A man was caught and convicted nearly two decades after using a bad cheque to pay for a pizza.
Richard Forbes ordered a pizza 16 years ago. Yesterday he found it repeating on him - rather badly.
The cheque a somewhat younger Forbes used to pay for the pizza in 1992 bounced and an arrest warrant was issued.
Forbes, however, had moved to Australia and was
unaware he was a wanted man - despite regular trips home.
The Dominion Post reported he was back from Melbourne to donate part of his liver to his mother but found himself behind bars after stepping in to calm a mate's run-in with police.
A check of his identification revealed the outstanding arrest warrant and Forbes was taken first to the police cells, then to Wellington District Court, all the while not knowing what he was supposed to have done.
Once in court, the long-forgotten $10 bounced cheque was revealed.
Forbes pleaded guilty to using a cheque dishonestly and was convicted and discharged.
"Pizzas haven't gone up much in price, have they?" the newspaper reported Judge Bruce Davidson as saying.
- NZPA
