RAIDS AT NIGHT

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20101, 22 November 1939, Page 4

RAIDS AT NIGHT

CRIME DOES NOT PAY MAGISTRATE’S WARNING TWO YOUTHS IN. COURT THEFTS INVOLVE £195 "No man can fight his fellow men and society for long and get away with it. In f)S) cases out of 100 you fall in and the police get you sooner or later. Men, cleverer than you, have tried it and have been caught,” said Mr. A. Coleman, S.M., this morning in the Children’s Court when dealing with two youths, aged 17 and 16 years respectively, on a series of charges of breaking, entering and - ( theft. With Mr. Coleman was associated Mrs. Ada E. Beer, J.P. The 16-ycar-old boy was placed under supervision for two years and the other youth was put under the care of the child welfare officer for one year, restitution of the recovered goods being ordered. The prosecution was conducted by Detective-Sergeant R. IF. Waterson, and Mr. A. A. Whitehead appeared for the two boys. Loss of £123 on Property The younger boy was charged with eight offences ranging from September, 1937, to October, 1939. The value of the articles stolen from radio shops, cycle shops, the Gisborne Amateur Athletic and Harriers’ Club, and cars, was £195 7s 4Ad, the value of the property stolen Paving depreciated by £123 4s 10Id by the time it was recovered. In the case of the other youth he was before the court on lour charges involving property valued at £lsy izs, the loss on this being £9B 19s Od, he having accompanied the younger boy on four occasions on nigntly raids. Detective-Sergeant Waterson said that the younger of the youths was round at 3 a.m. on October 26 by a nightwatchman. The boy was seen coming from a right-of-way at the rear of the premises of Messrs. J. S. Allan and Sons, Limited, and was found to be in possession of housebreaking implements. He admitted at the time that he had got out of bed and left home for the purpose of breaking into a shop. Stolen Goods Buried The offences had been spread over a long period and all but the last of the charges referred to the theft of mechanical and radio parts, the final charge relating to the stealiiig of money. The boy had a mechanical mind and was clever in assembling the stolen parts. The other youth was not interested in radio, but accompanied the younger boy on four occasions and assisted to break into shops and then to carry the stolen property to the other’s home. Then the articles were buried in the ground at the rear of a fowlhouse for a time and much damage was caused by that treatment to delicate radio instruments. Three radio sets had been stripped and were beyond repair, an instrument valued at £2B had been, knocked about and was useless, and another costing £ls had been reduced to a mass of small parts; Interested in Radio Mr. Whitehead said that it was an extraordinary state of affairs because the boys were really of an intelligent type. Neither the boys nor the parents could give any explanation and the parents had been completely taken by surprise when they learned of their children’s behaviour. The boys had showed their interest in tilings of a mechanical nature and had been given money by their parents to purchase certain parts, but apparently they were not getting the necessary equipment quickly enough. The first of the offences was alleged to have taken place as early as September, 1937, but it was not thought to be quite right, the date being considerably later. Counsel said that it would have been better foy both of the boys if they had been caught earlier, as they apparently had found it too easy to steal the parts they wanted to continue their construction of apparatus.

Mr. Coleman said the younger boy appeared to be the ring-leader, and that he was deteriorating morally as his last theft involved the taking of money from a shop. It was quite a good "idea to pursue scientific studies, but it was. not right to steal other people’s property with which to carry out those experiments. Referring to the older youth, Mr. Coleman said it appeared that he had a weaker character and that he was being led. He had been fooled by the younger boy and had not gained any advantage at all because the younger one had taken practically all the parts to his home.