THE ELUSIVE MCCARTHY.

Taranaki Daily News, 19 October 1922, Page 3

THE ELUSIVE MCCARTHY.

TWO MONTHS’ HARD LABOR. A SERIES OF CHARGES. The small amount of excitement occasioned by the mystery concerning the whereabouts of the elusive Edward McCarthy terminated at the .\i. /istrate’s Court at New Plymouth usierday, when Mr. A. M. Mowlcm.’ S.M., gave him a couple of months’ hard labor as a penalty for his misdeeds, and two ' years’ probation as an extra inducement to adhere to the p%ths of virtue. In addition to the charges of unlawfully taking for his own use, at New Plymouth, the motor-car of Reuben Pepperell, stealing George Seddon Cheeson’s bicycle at Stratford, and £l3 6s from Ernest Knofflock at Inglewood, another charge was preferred against McCarthy of unlawfully taking to his own use the bicycle of Frank Wakelin while it was on loan to a friend at Inglewood. De-tective-Sergeant Cooney appeared for the police and Mr. R. H. Quilliam for the accused, who pleaded guilty to all the charges, which were taken separately. The facts, as outlined by the detec-tive-sergeant, were that on September 18 McCarthy had gone to Pepperell’s car, which was standing in Powderham Street, jumped in, put in the wrong gear, and had backed ii}to another car, thus damaging the machine he was riding in. However, he got it going again, but shortly afterwards came to grief in Courtenay Street. The other charges arose out of McCarthy’s efforts to dodge the police, for on October 13 he purloined Cheeson’s bicycle at Stratford and rode it to Inglewood, where he shared a room at the Railway Hotel with Knofflock. They went to bed about 8 o’clock that night, but Knofflock awoke to find his cash and McCarthy missing. It appeared then that to facilitate his escape, McCarthy had taken the first bicycle he had come across, that belonging to Wakelin. and he had it with him when he was apprehended at Midhirst last Saturday. Mrs. McCarthy, the wife of accused, mentioned the* detec-tive-sergeant, had made good the damage to the motor-car, while she had also made up the balance of Knoffloek’s missing change. £9 odd having been recovered from McCarthy when he was arrested. Accused had been sentenced previously in Auckland for a similar offence with respect to a motor-car. In asking that accused be admitted to probation, Mr. Quilliam mentioned that he had been instructed by Mrs. McCarthy, who was, unfortunately, the worst sufferer, to say what he could in his favour. It said a good deal for her that she was still willing to take her husband back and endeavor to do her best for him. Drink had been blamed in many other cases, some of which may or may not have been genuine, but the pcffice would bear him out in saying that that was the cause of McCarthy’s downfall. He was apparently a decent, normal young man. and was a returned soldier. Accused was willing to take out a prohibition order for life, if such could be done. Mr. Quilliam said he realised the difficulty in the way of probation because of the previous conviction. but he asked that McCarthy be granted the benefit of probation. It was certain that sending him to gaol would do nothing to reform him; it was simply punishing him without benefiting him or the community in any way. He recognised the necessity for safeguarding the community, but submitted that it would be amply safeguarded under the terms of probation. “I just want to point out that you are an extremely lucky young man to have a wife who is prepared to forgive you your delinquencies,” said Mr. Mowlem to accused before passing sentence. “Of cotirse,” he added, “the difficulty in the way is your previous conviction. I am afraid ft is a stumbling block which cannot be got over. If you were a single man I should have no hesitation about the matter at all. McCarthy was sentenced to one month’s imprisonment and admitted to probation for two years for tak.ing the motor-car, two months’ imprisonment with hard labor for stealing the money, and a month each on the bicycle charges, the sentences to be concurrent. He was also ordered to take out a prohibition order during the currency of his probation. while an order for the restitution of the bicycles and money was made.