THEFT OF DRIPPING

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 201, 20 May 1920, Page 6

THEFT OF DRIPPING

. -9 Two young men, David Smith and Walter S. B. Wilson, employed as driver and shopman respectively . by tho _ Te Aro Meat Company, a business carried on by Norman Clowt. were jointly charged, in the Magistrate's Court yesterday, that on divers date 3 between February 18 and May 18 they stole a quantity of dripping valued at £15. Mr. G. Watson appeared for both accused, who pleaded guilty. Chief Detective Ward stated that tho men took odd tins of dripping that were about the premises and converted the same to their own use. When interviewed by a constablo they admitted their guilt without hesitation. They were both married men, one with a family, and nothing was known against them. Mr. Watson said that in view of the admittedly fair manner in which tho chief detcctlvo had stated tho case there was very little for him to say. Tho men had thoughtlessly taken the odd tins, but tho real cause of their lapss was probably that they found it difficult to mako ends meet. They were both decent men with a clean record up to the present, and they had already suffered through tho loss of their employment. Tho Magistrate (Mr. W. G. Eiddell, S.M.) said that in view of their previous good record and the fact that they had lost their jobs, ho would deal leniently with them. The acts of theft, however, wore not single acts, but spread over a period, and he would therefore have to injpose some penalty. They ought to know 'perfectly well that if they took things that did not belong to them they must pay the penalty. The men wore- fined £5 each, and ordered to refund the value of the stolen goods in equal proportions.