EPISODES IN CRIME

Evening Star, Issue 21751, 20 June 1934, Page 10

EPISODES IN CRIME

YOUTHS BEFORE COURT "CRAZE FOR MOTORS " “ It is obvious from the account of these episodes in crime that these young men should be sharply brought up,” said the Magistrate (Mr J. R. Bartholomew, S.M.), when Noel Ivan Murdoch (19) and Robert Smith Palmer (18) appeared in the Police Court this morning for sentence on two charges of unlawful conversion of motor cycles ami two charges of theft at Christchurch. The accused were jointly charged with unlawfully converting to their own use on March 28 a motor cycle valued at £SO, the property of John St. Clair Cunningham; similarly on March 29 a motor cycle valued at £3O, the property of David Henry; with the theft on April 19, at Christchurch, of a rifle valued at £3. the property of William Clarkson; and the theft on April 3, at Christchurch, of a canvas tent valued at £1 12s 6d. the property of Robert Smith. Chief-detective Young told the court that late on the evening of March 28 the two accused took Mr Cunningham’s Ariel motor cycle from Anderson’s Bay road, and the following night removed Mr Henry's A.J.S. machine from Cargill road.' They then set out for the north, and on March 30 the A.J.S. was found in a water table at Totara, near Oamaru. It was bearing the plates of the other machine, and quite a number of its parts were missing. The damage to the machine amounted to £5 15s, and the total cost to the owner, to bring it back to Dunedin was £7 3s 6d. On March 31 the accused were found camped under the Pareora bridge, near Timaru, and apparently stayed there several days. Here Palmer gave his name as “ ‘ Snake ’ Ferredy,” while Murdoch called himself “ Morris.” They met a man named Tobin and told him they were going to Christchurch to take part in broadsiding there. They asked Tobin if he could lend them a tent or a rifle, and he borrowed these articles from friends for them. The accused promised to return the ride and tent, and then went on to Christchurch, where they sold tho tent to a secondhand dealer for 7s 6cl. On April 4 Murdoch was seen in Kaiapoi, where a traffic inspector spoke to Murdoch on account of his having'no silencer on the machine he was riding. Murdoch again gave the name of Morris. The next that was heard of them was on April 9, when they called at the Anns Office in Christchurch and asked for a permit to sell the rifle, giving the names of Grant and Morris. The police, however, were not satisfied, but gave the permit to enable them to recover the rifle from the pawnbroker to whom an attempt was made to sell it.- The accused were still in possession of the second motor cycle, and then apparently returned to Dunedin. The machine ■ was found abandoned near Oamaru in a very damaged condition. The total damage,'including the loss of articles to -the cycle, amounted to £22 12s 6d. Suspicion turned on the two accused, as they were absent from their homes at the time the offences were committed, and both were interviewed. In Murdoch’s case the police were roundly abused. Murdoch said that he had been in Invercargill and Central Otago, and then one of his parents induced him not to say anything more. The accused persisted in their denials, and the hand of the police was then forced. Witnesses had to bo brought from the north to identify them, and even then the police were accused of trying to “ frame ” charges on them. The police were put to no end of trouble, and £4 was- spent in bringing witnesses down. And even when they were picked out in an: identification parade they still maintained that they were innocent. Murdoch had not been before the court before. Palmer had been in the Children’s Court.

“Nothing can be said in extenuation of these offences,” said Mr J. G. Warrington, who appeared For the two accused. Murdoch, however, was definitely a first offender, and was not quite nineteen years of age. Both families had been trying to separate these boys, as it seemed when they gol ■together they were rather irresponsible. It was unfortunate that they worked at the same place, and it was difficult to separate them. If Murdoch were released mi probation, • arrangements would be made to send him to relatives at Invercargill. This was really Palmer’s first criminal charge, and it seemed that he had a craze for motors and motor cycles for which apparently he had no outlet, although that was no excuse for the present offence. Arrangements would be made to send him to the country. Counsel added that he had had bis instructions only after the identification parade, and be was not concerned in any charge against the police.

“It- is obvious from the account of these episodes in crime that these young, men should be sharply brought np,” said the Magistrate. A continuance could only lead to a definite criminal course of conduct. It was regrettable that the parents of one of the boys adopted the hostile attitude to the police they did, which was onlyhelping him further on the downward path. “ 1 have grave hesitation m admitting these youths to probation,” said the Magistrate. The only thing he could see in their favour was their youth. On the first charge they would be admitted to probation for two years on strict terms, special conditions being that neither associated with the other or with anyone else prohibited bv the probation officer, that they should he prohibited from haying anything to do with motor vehicles except iu the course of their employment and that restitution be made to the extent of £34 18s 7d, to be divided between the accused, and to be made at the rate of 6s a week. The accused were convicted and discharged on the other charges.