FIVE YEARS' PRISON'

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVI, Issue 55, 2 September 1943, Page 6

FIVE YEARS' PRISON'

TRUST MONEY THEFTS

AUCKLAND SOLICITOR

:p.a. ■■■■: ■ .Auckland; This Day.; Sentence of: five years' imprisonment was imposed by Mr; Justice -Fairtoday on Huon Lucien Martyn ; Buisspn: (39), solicitor, of Auckland, for thefts of sums totalling. £ 14,277 belonging to clients. . .■• --'■■ \' "■ '■■ ■•■■" ' -.■ ;■ '■':. : ;'■:■:'■■

Auckland; This' Day.

Among the: circumstances connected with the case, said Mr. W. ■ Meek,;: ■counsel -for Buisson, there ... was which would afford general, satisfaction, namely, that not. one' of the clients involved had lost a penny as.a result of the misappropriations. The whole burden had fallen-on ,the solicitors' fidelity guarantee trust fund. - ;v. ; Counsel • said that in 1935, the year after Buisspn commenced practice on his own account, he foolishly advanced^' £700 to a friend which-was not returned. He further .gave a guarantee to moneylenders for : another ;■ client who- had a^ "madcap patent scheme." From 1937 onwards Buisson was greatly worried and- had; said in a written statement that he.did,not know..what he was doing. During those years,;unfqrtunately, there was a lack of supervision of. his accounts, and he drifted "on until the filial blow came, continuing to make stupid loans to '"men. iof straw." Counsel submitted; that in cases of a similar nature . prisoners, after finishing their sentences, were given an opportunity to rehabilitate themselves.: He appealed to the Court not to impose a sentence which would destroy hope '•of Buisson's becoming a worthy and useful member of . the community. Mr. Meredith, for the Crown, .said that Buisson was a member of| a profession the practice of which was 'to a great: extent based ■on confidence and frust reposed -in the practitioner by: clients for whom he undertook professional work. From the outset; of commencing practice he : consistently betrayed that trust... He obtained possession of the. trust receipt book of a deceased practitioner.. By issuing offi-

cial receipts in this book for moneys : received he kept a record of them out of purview of his auditor. In a period of years his thefts amounted to over £14-,800. It -might well be- that Buisson had less scruples in robbing his v clients-because of the "knowledge that they would not be losers of one penny, but the actual losers would be other members of the profession hehaddisgraced. '.'■.

His Honour said it- was painful to see a man only 39, and in good health physically and mentally, appear for sentence on charges so grave. He had abused a position of trust, stealing money entrusted to him by clients,-and continued the thefts over the whole of the last ten years. It was true that his. clients presumably would not suffer any substantial loss, "but his fellowpractitioners who . guaranteed . his honesty would suffer, and it was them he had robbed. Whatever difficulty the prisoner might have encountered for a period, the fact remained . that for ten years he had been living in comparative luxury; by "stealing thousands of pounds from many clients who trusted him. The duty of the Court in the circumstances was clearly to. impose a sentence which would warn others. The least sentence the Court could impose was five years.