LAW FLOUTED

Wairarapa Times-Age, 27 February 1943, Page 2

LAW FLOUTED

SLY-GROG SELLING. ACCUSED SENT TO GAOL. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) AUCKLAND, February 26. “it may be that our liquor laws are crazy, t>ut they have to be obeyed and enforced till the powers-that-be bring them into harmony with present-day conditions, said Mr J. H. Luxford, S.M., an authority on the licensing laws, when sentencing a seller to three months’ gaol on one charge and fining him £5O on each of two others Accused, William F. Ryan, was charged with having sold liquor without a licence on January 13, having been previously convicted of a similar offence in Octobex last, and also that, being the occupier of unlicensed premises, he was a privy consenting party to the sale of liquor on January 22 and February 1. Ryan admitted the char- & Sub-Inspector Joyce said Ryan occupied a dwelling at No. 5 Wellington Street. As a result of numerous complaints the police kept a watch on the house from 7 to 9.45 p.m. on January 13, when they saw 57 taxis arrive, one every three minutes. “That’s quicker than one can obtain an ordinary taxi,” said the magistrate, amid laughter. . The sub-inspector: This place has been a perfect nuisance, and Ryan has been openly flouting the law and selling liquor It is one of the black spots in Auckland. “We have got to admit that our liquor laws are crazy,” said the magistrate. This like a lot of others, has been exploiting the position and taking advantage of the times. The effects on the morals of the community are devastating. The profits from sly-grog selling are so great that to impose a fine in such cases would only amount to a small licence fee. The penalties for this class of offence are totally inadequate and, the sooner they are amended the better. ’ Reginald Joseph Gould Parfitt,. a young man who is serving a sentence of six months’ imprisonment, pleaded guilty before Mr Luxford to a charge of having sold liquor without a licence- on January 30, having been three times previously convicted of a similar offence. Sub-Inspector Joyce said a constable in plain clothes visited Parfitt’s place in Shortland Street and bought a bottle of whisky, for which'he paid £4 10s. The same evening the police raided the premises and seized liquor. 1 The magistrate sentenced accused to six months’ imprisonment and directed that the term begin from today.