EXIT "THE GANG"

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 71, 17 December 1920, Page 11

EXIT "THE GANG"

DETENTION FOR WELLINGTON :' - v HOODLUMS SENTENCES IN SUPREME COURT . ; TH«i final episode;in tie history..of the Han'gJ.oJ'.'. young thieve? who teriorised. "Wellington South, with their depredo-: .tidna' ami gave the police.a.great deal of trouble:beforo .tholr arrest, took ;place .yesterday: in the Supreme -Court, when .His Honour Mr. Justice ;Cha.pmari sen-: .tenced-the youthful oriniirials \b various ! terms' '".of .detention and probation.". „ Mr.. P.-..S.,Ki..Macassey appeared for. the .Crown.'.' ■. ;.'

V.Wh'en. members of the gang wero;first irraigiied.'iri" the Magistrate's. Court, before- Justibas qf, the Peace,] 'seventeen were; charged'"with sixily .different ' of-fehocs,.-four or five being committed, by one .lad., but" .the majority bqihg acc'om.pHsh'ed"iby..."teaib. w ; ork." ..Of the*seventeen lads, six were dealt with summarily,. .'(tiuT'the remaining' eloveh were cominit,ted to the Supreme. Court for sentience. The oriincs committed included' thefts from,.ohur'chs,.hallsi: :«hAps,: aid laimdriesV the booty ranging from ,Bd;'(taken'from a box"at : St. Mark's ChiirohV.to goods-valued at to .Police'evidence in the Lower Court phowed ;that the "gang-', had' been rciA-aingly..-and.-; stealthily. orgaMsed., : ;'"."'• Rstords of the Youths. •

;■ ,;Kenneth : CostelloTand Clifford i Wilmot.Rbs's it.appeared,,were .not regular members, of.the gijng. •' They.hnd five •:- charges, .against them (three .'of breaking •end: entering with intent, one of': attempted, breaking and entering with inlitent, and one of breaking and entering and theft). . Constable Hunt told.' the Court that Costello" had up .'to.'thij time of these offences'borne'a very good character. . He apparently met TRoss. and Cudby by acqideoiu ono night, and'was .persuaded to. 'commit the offences of which he .had .been conyioted. Ross had been'convicted of theft in July, 1919, and admitted to a year's ' probation. Ho . was a good worker but '.'a very hard; lad to have anything to do'with':' Mr.'.H.: F. O'Leary, who appeared ' for ' both- ■ Costello andlßoss, poinded out that their offences were all committed on the one night. Apparently' a spirit of bravado rather than a "spirit of gain, had actuated the boy's. '

His Honour said that he had decided to admit the lad 9 to probation ftr two years. ; The conditions were that they should bB in all respects-of good behaviour, 'that they should not be out at, liight after.B p.m. without illie. consent of the "probation officer, and i that they should refrain -from associating with any person against who'ni the probation officer warned thein.

