NO DISTINCTION

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 327, 14 September 1932, Page 5

NO DISTINCTION

(Press. Assn.-

MAORI OF HIGH RANK SENT TO GAOL FOR THEFT THE COURSE OF JUSTICE

— By Telegraph — Copyrlght).

Wellington, Tuesday. In pleading for the mercy of the court on behalf of Waratane Renata Ngahana, aged 37 years, who pleaded guilty to the theft of £1463, from the Native Trust Department, his c >unsel in the Supreme Court, referred to the high birth of ac'cused and his prominence among- members of the Maori race. Counsel said that Ngahana was a member of one of the most famous Maori families, and was closely reiated to the present paramount chief of his tribe. They might condone his offence, but his people would never forget, and he would never be refnstated, notwithstanding the fact that he was of high ranlc. In sentencing the prisoner, the Chief Justice, Sir Michael Myers, said: "It- is very unfortunate to find you in your present condition, a man of your previous character and your education. I gather from the inaterial before me that you are a man who has had a good education. The fact is, however, that for a period of no less than seven years, you have

Deen m a position oi trust ana you have systematically and with cunning, brolcen your trust by a series of thefts and forgeries, whereby you benefitted yourself to the extent of something like £1400. Other people of your race, whose money it was, have lost it, unless they are entitled to recover from the Government, whose servant you were.. "Your counsel has referred to the fact that you are a paramount chief among the natives, but Maori or pakeha alike must know that the court knows no distinction between chief and me.nial. There can be no difference here between high and low, or between rich and poor. "The sentence of the court is that you be kept in prison for reformative purposes for a period of three years."