VALUELESS CHEQUES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 323, 14 January 1909, Page 4

VALUELESS CHEQUES.

- m I •VICTIMISING LICENSED VICTUAL- ■ LERS. { In tin l S.M. Court yesterday, before)' Mr. H. S. Fitzherbert, S.M., the police ! preljircd throe charges of forgery and : uttering against a young man named L.'ucst Taylor, alias Wilson, a laborer, who was charged»{l) with having at Inglewood on .January 1, 1909, forged •the. signature of A. Morton to a cheque for £'i l-f> on iiu' Bank of New Zealand, hijM'WtMHi, payable to "cash or bearer," and Livng uttered it to Annie .Bergin; (2) tli.it on or about January 2, 1009, at lnglev.vo 1, hy 4 fid forge the signature of A. Moitun to a cheque for £l>, and. *1:«J utter it to Annie Bergin; and (3) that on January 2, at Inglewood, ho did forge a cheque for £7 103, •purporting to be drawn by A. Morton, and did utter it, at Xew Plymouth, to ;Eupheniia Mcllvride.

Sergeant Jladdrell conducted the prosecution. • Annie Bergin, wife of the licensee of the Inglewood Hotel, deposed that on •the Ist inst. accused went to the hotel and asked for two drinks. In payment he presented a cheque for £7 10s :(produced). alleging it to be signed by •"A. Morton." Witness thought that the cheque had been drawn by Mr. A. Mor;ton, of Egmout Village, and that it was all right, and cashed it without asking accused any questions. She knew Mr. .Morton, and had cashed cheques drawn by him before. She gave accused change to the amount of £7 9s. On Monday, January 4, accused came to the hotel and asked witues* to cash another .cheque. Witness told him she could not "cash it, andi told him to go to the Bank. •Accused replied that lie could not wait ifor th-e Bank to open. Witness again feaid she could not cash it, and lie then •left. She had not seen accused again after that, but identified the prisoner. On Saturday night, the 2nd inst., while counting up her takings, witness found in the cash register a cheque (produced) for £O, drawn on the Bank of Xew Zealand, Inglewood, in favor of "cash or bearer," ami bearing the signature "A. Morton." The register showed thai •tlie cheque had been cashed that day. Witness did not remember cashing the cheque. Both cheques were paid into the Bank of Xew Zealand at Inglewood. but were returned as forgeries. Euphemia Mellvride, wife of Peter MeUvride, licensee of the Criterion Hotel, •Xew Plymouth, stated that oil the 4th inst. accused was in the Criterion Hotel, between noon and 1 p.m. He asked her -to cash a cheque for ;£7 10s. She did so. The. elwMjue purported to be sigucd bv "A. Morton, v and was drawn on th< :Bank of Xew Zealand, Inglewood. Witness hail previously cashed cheque# drawn by Mr. A. Morton, but she did not remember his signature. Accused »was the person, for whom she had cashed the cheque. William Henry Smith, bak'cr, of Inglewood. said he had known accused for about seven weeks. On December 31, about 10.30 p.m., accused walked inito witness' shop, and asked witness Kvhat bank he used. Witness replied that he banked with the Bank of Xew Zealand at Inglewood. Accused asked fwitness for a blank cheque. Witness fcave him one from his cheque-book, j The number oil the first cheque utter- ! led by-accused to Mrs. Bergin correspond- ; sed with the number on the butt of the Wank cheque witness gave accused. The (next day witness saw accused at the Stratford races. In the evening of that day, at Inglewood, accused asked for another blank cheque, as he had "done sio good" that day. Witness gave hfui a cheque form. Accused said he had (better have two, so witness gave him a third form. The second cheque uttered to Mrs. Bergin and the cheque uttered to Mrs. Mellvride l>ore the numbers on the butts of the two forms witness gave accused. Witness produced this cheque-book. When witness handed ne j cused the. three cheque forms mentioned there was no writing on them. I Adam Francis Thomson, manager of , the Bank of Xe.w Zealand's Inglewood ibranch, recognised the three, cheques ! •produced. Payment had been refused because the signatures were unlike. 'Robert Arthur Morton, of Egmout Village, was the only person named Morton having an account at the Bank of Xew Zealand. Inglewood. Robert Arthur .Morton, farmer. Egmont Village, deposed that he had •known accused for a little over three months. He was employed on witness' farm by Mr. W. H. Baxter, who •milked on shares with witness. The signatures to the .three cheque* produce were not witness'. . He had siever authorised accused to sign his name 1o any documents. The signature to the cheques was not witness's usual signature. j , Constable Mclvor stated that on the 4th inst., about 1 p.m., he saw accused in Devon street, Xew Plymouth. He took hiiu to the police station, and Charged him with forgerv of the cheques mentioned in the third charge. Accused replied "Go on." Accused pleaded guilty and was committed to the Supreme Court at Auckland for sentence.