THEFT OF CLOTHING

Dominion, Volume 21, Issue 110, 7 February 1928, Page 6

THEFT OF CLOTHING

MASTERTON RESIDENT FINED Masterton, February 6. The hearing was continued in the Magistrate’s Court this morning of the case wherein Arthur Reginald Boyd, of Masterton, who pleaded guilty, was charged with the theft from a river bank of a garment the property’ of a young man. Mr. S. L. P. Free, S.M., occupied the Bench. Mr. R. R. Burridge, who appeared for accused, pleaded that the effect of alcohol and of war injuries, added to the fact that accused was not of a high standard of intelligence, was no doubt responsible for the act. Accused’s action in taking what was to him a useless article, and wearing it, showed that his mentality was not normal, in which case he should be given the benefit of the doubt. The extent of accused’s war injuries could be gauged from the fact that he was receiving a 50 per cent, life pension. Boyd could be put in the box to prove that allegations made against him of being a “Peeping Tom” were not correct. Accused, while out of work, was constantly in search of it, and evidence could be called in support. It was submitted that accused was a victim of many circumstances. He had a clear record for twenty years, and counsel asked that Boyd be not branded for the rest of his life as the occupier of a prison cell, even if the strictest form of probation were observed. Stating that accused had given the police considerable trouble in the past, Sergeant Dyer expressed his disapproval of probation in this case.

The Bench observed that there was no evidence of accused’s being a “Peeping Tom,” as suggested; the matter before the Court was the theft of the garment, which was a comparatively small offence. The circumstances were unpleasant. It had been suggested that accused was suffering from war disability, but this the Bench could not take into consideration—accused had enough sense to know that he must not take another person’s property. It was a case of petty theft. A fine of £2 was- imposed, in default seven days’ imprisonment.