BOOKMAKER FINED

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 305, 9 December 1936, Page 4

BOOKMAKER FINED

I STRATFORD CASE. I i , ; Canvassing Doubles Chart In i Hotel. i l I '*‘l warn yoo that if you again brought before the Court ! cn this charge you will not be i dealt with so leniently,,” said tfie ! Magistrate, Mr W. H. Woodward, 1 S.M., in the Stratford Court to- : day, to Frederick Dodd, Strat- • ford, who pleaded guilty to a i charge of carrying on the busiI ness of bookmaker. Dodd, who I was represented by Mr S. MacI alistcr, was fined £7 10s.

j On October 26, defendant had been I canvassing a doubles-chari in a, j hotel at Stratford, said Detective P. : Kearney, who prosecuted. A conj stable took two shilling doubles off 1 ihe chart. On the" 28th of November | Dodd was interviewed and admitted I ' running small doubles-charts over a I period of nine months. Police inforI ; mation was that the activities had j I been going on for a period of from i 12 to 18 months. At the time, defendj ant had in his posession a doubles- ! < hart lor shilling bets, which, if full, l would yield him £ll. The person I whining the double would get £2 I 10s.

Relief Worker. ■ Dodd was a married man with five i children, the eldest under 12 years of I • age, said Mr Macalister. He was on I I i relief work, earning just over £3 j , per week i : | i Mr Macalister said that the defend-j i am had been operating only from 9 j | to 12 months. In actual .practice aj ! double chart did not get more than I ; i : half filled, as the majority of people I I who knew anything about racing did j i nc; take .“outside” chances." It very j I rarely occurred that no person failed j to pick a winning double on such a i Huirl

l Ulli'Ji, I Even the poorest investor in the I country would not be harmed by taking a, bet on such a chan where the I I ! charge was only Is. He compared I I this with the conditions in art I i unions. : I I Lenient View Sought. 1 In conclusion, Mr Macalister asked; i that a lenient view of the case be j I taken. Defendant’s betting activities j ! had been so small that he was de-1 i pendent on his earnings as a relief i worker and would find any’ penalty ! imposed very difficult to meet. I Dodd’s operations seemed to have } been in a small way, said Mr Woodward. They were apparently, however, profitable in a small way. He would take defendant's poor circumstances into account. '