Magistrate’s Court Transvestite Youth A Party To... (Press, 21 January 1972)

On 21 January 1972, a Magistrate’s Court case revealed the involvement of a transvestite youth in an attempted robbery in Christchurch. Leslie James McCreath, aged 20, and Kerry John Newman, aged 18, both unemployed, pleaded guilty to the charges relating to an incident involving Michael John McCarthy. The events occurred on 23 December 1971, when McCarthy, having met Newman in a hotel, was led to believe he was engaging with a female sex worker. Newman, after obtaining $20 from McCarthy, signalled to McCreath, who then assaulted McCarthy from behind while he was preoccupied. The court heard that McCarthy sustained injuries and both defendants were remanded on bail to 27 January for sentencing. In a separate case, avid Stanley Tranter, 21, was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment for firing an air rifle at a car, an act deemed dangerous to others. Tranter was already serving a three-year sentence for aggravated robbery, and the Magistrate ordered that his new sentence be served concurrently. Roger Robert Hubert Matchitt, aged 39, was remanded on bail for his involvement in a burglary at the Springfield Lime Company, which took place between 2 and 13 January 1972. Matchitt broke into the premises, stole petrol and tools, loaded them onto a trailer, and subsequently set the trailer alight in the Waimakariri riverbed. He had also unlawfully taken a car and was found stripping it with another person shortly after. Two young men, Stanley David Neilson, 21, and another whose name was suppressed, were convicted for unlawfully taking a taxi as a prank. Neilson received a $50 fine and probation while the other was fined $25. Arthur George Coleman, a 58-year-old carpenter with a history of alcoholism, was fined $60 for failing to pay a ferry fare after expressing his desire to go to a mental health facility. Other cases involved William Charles Kerr, aged 42, fined $20 for stealing his wife’s pay cheques, and Brian Charles Eatwell, aged 26, convicted of theft for taking vehicle parts. Patrick Ngatai Ruawai, aged 23, faced burglary charges for breaking into a local grocery store and was remanded for sentencing. In a related incident, two panelbeaters, Dave Ruki and Thomas John Riki, received fines for disorderly behaviour after they threw rubbish tins onto the street. Stephen Ronald Banham, aged 18, was fined and disqualified from driving for several traffic offences, including careless driving and failing to stop after an accident. Russell George Becks, 23, was remanded on bail relating to a charge of rape, while Peter William Gendall, aged 17, faced consequences for careless driving that resulted in injury to a motorcyclist. The court dealt with various other minor offences, showcasing a range of criminal activities occurring in Christchurch at the time, with many defendants receiving fines, probation orders, and periods of disqualification from driving.

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