LOOTED BURNT CAR

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 577, 1 February 1929, Page 13

LOOTED BURNT CAR

LABOURER FINED £5 THOUGHT IT ABANDONED “The fact that you first denied you had the missing articles proves that you did not act innocently,” commented Mr. W. R. McKean. S.M., when Herbert Robert Godfrey Harper appeared at the Police Court this m'orning on a charge of theft. Harper, a labourer, aged 25, pleaded guilty to stealing motor accessories valued at 10s from Joseph Colin Mitchell. Sub-Inspector McCarthy understood that the missing goods had been stolen from a motor-car which had caught lire in Great South Road two days ago. The constable had asked Harper, who lived in the vicinity, if «he knew anything of the theft, of which he pleaded ignorance. Shortly after the constable heard that Harper had the articles, and found them underneath a sack in his bedroom. There was nothing known about the young man, who was thought to be making his first appearance in court. Harper’s explanation was that the things he took were damaged by fire, and he thought they were useless. Imposing a fine of £5, in default 14 days, the magistrate remarked that had Harper acted in innocence he would not have denied taking the articles in the first place.