DRUNKEN THIEF

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 899, 17 February 1930, Page 14

DRUNKEN THIEF

NO ATTEMPT TO HIDE STOLEN GOODS

THREE MONTHS’ GAOL

“He was intoxicated when he committed the theft, and he carried the stolen goods openly along Queen Street,” said Mr. Fennell, for Eric McKenzie, who was charged at the Police Court this morning with theft. He was sentenced to three months’ imprisonment. McKenzie, a warehouseman, aged 28, was charged with stealing goods valued at £1 12s lOd from Hubert Saxon Shaw, and three bell pushes valued at 3s from the Allum Electrical Co., on February 11. Mr. Fennell entered pleas of guilty. The articles belonging to Shaw had been taken from a motor-car parked in Queen Street, said Senior-Sergeant O’Grady. The bell pushes had been stolen from an electrician’s showroom. Mr. Fennell was of opinion that McKenzie had fallen into bad company and had been drinking heavily. The theft from the car was similar to that of a child’s toy, which he had taken in Newmarket about 16 months before. Then, too, there had been no attempt to conceal the article stolen. McKenzie had been out of work for some time. He was a married man. Mr. F. K. Hunt, S.M.: They are out of work and yet they spend their time drinking. How do they do it? The Rev. Jasper Calder, City Missioner, was of the opinion that McKenzie could get work in the country. He would take out a prohibition order. “Of course I know his list, but he is not a bad chap, really,” Mr. Calder added. The Senior-Sergeant: He is a bad thief. “Theft, assault, mischief ,” commented the magistrate, scanning McKenzie’s list. “I am not going to pass over a theft from a car. He can get his job and take out his prohibition order after he has served three months.” McKenzie was convicted and discharged on the second count.