Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - April 24, 1981, Winnipeg, Manitoba Tale of woe fails to impress judge by Murray Mcneil a criminal s bid to buy some sym Pathy with a 10-Page literary tale of woe failed to convince a provincial court judge yesterday not to Send him Back to jail. In a hand written letter to judge Charles Rubin Terrance Glen Griffiths 26, claimed that in 1977 he decided to beat his alcoholism problem and abandon a six year life of crime. He described How he settled Down with a Loving common Law wife got a Job and for years stayed off the bottle. Then last september his com. Mon Law wife and their unborn child were killed in a traffic Accident Griffiths claimed and it was Back to the bottle and a life of crime. Yesterday he pleaded guilty to six counts of forging and uttering cheques he stole from a Girlfriend and his former employer and was sentenced to year in jail. Judge Rubin told Griffiths that Al though he had penned a very sincere sounding and moving he did t buy his tale of woe. My diagnosis of your problems is you re Art alcoholic and a con he old Griffiths that he was either lying or was conning himself because his criminal record and his actions last fall just Don t gibe with your he noted while the letter seemed to suggest Griffiths had stayed out of trouble Between 1977 and last fall his criminal record showed he had been convicted of a crime in August 1978, and again in february 1980. Judge Rubin also noted that while Griffiths claimed in his letter he was devastated and heart broken at the supposed death of his common Law wife three months later he was living common Law with another woman. It did t take you Long to Shack up with another he said. "y6ur sorrow and grief did t last More than a couple of after he was arrested last sept. 29 for stealing and passing two of his former employer s cheques he ripped off four More cheques from a woman who had been kind enough to take him in and Post his bail the judge noted. He told Griffiths he could remand the Case for a week and have the Crown attempt to determine if what he claimed in the letter was True but i m simply going to accept it As a letter written by a Man who is concerned about the fact he is facing a great Deal of time. And leave it at Griffiths also was placed on 18 months supervised probation and or dered to make restitution. Sooner or later the merry go round has to Stop for Clear tonight 6 Cloudy tomorrow 20 Friday april free press Sun rises . Sets . Moon rises mid. Sets . Final v for Home delivery 957-0550 or 942-2161 classified 956-2330 Biggs Back to Brazil returns to Brazil Belem Brazil a Ronald Biggs the British great train robber returned today to his Safe Haven in Brazil and was routinely checked in by the Feder Al police and customs officials the Belem Airport spokesman said. It was a Normal said the spokesman who would identify himself Only As Carlos. He said Biggs arrived at . In this City at the Mouth of the Amazon aboard a chartered Jet from Barbados in the Caribbean. The spokesman said Biggs left his chartered plane and switched to a commercial flight to Rio de Janeiro Kilometres to the South where Biggs s Young son awaited his return. Meanwhile the supervisor of Rio s Galea Airport Luiz Marin to told the associated press that Federal police planned to take Biggs directly from the runway to their Rio office for question ing about his kidnapping from a Rio bar last month. Champagne flows it s Back to Brazil Cham pagne for shouted the jubilant Biggs yesterday after slipping through a loophole in Barbados Law that prevented his extradition to Britain. The Barbados supreme court overturning a lower court Deci Sion ruled that the British Fugi Tive could not be returned to Britain because the Barbados parliament has not yet ratified an extradition treaty with the United kingdom. Britain asked for Biggs s extradition so he could finish serving 28 years of a 30-year sentence for his part in the 1963 robbery of million from a London Glasgow mail train. I am very very Biggs told the British press association news Agency in a Telephone inter View yesterday. I just want to go Back to Brazil and live my life in he has a son by a brazilian woman and because of the child brazilian Law protects him from deportation. A delighted six year old Michael Biggs waited anxiously in Rio for his father s return. Patria Tion plan goes to High court by Michael Doyle Winnipeg free press Ottawa the Federal Constitution Al proposal finally cleared the House of commons late last night after a series of votes that further divided the Al ready split new democrats and saw one tory my vote against his own party and in favor of the governing Liber als. The commons has approved a Char Ter of rights and freedoms including new amendments on rights of women Peoples a reference to god in the preamble and changes improving the status of the Prairie prov inces in dealing with future constitutional amendments. The Complete Resolution n of goes to the supreme court of Canada for a ruling on its legality. After that it returns to the commons for two Days of final debate a com Mons vote a Senate and then votes in the British commons and the British lords. Diary of the crucial votes last night saw maps accept Liberal and new Democrat amendments to the Constitution and reject an omnibus amendment from the progressive conservatives. The latter would have done Many of the things the Liberal and nip propositions sought but it would have held of final proclamation of the new Constitution pending agreement from a majority of premiers. The votes also saw surprising splits. Four new democrats voted against their party and the liberals and in favor of the tories on an amendment from Provencer conservative my Jake Epp which would have done away with controversial Liberal provisions for a referendum As a deadlock breaking mechanism which the progressive conservatives contend gives undue Power to the Federal government. The four include Saskatchewan new Democrat maps lome Nystrom Simon de Jong Doug anguish and Stan Hov Debo plus Burnaby my Svend Robin Nystrom anguish and Hovdebo previously broke with their party on the Constitution but Robinson was a new Comer. Meanwhile Edmonton East progressive conservative my Bill Yurko voted in favor of the package of amendments proposed by the Liber als. Personal obsession in the hours