CABARET RAID

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 92, 12 January 1935, Page 22

CABARET RAID

Fine For Proprietor “MAKING A WELTER OF IT” i “As he told the police quite frankly when they made the raid on his club he had endeavoured to 'miike'u welter’ of selling liquor in the Christmas holidays shortly before he was to give up the club in tin endeavour to pull up and for the first time get a little prolit out of the business” said counsel pi the Wellington Magistrate's Court yesterday on behalf of Rodney Pankhurst. Punkhurst pleaded guilty to selling liquor without a license, and was fined £7/10/-, in default .14 days’ imprisonment, on each of them. The offences were committed in “Rodney’s Club.” Lyall Bay. A steward at the club, Joseph Barnes, was convicted and ordered to pay costs on two charges of aiding in the selling of liquor without a license. Visits paid to the club by constables in plain clothes on December 12, 22 and 24 were described by Senior-Sergeant D. J. O’Neill. He said that on each occasion they were served liquor by Barnes from behind the bar, which had a cash register on it. On a fourth occasion, New Year’s eve, the SeniorSergeant himself went to the club with live constables and executed a search warrant. They found a considerable quantity of liquor. Pankhurst bad been candid and said lie was getting out in a fortnight from then, and said lie had decided to make a “welter of it” over the last period as he had been up against it financially. Barnes and his wife bad obtained work at the club only six weeks ago, after a long period of unemployment, and it would be harsh to expect the man to have given up the job because he had to sell liquor as part of it. said Mr. A. J. Mazengarb for the defence. Barnes had never previously been before the court, and it was asked that the offence should be treated as part of that of his employer. Pankhurst had previously been fined £3O, he continued. At that time he had been running a flourishing cabaret business at Seatoun. Principally owing to the fact that it had been raided the business had to be given up. He had a wife and mother to support, and lie tried after that to run a cabaret business- at Lyall Bay without selling liquor, but it slowly declined and there was nothing left but to close it. Then, having decided shortly before Christmas to sell liquor, he. found business still bad, and on Christmas Eve there were only 18 persons at the place and the total takings had been £4/18/6. The liquor,' which would be confiscated, was worth more than £l5- at cost price. Mr. IV. F. Stilwell, S.M., said he could understand that Barnes had more or less had to wink his eye at the selling of liquor in order to pay his way. Concerning Pankhurst, he said lie could only come to the conclusion that there had been an atmosphere of determination and deliberation.