SMUGGLING

Hokitika Guardian, 28 July 1932, Page 3

SMUGGLING

HAUL OF TOBACCO. FINES TOTAL £36,000. LONDON, June 2. Fines amohhifirig to i.t0f3,00 Were impsed at M-arlebone, London, recently on three men? who were convicted or tobacco .smuggling after a dramatic story, had been told of an attempt to ship over a ton of tobacco from Antwerp in a fast motor-launcch. Lionel Victor Earle,- aged twentytwo, merchant seaman, Albert Charles Earle, aged twenty-four, his brother, and John Isaac Schulman, aged thirty-nine, were charged with reinOving 23971 bof uncustomed tobacco. The two Earles were also charged with unshipping the tobacco in the Isle of Wight, and .it-was also alleged against Lionel Earle that as master of a motor-iauncri known as the Cat lie failed to report its arrival: that he falsely declared tlie Cat had sailed from Hastings instead of Antwerp; and that he falsely declared that he that no cargo on bond. r , ,;.. t The prosecution alleged that Lionel Earle chartered the Cat and picked ■ up a cargo of tobacco at Antwerp. The' Cat ran .aground on the Isle of Wight and the tobacco was transferred to a lorry, ferried to Lymirigton and driven to London, where it was seized by the police. . Counsel for ; the Earles explained that their defence was based on the fact that they were made use. of by a man named Franklin or Lesser.. TOBACCO IN CASKS. . -d

“The tale told by the -.prosecution is dramatic and sensation a!/” continued counsel. “Lionel Earle. ivas formerly, the fourth mate .of/the t Highland Hope, the vessel sank, off Portugal. He had been in .prison, and onJariuary 14, when he came out,.-, re-: ceived a legacy of £2OO. He'waeXa young man with £2OO iri his pocket/ and a love for the sea and adventure! He decided to charter ,a yacffiU with, the idea of taking people for private" trips and so making money. -Tiesser' who had the money and was "able to* tell the tale, asked him to take him oil> a voyage to Antwerp for £50;” rV- : '- 1 '

Counsel contended that Lesser .took the tobacco on board at Antwerp in a number of casks which Lesser told the Earles contained his private property. ' • tiJO'i'j;

Detebtive-Inspector Allen stated that the two Earles were convicted’'in’ October, 1930, for robbery with ’Violence at Barking railway station, and,, with another man, getting'away with £IOO.

The magistrate ’fined Lionel Victor Eude £l2Ol, or six months’ imprisonment on the nnin charge against him. He a'!.,o ordered him to pay £IOO/ with the alternative' of ' months’ ,i,m-’ prisonment, for make a due report of the launch; and sentenced him to nine months’./imprisonment in the second 'division,.on each, of two charges of making a, false declaration, the sentences to. run concurrentlly. Albert Charles Earle and Schulman were each fined £l2(K) i ;pr six- t months’ imprisdnment. The ima'gistratd remarked that they were liable to' fines amounting to £24,342.

Notice-of appeal Was given on behalf of Schulman, who was released on bait in one surety of £IOO and two of £SOO.