GAMING ACT

Wairarapa Times-Age, 14 July 1938, Page 6

GAMING ACT

MASTERTON MEN CONVICTED. TWO FINES OF £5O IMPOSED. The public gallery in the Masterton Magistrate’s Court was crowded this morning when charges under the Gaming Act were preferred against three Masterton men, William Daniel Darvill, Alexander Neish and Frederick Richard Ball. Pleas' of guilty were entered in each case. Darvill was convicted and fined £25 and Ball and Neish were convicted and fined £5O each. The charges were the sequel to a police raid on premises on July 7. Detective-Sergeant W. Kane, who conducted the prosecution, said betting material found in Darvill’s posession represented bets to the amount of £l9 Ils. He had £l4 7s 3d in cash, of which he said £1 2s 6d belonged to another account. Mr T. Jordan, who appeared for Darvill, said there was no suggestion that his billiard room had become a nuisance in the eyes of the law. . Darvill did not have the telephone on at his rooms and he did not go out on the streets looking for business. The business came to him. There was a demand and Darvill had provided the medium in a small way for the small bettors. “It is paradoxical,” added Mr Jordan, “that one Department of State fines men for these offences and another Department comes along and taxes them on their incomes.” Mr H. P. Lawry, S.M., who presided, convicted and fined Darvill £25. Detective-Sergeant Kane said that when Ball was arrested, material in his possession should that he had taken 63 bets representing £66 12s 6d. He had £3l 8s 4d in cash, £5 of which belonged to another person. Ball was a first offender. Referring to Neish, Detective-Ser-geant Kane said that he had taken bets to the value of £lO3 6s. He had £l6 13s 9d in his possession. Mr C. C. Marsack, who appeared for Ball and Neish, said both men had been frank and candid to the police and had been of considerable assistance in clearing up the business. Both had lived in Masterton for years and were of good reputation and standing. They had established a reputation for fair dealing and honesty not associated with the popular conception of a bookmaker. Detective-Sergeant Kane: “The three men gave us every assistance in clear- | ing up the matter and put no obstacle in our way.”

Mr Lawry said the question of penalty depended largely on the amount of business and the number of bets taken by accused. He would fine them £5O each. CARTERTON CASE. T. J. Collerton, who was arrested in Carterton on Saturday, pleaded guilty to an offence under the Gaming Act and was fined £lO. He was given a month to pay.