all. Tho. lattbr:'found' him-'- ; self 'in;:his present positiphVowing .to the greed of his anrl;pnblic 6ympatliy would be with . f HiS Hoiipur , remarked, that:!, oiie. fre- , . '.juently felt sympathy-for an.'.,accused ■person,. bulTthat-could uot' be looked ' : .upon:as a ground , for not imposing punishment. He.added that; .tho'.position' existing between'accused and his <mi- - - plovers - might havO been a- 'reason . for his leaving their employment, but not . for stealing their money. \ Mr. Myers suggested that the interest of family ties had frequently been urged on behalf of prisoners, i " ( . His Honour' said be had - indicated that: he.'wouldnpi.tako that into,'consideration. To do so would be to draw a distinction between married and single. men. ■ , A Special Case. Mr.---Myers submitted tliat this was one of those special , cases where: tho point deserved consideration. Accus- . cd'-s wife had beeii, and was. still, in n delicate: state of health and accused had had-to borrow money ' from his friends-to properly care'for her. Thero were four children and, ! for a period of years, accuscd had had nothing hut illness in liis family. To crown all, ho had been "burned out" not long ago arid had lost a considerable sum abovo insurance. After that he had been living practically in a whare. Had he received but £100 per year.more/from, his employers during his term as'manager, this trouble would never, liavo be-, curred. And yet, counsel submitted,-ho would still liavo been grossly under- ( paid. It all showed with what economy, the man had been living. After going; into the business relationships betweenthe accused and his employers, Mr. Myers asked was.it any wonder'thiit, in such' circumstances, the sympathy of tho public 'was with the accused as ho (Mr. Myers) firmly believed it was. /:, . His Honour s.aid lie could not coun--tenanco the idea that because accused iyas underpaid that would mitigate tho jfFcnco. . His Honour 'would bo influenced more by the domestio troubles of the accuscd. , Mr. Myers contended that tho worry caused to the prisoner by his burden of debt-," by tho. illness in his family, and by;.tho treatment he had received from his employers and the fact that, his offences had all been committed within 'a brief period, were grounds on which counsel asked His-Honour to extend leniency to the prisoner.' : ' His Honour indicated that he could not. grant probation. Mt. Myers said his idea had been rather that the prisoner, might bo ordered to come up for sentence when called upon. There wero a dozen or moro loading citizens ready to come forward and testify to the excellent character previously borne by Cranimond. His Honour: I will assume that ho horo the most excellent character. I would sooner not hear the names.' Mr. Ostler said ho did not want to say much in view of the manner in wliidli tho-caso liad been put by Mr. Mvers. Ho thought tho accused's salary had. been utterly inadequate for tho position held, but one could not shut,one's eyes to the fact that there wero hundreds, nay, thousands,'of families in : New -Zealand to-day who had to exist' oi Salaries much Jess .than^

that which had beon received by the aocused. His Honour remanded the prisoner until Monday-for sentence-, and in tho meantime agreed to allow him his libeity on tlio samo bail as before.