POLICE RAID ON GAMBLERS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 769, 16 September 1929, Page 1

POLICE RAID ON GAMBLERS

Magistrate Imposes Fines

AN INTERRUPTED GAME

OF 21 men arrested on Saturday evening for being found without lawful excuse on the premises of a common gaming house, 16 were lined up before Mr. F. K. Hunt, S.M., in the Police Court this morning. The keeper of the house, which is situated at No. 94 Federal Street, was fined £25 and 18 of the other accused £3 each. Charges against two of the men were dismissed.

In front of Chief-Detective Hammond were several packs of cards and a set of dice and box, all of which had been seized when six detectives led by Detective-Sergeants McHugh and Doyle, raided the premises at about 10 o’clock in the evening. Tony Goyok was charged with keeping the premises known as No. 94 Federal Street, as a common gaminghouse, and the other 20 men with being found on the premises without lawful excuse. Their names were; George Mihalovich, Andrew Botica, Thomas Donaldson, Charles Morris, Edmund Cooper, Joseph Chadwick, Reginald Benjamin, William Edwards, James Henry Owens, Paul Petak, Bertram James Thomas, William Bond, Tony Gojak, Eric Charles Fleming, Roos Ante, Harvey Thomas, John Duncan, Norman Edward Harris, Louis Urlrich and Jack Juricivieh. Mr. Smyth appeared for all the accused, entering pleas of guilty for each man, except Ante and Botica, who, he said, were boarders on the premises, and consequently had a lawful excuse to explain their presence. TOO EARLY FOR HAZARDS Chief-Detective Hammond said that the arrests had been made in a Dalmatian boardinghouse. There were no previous convictions in regard to that particular house, which had been a licensed hotel, but was now a billiard saloon. The Magistrate: Were they playing hazards ? The Chief-Detective: I think the raid was made too early for hazards, although dice and a box were found beneath the card-table. When the, police arrived two games of solo whist were in progress. Throwing the dice one by one on the table in front of him, the chiefdetective gave it as his opinion that they were honest. “You can see through them,” he said. The Magistrate: For the last lot we had, I remember, the dice box had a little trap-door in it. That was at a Dalmatian boardinghouse, too. The Chief-Detective: Yes, that was the best I have ever seen. PROPRIETOR ABSENT According to Mr. Smyth, eight or nine men were playing 2s solo. On the table was 24 6d belonging to one man and 8s belonging to another. There was no other money about. The proprietor knew nothing of the dice and was not even on the premises at the time of the raid. He was called in from the street, and had no deputy in the room at the time. Counsel considered it likely that one of the men arrested, among whom were some inveterate gamblers, had brought the dice and thrown them underneath the table. “Nobody connected '

with the management would be so foolish as to throw the dice on the floor, where the police would find them immediately,” added counsel. Mr. Smyth said that the house accommodated 40 boarders, though only two of them were in the room at the time of the raid. The rest had probably drifted in to watch the solo after a game of billiards. Evidence was called by the chiefdetective to establish the fact that Ante and Botica 'had been found on the premises. Detective-Sergeant McHugh said that he had visited the house armed with a search warrant. The place was specially fitted up for gambling with padded tables. There were two games in progress and money was on the table. Each man had been questioned after the arrests were made, and Botica was the only one who had made an explanation, saying that he was staying in the house. Ante could not speak English very well and so probably was not able to give his excuse. Neither of the men was playing in the solo games. The detective-sergeant mentioned that, according to complaints received by the police, hazards had been played in the house every night. "LET THEM GO” Mr. Smyth pointed out that complaints were not evidence, and put Botica in the box, where he said he had been boarding at the house for two months. He was sitting in the room where the games were being played because it was the sittingroom. He had not played and had never seen hazards played in the house. Ante was also a boarder. “Let them go,” said the magistrate, and the charges against Botica and Ante were dismissed. Chief-Detective Hammond mentioned that Goyok had been bailed in the sum of £7O, and the other men at £5 each. Goyok was fined £25 and the other accused £3 each, and bail expenses ss, in default 14 days’ imprisonment. They were given 24 hours in which to find the money. “We are a little short of money. It would be better if you could make it a week,” interjected one accused. “Oh, no,” replied the magistrate. “If you are short of money you have no right to go to places like this. You have plenty of friends to borrow from.” According to the police the raiding party comprised Detective-Sergeants Doyle and McHugh, Detectives Nalder, Allen, Power and Stevenson. The building was surrounded and the detective-sergeants entered through the open front door. On their appearance in the room where the games were being played cards and money were tipped to the floor before the arrests were made. There was no resistance made. All the accused were remanded on bail by Mr. A. J. Stratford, J.P., on Saturday evening.