£1000 Worth of Wagers In Five Weeks

NZ Truth, Issue 1207, 17 January 1929, Page 7

£1000 Worth of Wagers In Five Weeks

FISHY BUSINESS

Weighed In On The Scales Of Justice WOMANS BETTING SHOP

(From "N.Z. Truth's" Special Christchurch Representative) . To the casual observer, the premises at 52 Oxford Terrace, on the banks of the Avon river, m Christchurch, were nothing more, up to quite recently, than a necessary domestic institution, providing the piscatorial needs of a large suburban community. But m addition to all the known fish' that swim m the sea, sporting intelligence, of a nature valuable to the punter, both large and small, has been available to those. who inquire.

THOUGH the shingle of Robert James Watson Mitchell hangs above the door, an army of investors regarded the shop as a more important institution than that which the name implies. • A raid on the shop on the last day of December, Awhile the holiday racing was at its height, produced a good deal of material connected with the bookmaking industry, and resulted' in the appearance m court of Mitchell, his wife, Mary, and Albert Edward Baldwin and Charles Shroll, who were found on the premises. The woman and her husband were charged with keeping a common gaming-house, but the police, after .being refused leave to withdraw the charge against Mitchell, tendered no evidence against him, Chief- detec-: tive J. Carroll stating that the police were satisfied that he had nothing to do with his wife's illegal business. The woman was the lessee of the premises, and all the correspondence connected with the betting was addressed to her: The raid produced evidence that she was doing an extensive business. j Statements found on the . premises gave details of over £1000 worth of betting during about five weeks, and the woman frankly admitted that she was carrying on the business of a bookmaker. Lawyer Frank Sargent, who appeared for the Mitchells and Baldwin, pleaded as far as he could for the woman, stating that there was no question of morals, as the State was a party to betting by the totalisator, and what this woman had done was merely ian : artificial extension of the system.

Frank Admissions

After hearing the charges against Baldwin and Shroll, Magistrate Mosley expressed his douDts regarding the allegation that Mitchell was not interested m the business, stating that it went against the grain to see a man sheltering' himself behind petticoats. Taking into consideration Mrs. Mitchell's frank admissions, the magistrate intimated that he would not be so severe as otherwise he would have been, and fined her £30. Baldwin, who said he had gone to buy fish for his lunch, was; with Mitchell, scrutinizing a marked list of, acceptances m a paper on the counter when the detectives took charge of the premises. Though he f protested his innocence and, declared that he had not had a bet m the place since November last, he was fined £ 3 for being found "on the premises. Shroll made no bones about the reason of his presence at the shop. The police were m charge when he arrived, he said. Failing to raise an answer to his knock on the front door, he went round to the back where he was met by Matron Rogers. He asked for Mrs 1 . Mitchell, and was told she was engaged, whereupon he informed the matron that he wanted a "dollar" on Cardinal Logan and asked her to fix it up for him. He was duly "fixed up" then, and also by the bench, the fine being £2. Magistrate Mosley made no., secret of his knowledge of the Bookmakers' Association . when Lawyer Sargent asked the court for time for Mrs. Mitchell tb pay her .fine. Fourteen days were allowed m which to find the money.