BATES BREAKS LOOSE.

NZ Truth, Issue 234, 18 December 1909, Page 5

BATES BREAKS LOOSE.

HIS DRUNKEN FEROCITY.

Attacks Women with Fist, Feet, and Knife.

Sordid Story of Sin, Sorrow, and

Beer.

David Bates, a big, hulking individual, said to be employed on the Government Railways, owes lvis present address at "The Terrace, Wellington," to booze— and plenty of- it. A woman, m fact tavo women, a table knife, sundry black eyes, and the aforesaid booze were the most ; prominent features of an. uncommon couple of cases that Mr Riddell, S.M. was called upon to adjudicate on at the. Magistrate's Court; ou Wednesday last. Bates, lor whom Mr V. Meredith appeared, was charged with having, on No-* 'yember 30 last, unlawfully assaulted ■ 'Margaret Sheehan so as to cause her at>tua/ bodily harm, also with having, oa December 2 last, assaulted one Elizabeth Dowsetk Bates had been on remand for a couple > T.of weeks, and, owing to the fact tha^J Margaret Sheehan, the victim of one of i the assaults, was laid tip for repairs iff" the hospital, the police bad been unable: .to proceed m the matter. When Bates--came up on Wednesday, Mr Meredith, , who appeared for the defence, made futile endeavors to have the case further ; remanded on the ground that he had not : been properly instructed. The SJVL, however, refused any further adjournment, and observed that Mr Meredith would .have to take his c&aaoe. Sub-Inspector Norwood, who prosecuted for the police, then called Sydney James tSimpson, house surgeon at the Weilingson hospital. He said that he had seen Marearet Sheehan at the Hospital on D&ccmbier 4, she having been admitted on the previous day. He examined her. I She had two black eyes, her face was ! considerably bruised, .. as also was her ' back. She had two wounds on the back of her left leg and one on the left thigh, ; which could haws been caused by a slash from a knife (produced). There was a'. bruise <on her spine which could have been caused either by a fall or a kick. She had ' been discharged from tbe hospital that (Wednesday) morning. She was practieali ly all right now. i | To Mt Meredith : He did not see . her j when she wa3 first admitted to tbe hos- | pital. She showed tto sighs of dritak when i he first saw her. > Margaret Sheehan is a widow, a thin, I wiztmed-up little person, whose nose was red— possibly through weeping. She resides m an aristocratic corner of Wellington > known as Drummond's Lane, which is off Tinakori-road. Formerly, she kept a farm at Tai Tapu, which is the bVth-placc of Dick Arnat, "(jho champion sculler. On tbe farm at T a i Tapu J Bates had labored, and he had till a I recent date "boarded" with her, a word j which, -with feminine regard for conven- j tion, she preferred to living with her. Cn the evening of Monday,, November 29, Bates -got on a rod, rum-hot jag, and there was .m altercation, the result of which she !sJt the house and returned later. The next morning Bates continued the jag, leaving 'ome about 8 o'clock and returning later to sleep it off. He awoke from tbe sleep "of the bust" about 2 o'clock^ and looked cross ' as he was about to venture out into tbe beery world. Meekly she wanted to know if he was going out, and Bates unpleasantly remarked that it was nothing to do with her. She Was then sitting on her doorstep reading a paper, and he.without further ceremony, grabbed hold of her, dragged her by the scruff of the neck along the floor, and when he got her into the kitchen he swung a right to her eye, "bunging 'it up." Next he got m some heavy work, with botti hands and sent her reeling, administering a kick on her spine as she lay prostrate on the floor. Not quite satisfied with this, Bates advanced to the kitchen table, snatched up a knife, snapped the blade across his knee, and then slashed her about the legs with the broken blade two or three times. "He hurt me very much," said witness. Then a young man named Skelton, another boarder, appeared on the scene. He was appealed to for help, and after that she remembered no more. When • she came to, she was m bed. When using the knife on her, Bates said, "I'll do for you, you " She remained m the house till the following Thursday, when she went to a Mrs Dowsett's place, where she was taken by her daughter. Subsequently she - <as seen by Constable Stevens and examined by Dr. Henr)% who ordered her removal to the hospital. The story was carried further by the young man, William Skelton, who came on the tragic scene as Bates was flourishing the knife and hitting the woman on the stomach wfth if. Telling Bates to "turn it up" Skelton, who is a midget alongside of Bates, pushed Bates off, who said, "I'll finish her." He dropped the weapon, which Skelton picked up. He also assisted Mis Sheelian to rise, and she fainted m his arms. He laid her on her bed m a state of semi-conscious-ness, and when she regained consciousaess he wanted to know whether he . should send for a doctor or a policeman, but the unfortunate woman wanted ■neither. She said she would not have them m her house. The assault on Mrs Dowsett was then told by that lady herself. She is a big strapping female and gave her evidence m an extremely nervous manner. She resides at 149 Tinakori-road, and knew Mrs Sheehan "casual like." Hearing of tire disturbance at the Sheeban sbanxv", she ( hud, Good Samaritan-like, volunteered her,' .services and had washed Mrs Sheehan's . wounds. A day oe So later Mrs Sheeha» was brought over to witness' house, and subsequently Bates called and aslqed if "his wife" was m, and being fold that' she was not, he called her a liar and struck her a cruel blow between the eyes and bruised her about the cheeks, the niar-ks of which she still bore. Constable Stevens, of TinaVori-road, got wind of what bail happened at Drum-mond-lane and made investigations. Mrs Sheehan made no complaint, and when he saw her face was terribly knocked about he called m Dr. Henry, who ordered the ' woman's removal to the hospital. The constable next applied for a warrant and duly arrested Bates, who, when apprised of the charge against him, laconically replied, "That's so." That was all the evidence for the prosecution, whereupon Mr Meredith urged that there was no case for a committal to the Supreme Court, and further intimated that m the event of the charge being reduced to one of common assault, Bates would plead gwflty. His Worship : I cannot reduce it to common assault ; it will be an aggiavat- > ed assault on a female. ! Bates was then charged and pleaded i guilty. Mr Meredith : I might say that the accused is unable to give me any assistance whatever and has no renoUeeiimi of the occurrence. He was on a drinking bout. I understand that he and Mrs Sbre ban were living together as man and wife, j The man has never been before a Court before, is m steady employment, and is a perfectly respectable man. His Worship said that the accused had pleaded guilty to the two charges, and the most serious offence was the assault on Mrs Sheehan. The accused might have found himself m more serious trouble- On the charge of assaulting Mrs Dowsett he would be imprisoned for one month, and for assaulting the woman Sheehan be would be sentenced to four months' imprisonment, sentences to be concurrent.