TEMPTED TO STEAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 29 January 1921, Page 5

TEMPTED TO STEAL.

POSTAL EMPLOYEE'S CRIME. THREE MONTHS’ GAOL. By Telegraph—Press Association. Christchurch, Last Night “Every person in the Post and Telegraph Department is in a position of trust and under great responsibility. The public would not have faith in public institutions if persons who stole letters were free to do that sort of thing without punishment.” These remarks were made by Mr. Justice Herdman in the Supreme Court to-day in sentencing Adam Morrison Rattray, a postal employee, to three months’ imprisonment with hard labour for the theft of a letter containing £5. In extenuation, Mr. Alpers submitted that Rattray had been already punished by heavy monetary loss. In three years «he was to retire from the service with a pension of £215 per annum. He had been dismissed from the service and had made a sorry mess of his otherwise unblemished career. Prisoner had been a volunteer officer in Canterbury for twenty-five years. He received a salary of £320 a year, and was under no financial stress. He was occasionally addicted to drink, and in one of his “bursts” he yielded to temptation to steal a letter which he knew contained £5. His Honour, in sentencing prisoner, said the case was a pitiable one, and he would extend the benefits of the Probation Act to Rattray if he could. His age and service record would be taken into account.