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THEFTS OF MONEY.

U.S.S. COY'S. OFFICE ENTERED. PREVIOUS EMPLOYEE PLEADS GUILTY. A youth named Charles Arthur Watkins, aged about 17, who resides with liis parents at Vogeltown, appeared before Mr. A. Crooke, S.M., yesterday on tliree charges of stealing money from the office c;f the Union Steam Ship Company, in which he was employed up till the end of January last. 'Ae alleged offences took place on February 13, 16, and 19. The sums of money, which were the property of Arthur Rex Blanchett, were respectively £2, Is Od and Is. Sub-Inspector Hutton prosecuted and accused was represented by Mr. A Bewley. Arthur Rex. Blanchett, clerk in the U.S.S. Coy's, office, New Plymouth, said accused was in the company's employ up till the end of January last. During the time he was employed he had a key of the front door. He was a junior clerk. He knew where the cash draw was. It was a small draw, known as a tusker draw, which opened by means of pressing three of the five levers underneath it. Accused knew the combination of levers for opening the draw. On February 12 •witness had £2 in a tin in that draw. The money belonged to him, and lie missed it a day or two after. He told the manager about the loss. On Saturday, February 15, he left the office about 4.30 pjiL, leaving Is 6d in the till. That was missed first thing on Monday morning. He then informed the police. Before leaving the office on Monday he put another shilling, which he marked, in same till. (The coin was produced). During the Tuesday and Wednesday the shilling was still in the till. On the Wednesday he went into the office at about 10.15 at night with Mr. Blane. They stood in the passage, just outside the office and' at about 10.30 they heard a noise at the front door. went to the side door and looked oat,.. but could not see anyone. On going back he heard footsteps in the office. He switched up the light, thinking it was probably the manager. Blane came in behind him. Someone then ran out of the office and he saw the-fonn- of a man in the light. Witness gave chase, but the door was banged in his face. On getting out he saw someone going away towards Devon Street on a bicycle. He could not recognise who it was. He examined the till later and found'that the shilling was missing. When accused handed in his keys at the time of leaving witness noticed nothing wrong with them. Later they had discovered that the key would not unlock the front door. To Mr. Bewley: Watkins had mentioned to witness that in connection with the last payment of wharf laborers' wages, prior to his leaving, there waa a shortage of something over £2. It was not the custom of clerks to share such losses, unless they participated in handling the cash. Witness asked accused to fix up the shortage before he left. Witness did not remember being asked by accused to make np half the loss. He frequently spoke to accused about not checking his cash at the bank. Ho did not remember accused saying he would get even with witness. Percy George Henry Blane, clerk, employed by Newton King, corroborated the evidence given as to the watch kept in the U.S.S. Company's office on the night of February 19. When they followed the man who ran out of the office, witness recognised accused by his form and by the bicycle he was riding. He called out "Watkins, stop," but he rode on. Detective Fitzgibbons deposed that he interviewed accused at Moturoa on February 20. He admitted entering the U.S.S. Company's office the previous night, and made a statement to that effect, which lie signed. The statement was put in. In it accused said he was then employed by the Oil Company, New Plymouth. He admitted having had a key of the front door of the Union Company's office while in their employ, and that he did not give it up when he left. He admitted gesng to the office, letting himself in at the front door with a key, and taking £2 from the till on the 13th inst. On the 19th he went to the office again and took a shilling from the till. He saw a light in the office while there and so ran out, took his bike and ran away. He heard someone call out to him to Btop. He went straight home, where he arrived just after half past 10. He said he had the two pound notes, the key and shilling at home, the two latter being hidden in the garden. Continuing, witness said, when he first approached accused he denied being at the Union Company's office. Witness accompanied accused to his home, and buried in the garden were found three shillings and a Yale key (produced). In the presence of the manager of the Union Company witness tried the key in the door of the office, which it opened. One of the shillings (produced) was that identified by Blanchett. Accused also handed witness the two one pound notes (produced). To Mr, Bewley: He made no explanations as to his reason for taking the money. Mr. Bewley explained that it was not until a fortnight or three weeks, after his having left the employ of the Union Company that accused discovered he had returned the wrong key to the manager. His mother had discovered the key on his table and advised hhn to return it. On being asked, accused pleaded guilty and was committed to the Supreme Court for sentence. Mr. Bewley applied for bail, which the Magistrate sa.ii' ' ' had no power to. grant, a plea i>. illy having been entered, unless it wai certain that the accused would be admitted to probation. Personally he thought it was a case for probation and lie thought the Supreme Court would giant probation. The difficulty he saw, however, if bail was granted, was the time which might elapse before accused was dealt with. It was undesirable that in such enses the accused should be allowed, to go about and have Uie chance to commit other offences. Mr. Bewley suggested a withdrawal of the plea of guilty, The Magistrate said if a pica of not guilty had been entered accused would have been admitted to bail. With regard to the prospects of accused being admitted Mr. Bewley said all the reports that had been gathered were entirely in aeeused's favor. Hia present employer.-; had continued to keep liim ill their employ since the charges were made against him, and were prepared to retain him. His past employers also spoke well of him—the Union Company and the Borough Council. The facts were that he had left the Union Company of his own will, because he was unsuited to office work and had a bent towards engineering. He was now earn- ; ng 12a a day and saw the prospect of being able to buy all the books necessary to enable him to take a course of study in the subject in which he waa most in- ! terested. | Udosl the police giving on assurance j

that accused's case would be dealt with | without delay he was admitted to bail in his own bond of £2O and two sureties of [£lo each. THEFT FROM A LEPPERTON RESIDENCE. Levrts li_ Terrill, aged 10 years and seven months, pleaded guilty, and elected to be dealt with summarily, on a charge of stealing the sum of £9 15s from the residence of Mr. L. H. Langman, Lepperton, on January 8. Sub-Inspector Hntton, who appeared for the police, stated that accused and another lad went to Lepperton on the date mentioned, each of them annexing bicycles on the way, and while the Langman family wore engaged milking they entered the house and stole the money. They spent it in Stratford. On returning home accused went to a drawer in his mother's room and stole £0 or £7 and went away from home and slept out that night. He was quite beyond the control of his mother, who was not in very good health. .The lad had done no work for some time. An elder brother of accused told the that the boy was all right before he began to read "Deadwood Dick'' stories and to go to picture shows but since then he had become uncontrolable. Ho had expressed himself as anxious to go ti> Australia and be a cowboy or bushranger or something like that. Previous to the influenza,, which accused had, he had worked for Boon Bros, but said he did not suppose they would take him back as he bad been away so long. Witness went to Boon Bros., who agreed to-take the boy back, but he stayed only a day. The Magistrate imposed a sentence -of one-month's imprisonment, with a recommendation to the Governor-in-Council that accused should be committed to an industrial school.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TDN19190225.2.65

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Taranaki Daily News, 25 February 1919, Page 7

Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,507

THEFTS OF MONEY. Taranaki Daily News, 25 February 1919, Page 7

THEFTS OF MONEY. Taranaki Daily News, 25 February 1919, Page 7

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