preceding the crucial vote the House of commons Battle was Over whether the new Constitution is a personal obsession of prime minister Trudeau or the will of the Canadian people. Finance minister Allan Maceachen said the opposition argument that tru Deau has forced his obsession on an apathetic populace is a myth that should be done away with. This is not an obsession of the prime minister but a claim on the future of Maceachen said. I find it offensive to have this canard repeated because i know it to be it was not the prime minister who said in tins Cabinet or in the caucus i want my personal place in history give it to me by including a full Maceachen argued. It was the overwhelming Force of the opinion in the Cabinet later sup ported overwhelmingly in the Liberal caucus that said to the prime minister this is an historic Opportunity let us not miss this Opportunity. Let us go first Clark said Maceachen was both on the defensive and on the offensive. He said whenever Maceachen is pulled to the fore it Means the government is in trouble. See Constitution Page 4 Liberal maps Rise to applaud prime minister Trudeau after he cast his vote against a tory amendment to Patria Tion plan. Bank rate climbs to record 17.40% Ottawa up the Bank of Canada rate climbed thursday to a record 17.40 per cent from 17.16 per cent a week earlier the previous record of 17.36 per cent was set dec. 18. It was the fifth consecutive week that the rate has risen. The latest upward move in the trend setting rate was seen by Money traders As a sign by the Bank of Canada that the few remaining chartered Banks with prime rates under 18.25 per cent should move them up to that level in line with the others. The prime rate is the rate at which Banks lend Money to their most credit worthy corporate clients. In the ., most major Banks recently moved their prime rate up half a Point to 17.5 per cent. Strengthen Dollar the move to maintain a positive spread Between interest rates there and in Canada is to prevent the flow of funds out of Canada to the And in turn strengthen the Canadian Dollar. The Dollar has been trading at a Little Over For the last week Down from the Range two weeks ago. Higher interest rates Are also used to restrain spending demand and Are part of the Central Bank s anti inflation strategy. Economists admit to difficulty in forecasting where interest rates will go citing mixed signals emanating from the George Saba vice president and chief economist at greenshields inc., Montreal said they Are sticking for the moment with their forecast of a mod est decline in interest rates in the Short term. Bui he cautioned we Are in a wait and see Forrest Rogers chief economic adviser at the Bank of Nova Scotia while admitting it s not easy to predict where interest rates will go echoed Saba s forecast. We re still looking at an easing of rates Between now and next summer or fall not a lot one to two what happens in Canada depends a lot on what happens in the ., economists agree. A prediction out of Washington this week by a top economist Henry Kaufman warns of volatile and higher rates in the Before the end of 1981. However earlier this week the Government reported that during the first three months of 1981 the Economy had grown at an unexpected rate and inflation had just As unexpectedly slowed dramatically to 7.8 per cent. The government warned though that it May not be Able to repeat that performance in the second Quarter. An easing of inflation in the Could Lead to lower interest rates there and in turn in Canada. A further indication of uncertainty is High mortgage rates which lenders this week said would probably remain at the current 16-per-cent level through the year. The lowest they could drop this year would be to 15 per cent said Joseph o Brien vice president of 1ns mor mortgage corp., of Toronto. In the area of consumer Loans rates currently Are Between 17% and 21% per cent. Fuel costs Rise again May 1, postal rates Are next to go up Lalonde pay for takeover Ottawa up canadians will soon have to pay More to mail their complaints to Ottawa about rising fuel costs which take another jump May 1, the Federal government indicated yesterday. Effective next Friday the Price of gasoline Home heating Oil and other Petroleum products will Rise by 0.8 cents a litre or about 3.5 cents a gallon. And in another announcement reflecting the Ever increasing High Cost of living postmaster general Andre Ouellet said yesterday postal rates will Rise As soon As the Post office becomes a Crown corporation. The minister said the 17-cents first class postal rate will definitely Rise and other rates including parcel Post Are being studied to find out what the Market will Bear. The Levy on Petroleum products was announced by Energy minister Marc Lalonde who said the increase is Neces sary to pay for the takeover of Petro Fina Canada inc. Last february by Petro Canada the government owned Oil company. Lalonde also announced the Price of natural Gas will increase by 15 cents per thousand cubic feet May 1. The Levy is designed to pay for 85 per cent of the takeover Price of Petrosina within two years. Should Petro Canada acquire More Oil companies during the next two years the government May decide to leave the Levy in place or add to the charge Lalonde told reporters. Lalonde said he believes Consumers Are willing to pay the additional charge to gain control of the Petroleum Industry. Nobody is going to give it to us for he said. This is an excellent investment on behalf of the Canadian the Energy minister pledged at the see Lalonde Page 4 Short circuit Deputy Premier Don Craik said yesterday that Saskatchewan could delay signing of a Western Power Grid hearing rapped a congressional hearing into narcotics use in Hollywood ended yesterday with actor Greg Morris accusing the committee of indicting a whole great ideas columnist Paul Sullivan claims he is drunk with ideas As a result of the annual mosaic Massey conference held in soviet Surprise a High level soviet delegation led by its chief ideologists has arrived in Poland Index Ann Landers. 20 answers. 39 autos. 55 Bridge. 19 business.31 classified.40 Cleverley. 7 comics. 14 crossword. 18 editorials letters.6 entertainment.21 Horoscope. 20 Jumble puzzle.44 klady.21 Millroy on to. 25 movies.24 relax.39 sports. 69 sports record.74 slocks.34 sullivan.39 Tempo. 17 to listings.39 i ;