Illicit Still on Motuora Island

Manawatu Times, Volume 69, Issue 66, 21 March 1944, Page 4

Illicit Still on Motuora Island

THREE DEFENDANTS BLAME EACH OTHER. \ (Per Press Association.) AUCKLAND, March 20. ‘ A raid by police officers and Customs officials on the small island of Motuora • in Hauraki Gulf on February 25 had its * sequel in the police court when three men appeared before Mr. J. H. Luxford * S.M., on a series of charges dealing * with the alleged operation of an illicit 1 still. Clement Robert Lawson, mechanic, 1 aged 33, was charged with having in his 1 custody or possession an unlicensed 1 still or other apparatus suitable for dis- I tilling. Together with John William 1 Buchanan (alias Hopkins), sawmill hand, aged 60, and Kevin Herdson, t jeweller’s apprentice, aged 18, Lawson t was charged with having in his possession or custody or upon his premises a still or other utensils suited for distill- ' ing without first having obtained a < license for keeping or using them. Each i man was also charged with being foima i on premises where illicit distillation j was carried on. 1 Mr. Dickson appeared for Lawson j and Herdson and Mr. G. Skelton for Buchanan. The Crown Prosecutor (Mr. V. R. Meredith) prosecuted. Arthur John Noakes, farmer, said that while staying on Motuora Island which he was inspecting with a view to ' buying accused Lawson and Herdson ‘ arrived in a boat. Lawson made 'J several trips to the mainland bringing back provisions, tools, a cream-can with ‘ piping soldered on the lid, a large wooden hogshead, a bag of grain and a J bag of sugar. John Ellis Jones, farmer, said he was lessee of Motuora Island. At the beginning of January Lawson came to see ' him. He said he had just had an ' operation and wanted a quiet house to ’ recuperate. Lawson rented the house and once witness saw a barrel there. 1 He lifted the cover and saw a dirty- i looking liquid bubbling and smellipg i like wine. Lawson was not there at ; | the time. < A Customs officer, John Reid Wallace, i said he visited Motuora Island in com- , pany with Sergeant Adams and other , officers on February 25. They landed | on the southwest coast and climbed to , a height where they could look down on a farmhouse about 60 yards from the beach. They circled round and approached it from the rear where they met accused Herdson chopping wood. A few yards away was a still in full 1 operation with a fire burning beneath it. The still had been made of two 16-gallon coppers welded together and fitted to the top of an oil-drum in which a fire was burning. The copper tube led to a condenser coil inside the second drum which was filled with cold water. Distilled spirit was dripping from the. end of the coil into an enamel jug. The man Buchanan was accosted near the boatshed, witness continued, and he told the police party that he was staying there to mend a few boats for Lawson. The police sighted Lawson and the rest of the launch party and brought him back to the house where each man was interviewed and made a statement. On the premises were several bottles of spirit, about lOOlbs. of wheat, a cream-can practically full of corn mash and a welding outfit. In his statement Lawson said he was a mechanic employed by the Auckland | City Council. He had been on the island about three weeks because of his health. The still did not belong to him. |lt was working that niorning but, stated Lawson, Buchanan had been working it. Buchanan made a statement that he had been on the island only since Fobruary 20 mending boats. He was not connected with the distilling of spirits and knew nothing abouc it. That day was the first time he had seen the still and Lawson was operating it. In his statement Herdson said he had been on the island three or four weeks for a holiday. He was assisting with the housework and cooking. He did not know who brought the still to the house, the only person he had seen operating it was Buchanan. Sergeant Adams said he revisited the house and found a large hogshead containing about three gallons of corn and wheat mash and several decanters haltfull of spirit. The Government Analyst (Kenneth Massey Griffin) gave evidence that he had analysed the samples taken from the still at Motuora Island. The distillate being produced when the police arrived contained 16.2 per cent, of proof spirit and the mash in the cream-can 8.8 per cent. Some of the spirit found in Lawson’s room was found to contain 84 per cent, of proof spirit. All the accused pleaded not guilty and were committed to the Supreme Court for trial. Lawson and Herdson were allowed bail, the amount being fixed at £IOO with one surety of £IOO.