Hoy George Cudby (aged' 17) had a number of. charges agninst'-him, and a bad record of previous offences. Constable Hunt said tjhat ho had been sent to Bnrnham for assault. He hid been ..convicted in January, 1918, of uhlawful'■'ly possessing firearms, and had been dis- •' charged. In the same month he' was before the Magistrate's Court on charges ~ of theft, and was returned to Burnham. Altogether, he was in Burnham for three years and eleven.momih9. Since loaving .ithe institution he bad been employed in several places in town, and had been 'discharged on account of his poor work. He was an accomplished - thief. Quite recently he had pleaded guilty in the Magistrate's- Court to twenty chatties of. theftl and sentence had been ilKerred pending the : ' sentenco of the iSupreme Court upon the present charges. He 'was one "of "the. worst members of: the ';. Rang, and" his operations extended <ivcr . a, period of some months. . :" His Honour said the very faot; that Cudby and others had, formed a gang was a danger tfo society' because of the liability of the, gang to-draw into it •boys like Costello and Boss,, and make thieves of them when-they were, no.t naturally inclined to be'so.. The ifr--•ports st'ated that the prisoner was lazy and inefficient 1 in hia work. The best thing would be to send him where he could be taught'to work .more efficiently. He would bo sentenced to three years' detention at Inveroargill for reformative purposes. . I John William Compton and George Smith were not given, a good report by the police or the probation officer. Comp- . ton-had been sentenced for.-a previous offence, but the order had been suspended. He had the makings of a.dangerous criminal, eaid.'Hr. Macassey. 'Smith, who was not yet sixteen, was. one of .the -j leaders of the gang, and had committed theft before, in .'addition to being illegally in possession -of ' firearms. There were ten. charges of theft against him. . It .was stated that the Department w.ould .admit the lads at IWeraroaj. the period of detention to bo determined by their' . conduct there...'■ In consenting to this .course. His Honour.reminded the prisoners tnat) they ,were.not being merely committed to .'the.' farm. "You are here for • jentence," he. said, • "and that sentence .will hang over you. while you are at Weraroai . I am merely suspending sentence at present, and if you misbehave at the farm you will.bo brought back • for sentence, and then your reception will not be a pleasant one. It rests with you whether in future. you will strive to be honest, reputable citizens. ;-'«o that you can live down your disI'giaes." . (An Active Gangsman. ;■ ■ 'An active pari! in the .machination's of the gang was taken by.John Joseph Ash, , 17 years <Sf age, who had been arraigned on five charges of breaking, entering and ' theft, and one.chargo of wilful damage He was desoribed as a good worker, but had appeared before a Magistrate in May.'l9l7, on a charge .of theft., and again in 1918. "He was one of a family '• of 14. said Mr. W. Perry, who appeared '.for him, and was a great help to his mother. Ash was sentenced to., two years' reformative detention at Invercargill. /. A similar description was given a-di-minutive youth-of .161, Leo. Francis M'Laughlin. who had several indictments against-him.'• It was stated by Mr. Perry that the lad's -mother was dead, ' and that his,father,took no. imprest in ■ ham, with the result that the lad had been boarding out for some time. He was described as an active worker, but :.after .meeting Compton ho. had completely got! out of control. Mr.-Perry said that friends of .the lad's father had offered' to give him u position on a farm ■ in the lower Waikaio district, whero he " would bo a consist-able distance from : a town, and would be kept out of-.teriipta-tion. In acceding to-tlhe request, His Honour considered he was treating the lad very leniently. Thd' boy had boon ia thiof, and had -been actively engaged iin thieving opera-, tions with- the. gang/ ■ "I .will- place him' under strict probation for three years,""said the Judge; "but ho must' mndersttind that I am being lenient, and that if ho misbehaves himself in the country he will be brought back for sentence." • "" •'" A brother. of the previous prisoner, Thomas M'Laughlin, 18 years of age, according to the police, was easily led, and after having been convicted of theft . in May last and placed.on probation left Wellington in order tloget away from the gang, of which he was not an active member. The term of probation was extended to three years. ". ' Three Sent' South. "- ' William Douglas, aged sixteen years, had ten convictions against him, said ..Mr. Macassey, and needed the strictest supervision. His. home influence • had not.b'een.specially gotid. Ho was accord,'ingly sentenced to three years' reformative detention at Invercargill. 'A similar sentence was imposed on Alfred Tyree, who had on a previous occasion been fined j63 for' the theft of glasses from an hotel. Mr. Jackson, for the prisoner, said that' he waß the , support of his mother. "We can't return a thief to his mother," romarked His Honour. "There can be 'no sliding scalo on that account. Tho police reports ■ show this youth to be lazy and a cunning thief; in'addition he is said tb be addicted to drink." • • Alfred'G. Bennett, also 18 years of age, who had had previous convictions, ' was stated to be a poor worker. - He had " been" actively engaged in the work of the gang. Bennett receivod a similar sentenco. After being- sentenced, tllie.youths appeared -before Mr. F. K. Hunt, S.M., by whom they were convicted and discharged on 'several summary oharges to whion they had pleaded guilty on December 8.