FIVE CARGO-BROACHERS PUNISHED

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 62, 7 December 1920, Page 6

FIVE CARGO-BROACHERS PUNISHED

THEFTS ON STEAMER OI'AWA. Br TeleernDh—Press Association.' Auckland, December G. The broaching of cargo on tho Opawa when tlia steamer was ou tho i.'igh sons was ndmitloil by. five members of tho crew who wore brought before Mr. l'oynton, S.M., to-day. Tho accused, were Lionel A. Tomsett (21), William Meado (28), William C. Codlin (23), John Driver (25), and Alfred Taylor (30), who wovo charged with embezzlement of 3J rolls of cotton, i rolls of flannelette, (wo bos.ee of soap, 48 tins of tobacco, and 95 packets of cigarettes, valued at JErftO. Chief-Detective M'Mahon stated .that tho theft had been discovered by the ship's officers, and they mado inquiries among tho crew. The accused had ov. nod up, with the result that they were turned over to tho police on arrival iu port. Mr. Singer mado a plea for tho men that tli. v bo dealt with by a line.. Ho said that accused had not a'lowed cv.spicioii to fall os others. They had been tempted by an open hatch, but they had come forward and declared themselves when the theft was discovered. Jf they woi'o imprisoned the ship would bo Inconvenienced, and tho men would eventually bo left stranded in New Z'.'aland, and the country saddled with tin. addition uTlfs population that wag net desirable. Tho chief detcctive remarkod that the hatch from which tho goods were token liad not been left open, but it had not been battened down. His Worship stated that there we means of deporting undesirables, and pooplo who stole cargo could not cspect lo get of 011 'hat plea. They would 1)0 sentcnced'to threo months' imprisonment., with a proviso that they bo put ou the ship when it sailed eventually from Acw Zeatnnd.