PILFERING CARGO.

Taranaki Daily News, 4 September 1920, Page 5

PILFERING CARGO.

SEAMEN BEFORE THE COl'llT. DIFFICULT TO PUNISH; By Telejnpli,—Press Association. Auckland, Last Night. Seven members of tho crew of the steamer Ayrshire, who were arrested on Tuesday evening anil Wednesday rooming, on charges of stealing cargo from the vesnel, were -brought before .Mr. Poynton, S.M., in the I'olice Court. Tiie four men arrested by Plain-clot lies Constable Robinson in a pawnshop in Hobson Street, on Tuesday evening were first dealt with. .Barnard Levy, employed by Emanuel Kissin, pawnbroker, said the men produced four rolls of tweed cloth, which they had wrapped round their bodies. He had agreed to pay them £2 for each roll. '. Plain-clothes Constable Robinson said the men told him they knew the cloth was the ship's 'cargo, and one of them, John Storey, admitted having cut open a bale of cargo and extracted the oloth. He asked the others to help him to take It ashore. Detective McHugh said Storey Interned him that lie did the pillaging in order to get some pocket money. In £nswer to the Magistrate, the master of the vessel said the ship -would be j ill New Zealand for at' least three or four weeks. The Magistrate said that if he did not punish the men it_ would be an inducement to others to commit similar and if he imprisoned them until the ship sailed it' would only be adding to our criminal population. He did not want'them here. The captain said that if the men were imprisoned lie would have to get substitutes for them, and when they returned he would not be able to get rid of the substitutes. The Magistrate said the men must'be convicted. Storey was plainly the ringleader, and he would be sentenced to three montlifi' imprisonment, while the others would be fined. The captain said that at present the me/i were, not in a position to pay tho fines, if the company paid the fines and the men left the vessel at Wellington j they would be in debt to the ship. The Magistrate ordered the, men to come up for sentence before leaving NewZealand, the iaptain saying that Dun- ! edin was. to fte the last port. Addressing the men, Mr, Poynton said:, "If yoi|; leave the ship you will get a. severe sentence. We do not want yqu in New Zealand." On a further charge of embezzling articles of cargo, Storey was sentence! to an additional three months' imprisonment. Charges of embezzling cargo were also preferred against three other men, under whose' mattresses goods were found by the police on Wednesday morning. The men said they had no knowledge that the articles were there. The Magistrate said it was possible someone else had put the goods there, and he dismissed the charge.