A BORSTAL CASE.

Taihape Daily Times, 25 July 1919, Page 2

A BORSTAL CASE.

IWHAT A SPIRIT OF ADVENTURL‘ LED TO. A love of advcnvture was the reason given to the Court of Criminal Appeal (London) why a junior clerk under the Board of Education, aged 17, had, with two other youths, committed three burjguaries in the Acion neighbourhood. iEdw.ard Mo.nkh-ouse appealed against his {sentence of two years hard labour, passed upon him at Middlcsex Sessions. Mr ‘S. Young, for appellant, said the other two boys with whom he was charged, had admitted having committed robberies in Bond Street, and the Justices seemed to.h;a.ve been under the impression that Monkhousc also was connected with these affairs, when, as a matter of fact, he had nothing whatever to do ‘;with them, One of the other boys, Becker, had been released on the ‘grounds of kleptonianira. Mr Justice ‘Darling: A very good rea- , son for keeping him in. Mr Young pointed out that the ap—‘ pellant had not been -under the control of his father, who for four years had been acting as _a sergeant of military police in France. 7‘ ' Mr Justice‘ Darling: This boy‘was employed by the Board of Education, and becomes a burglar, and thereupon «the B'oard of Education says he had to resign. I -should have thought he would have been dismissed immedi-a-tely. Mr Young: It. was done in a spirit‘ of adventure.

Mr Justice Darling: It is teaéhixlg strange doctrines if the Board of .Edu—cation thinks this sort of thing’ is to be looked on as a spirit. of adven->t-ure.

Mr Justice Salter: He was employed “during the day assisting the education of the country and commiutting these [burglaries at night. i Mr Young: It was an exception. He ‘has fulfilled his employment with proipricty. Suddenly within one week he [commits th'es'e offences. I suggest it 3was a sudden temptwtion, and was in—spired by the love'of adventure, which, «of course, I do not excuse. Mr Justice Darling: I see they were caught. in the house, and that they had cooked themselves ham and eggs, and drunk four bottles of orange wine, and eavten jelly. Thev were completely rigged up as a firm of burglars Mr Justice Salter, in giving the Colll‘t‘s decision, told appellant that he and two other youths had ‘been convicted of three serious and impudent burglaries. For the sa.k.e of excitement. j «the appellant had broken into the] houses of three respectable and inofien- ' sivc people. These three ‘boys, ap- I parently in order to relieve the tedium ! of their lives, stole £6O or £7O Worth of ' property. This was clearly a case for‘ Borstal.

The sentence was quashed, and a sentence of three years rant -.1 Borstal institution substituted.