Many accounts of theft and damage to goods were reported in various Sydney newspapers. In 1902, Arthur Kong, nine years before using his unjust scales, was robbed of 16s 2d worth of produce by fireman Robert Howard, alias Byers. The Sydney Morning Herald reported on the court proceedings on 29 July that year stating Howard ‘was charged with obtaining a quantity of groceries…by means of a false pretence and with intent to defraud.’ The case makes it clear that legal action was taken against people who stole from Chinese shopkeepers as the ‘accused was sentenced to one month’s imprisonment with hard labour.’ This is not the only reported case of theft from Chinese greengrocers. Ah Sing, another greengrocer from the Lane Cove Road, accused two
