POLICE MISLED.

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 338, 20 January 1937, Page 4

POLICE MISLED.

FALSE STATEMENT. Amazing Story Of Alleged Attack On Life. What appeared ,to be ;a ‘fiendish attempt to cause loss or personal Injury by connecting |a sparkp plug to tbe benzine tank jof a motor truck Was reported -ho Hhe pobce in September last and an the Stratford Court this morning an amazing story was (heard when Alfred James Dick, carpenter, of Stratford, appeared before Messrs A. R. Davis «>nd W. Mo, Innes, Justices ot the Peace, charged with making a false statement t 0 the police that I’ erime /had peen committed. Dick was convicted ' and ordered tto come up for sentence within 12 months if called upon.

A plea of guilty was entered by defendant, who was represented by Mr Percy Thomson. Sergeant C. M.

Anniss prosecuted. Sergeant Annis said that xm the morning of September 23 the police received a complaint from Boon Bros. Ltd., that a motor truck had been interfered with during the night. Constable Rae examined the truck and found that a wire had been connected to a spark plug on the engine and carried through into the benzine tank, a spark plug being fitted and Iguspendeid over the benzine. 'Tlfo plug was then earthed to the engine. Had the engine been started the fumes in the tank would have been ignited and possibly very serious damage would have resulted. Threatening Letter. On September 24 Dick handed to tlfte police a piece ot paper addressed to himself and bearing on the inside the inscription: “A. Dick, R.I.P. If at first we don't succeed' try, try, again.’’ In his statement Dick alleged that the door of the shed containing the truck had been tampered with, the nails having been drawn and the hasp replaced. He was unj able to say who might have been reI sponsible for interference with the I truck. On October 23, when he was I again interviewed, he said he knew I nothing as to the identity ot the per- | petrator. On November 17 Detective j Kearney saw Dick and told him that • be had reason to suspect that Dick i knew more than he had told the j police. The Detective asked Dick to | copy the handwriting on the paper I sent to Dick through the post office, j and found that it corresponded. Dick j then macle a fresh statement, in I which he admitted responsibility for the act. He said that just as he had arranged the contrivance Ute yard foreman, Anderson, came along and he told him the story. Then while Anderson went to see the manager I Dick drew the nails holding the dodr lock and replaced them with screws. He stated that he had ho motive, but having told his story, had no option but to try and bluff it out. When he went home at night he conceived the idea of writing a threatening letter. Detective Kearney and Constable Hughes, continued the Sergeant, spent three days in Stratford investigating Dick's story. They went to a lot of trouble and their time was aasted just through the stupid idea of a young fellow. He said he did not concoct the story for the sake of publicity and did not give any reason tor his action. A Practical Joke. Mr Thomson said the charge arose through a thoughtless or foolish action. Dick had passed from oue act to another until he had committed a breach of the law. In his statement to the police he had said that he had no motive. In the first instance the intention was really to play a practical joke ou a fellow member of the staff, a Mr Eustace. Defendant had heard Eustace talk of people having been burned after benzine had been poured over them and Dick thought he would give him a scare. Any danger, said counsel, could only have arisen through the starting of the engine and Dick was in charge of the engine at the time. Unfortunately tor the success of the joke, the foreman, Mr Anderson, came along, and on the spur ot the moment, Dick told the story. He was a young man of 22 years, was well known, and there was no question of any criminal tendencies in his make up. Defendant realised that the statements made to the police could only be described as nothing kss than folly, and he expressed his sincere regret that the police had been put to so much trouble. Certainly he had the wisdom when pressed to admit his offence and had he not done so it would have remained an unsolved mystery. Testimony of Employers. Arthur Henry Trotter, wood and coal merchant, Stratford,‘and a member of the Strat.ford Borough Council, said ho had known defendant

since he was five-ycars old. He had been in his employ and while witness was absent in Australia had been in charge ot the business for two months. He still had absolute confidence in Dick and would employ him again if available. Geo. J. W. Boon, manager Boon Bros., Ltd., Stratford, said he was still continuing to employ Dick and was satisfied that he had no criminal tendencies. “You have placed yourself in a very serious position,” said Mr Davis. “We are reluctant to send you to prison but you deserve it. Defendant was ordered to come up for sentence within 12 months If called upon and to pay Court costs 10s. An application by counsel for suppression of defendant’s name on account of the ill-health of his mother, was refused, the Bench stating that the case required all the publicity that could be given it.