GAOL FOR "BOOKIE."

Taranaki Daily News, 2 December 1920, Page 5

GAOL FOR "BOOKIE."

TOBACCONIST GETS THREE MQNTBJI FINES NOT A DETERRENT. , FIRST CASE UNDER AMENDED L^WI By Telegraph.—Press Atsodttlon. : ' ChrUtchurca, Last Nighi A charge of keeping a common gftming house was preferred against Alfred Vivian tobacconist, at Jhe Court to-day. Considerable police evidence was given. Mr. McCarthy, S.M., in giving judgment, said he had no doubt whatever that upon the evidence betting had been going on upon the defendant's premises. Certain documents founl there, together with the evidence of the police, showed that betting had been going on in connection with horses that were runniag at, the Addington and Biccarton raoecourses 1 about that time. It had been suggested that no actual bet had been proved, but if the circumstances deposed to by the police suggested betting and betting only, the absence of a speciflc case was not very material. Much had keen made by counsel for the defence of the faot that the con. stables who endeavored to bet with defendant were unsuccessful. One of thai* witnesses, however, had said defendant told him he must have a proper introduction or go elsewhere. This evidenoe, winch had not been contradicted, showed defendant was conscious of carrying on ' an unlawful business.

In previous cases, said the Magistrate, he had found that a fine wa» not a. deterrent. His duty was to administer the law, and when a breach of the. har was proved, to administer such a p«talty as would act as a deterrent. Defendant would be convicted and senteneed to three months' imprisonment.

AN APPEAL LODGED.' THE SENTENCE SUSPENDED. Christchureh, Last Night' An appeal hus been lodged by Wbitte against his sentence of three month*' imprisonment. It will be heard at the next sitting of the Supreme Court, and in the meantime the sentence is suspended. THE LAW v, THE GAMBLER CONTEST OP A HUNDRED YEAKS. FINES IN AUCKLAND CASES. Auckland, Last Night. • "The-, contest between the law and the gambler has been on for a hundred years, but 1 think it has approached a stage when the gambler must give up" stated Mr. Poynton, S.M., to-day, when two bookmakers, John Loughlin and Joseph Dixon, came before him as the nrst layers of odds in Auckland caught in the net of the recently amended Gaming Act, Both men admitted having carried on the illegal occupation oi bookmaking. Chief Detective MoMabon stated that defendants were carrying on a little second-hand shop tin [Victoria Street, and it was discovered, when Detectivesergeant Hammond and Deteotive Kmght raided the shop a week ago, that defendants were really conducting an extensive business as bookmakers'in an oflice within the shop. The document! seized showed that their illegal flwsinesa "/?^ tamWe ' runnin S to a "double" of iiooo on the forthcoming Auckland races. Defendants were experienced men, who kept at the busineii witt a knowledge of the chances they took. Detective-Sergeant Hammond, in eridence, said that one of the documents seized in defendants'' office was a "double" chart showing that they we»e i ready to lay any combination to the extent of £IOOO. Another document showed that their "double" book on the second day of the Takapuna races, with only two days to fill in, was £SOO. Both were men of good character. Mr. Allan Moody, for Loughlin, pointed out that this was the first case in Auckland, if not in New Zealand, under the new Gaming Act, and defendant did not realise the drastic ntvthre of the Act, which increased the penalty to a £ 1000 fine or two years' imprisonment, in addition to making people who bet with bookmakers liable also to penalties. Loughlin had practically been bred to the business,, first as a jockey and later as a legal bookmaker. Consequently it was hard for him, at 61 years of age, to change. Mr. Meredith, for Dixon, made a similar plea, stressing the points that delendant was 71 years of age and was merely a servant of Loughlin. The hist statement was verified by Detective-Sergeant Hammond, His Worship commented that 'gambling presented an interesting hlrtoryfor the past hundred years, from the time it was fashionable and Prime Ministers' wins and losses were chronicled in the newspapers as society news. Since then the contest between the law and gamb' ling had been like a fight between an armorer and a gun. When gamblihg in a house was vetoed the gambler used :i shed, when a shed was banned he took to the field, and when the law met this with the definition "place" there was a fight to decide the question of whether or not a man under ah umbrella was in # "place." So it had gone on, until now it was a very cloee ' go,' and ho thought the gambler would have to give up. The Legislature took the view that young fool* had to be pro- ■ tected from experienced men, and that' the upsetting effect of gambling on people generally was detrimental to tbeindustries of the community. Only severe penalties would have'the effeel aimed at <by the Legislature. Loughlin would bo convicted and fined £3OO, in default twelve months' imprisonment, mid Dixon would be fined £IOO, in de« tault six months' imprisonment. Det fondants were allowed a week ih whfck to pay.