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Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIII, Issue 227, 7 September 1933, Page 11

Albert James Birchfield was charged at the Oamaru Police Court with obtaining £7 from the Public Works Department at the Waitaki hydro-electric works by falsely representing that be was injured by a truck on May 16. Tho police produced a letter written by the accused stating that he received the injury in a football match on May 14 and not by a truck. The defence was that the accused wrote the letter in a spirit of bravado, J. Frewen gave evidence that the injury was received as the result of a truck accident. The accused gave evidence that at present he was serving a sentence for publication of seditious literature. He was a member of the Communist Party. In an endeavour to make the Department look silly ho had written damaging statements about himself. Sergeant Fearnley inquired if he was making himself a cheapjack hero, to which the accused replied that he was. The Magistrate dismissed the case, saying that the offence was not substantially provedU.S. Prohibition Repeal. A message from Montepelier states that Vermont has become the twentyfifth consecutive State to vote for the repeal of the United States prohibition amendment