Cox's Pippins ?

NZ Truth, Issue 1152, 29 December 1927, Page 5

Cox's Pippins ?

WHEN, recently, Arthur Pembroke Cox selected a pair of socks at the establishment of Archibald Clark's, Auckland, he fairly put his foot into it. The footwear was then worth but 3/-, but its value soared to the extravagant figure of £5 on the assessment of Magistrate McKean when Cox appeared to answer a charge of theft.

It was Detective Nalder who was responsible for a little inquiry into the parcels under Cox's arm as the latter tripped gaily forth from the building. There, among other underclothing, were the socks — just three shillings' worth of woven yarn that Cox had omitted to pay for.

"What I am chi,efly concerned with," said Lawyer Bryce Hart, who appeared for the accused, "is the suppression of my client's name."

Cox, continued counsel, was well known among the travellers of the city and had, until yielding to this one extraordinary case of temptation, a perfectly unblemished career.

But magistrates are more or loss of the one opinion that shoplifters, when apprehended, should receive the full glare of publicity, so the name of Arthur Pembroke Cox appears coupled with a conviction and a fine of £5, in default 14 days' imprisonment.