A NOTORIOUS CRIMINAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXIII, Issue 8411, 13 November 1912, Page 7

A NOTORIOUS CRIMINAL.

HIS CAREER IN SOUTHLAND.

HUSTON'S INGENIOUS DEFINITIONOF PERJURY. The man Huston, who has been creating a mild sensation at Whangarei, was known in Southland about three years ago. A theft from an hotel at Gore had taken place, and Detective Cameron traced the^ offence to a S stranger, whom he later took into custody at the Club Hotel,' Invercar- ■ gill. This man was Huston, biri; the detective was unable to collect any material evidence save that having only circumstantial bearing on the case.. When taxed with the theft Huston showed a number of business cards marked E. L. Huston, whicn represented him as being the agent of the " Jeffrey ' Manufacturing Co., Columbus, Ohio." Detective Cameron took the man's finger prints on that occasion, and it was directly as the result of these, when sent to Melbourne, that Huston was subsequently identified in Auckland with the "notorious Victorian criminal" so well known in Australia. , . ' After the case had been investigated Huston was, released owing to the inability of the police to gather sufficient material evidence. He was next in the court at Aubkland, where he was arraigned on a charge of the theft of a £5 banknote from the Star Hotel. The stolen note had been found under the linoleum in Huston's bedroom. It was marked and replaced, and Huston was subsequently tracked to the bank and identified by the teller. At the time of his arrest he had housebreaking implements in' his possession, and it was for this offence that, while still undergoing sentence for theft, he was sentenced at the Supreme Court to three years' imprisonment. As a result of certain statements he made at his trial concerning his movements in Southland he was further' charged with perjury, and Detective Cameron, with two other witnesses, went to Auckland to give evidence at the second trial. . ') '' ■ The prisoner conducted his own case, and the circumstances were that 'he had denied that he left the train at Gore on the night of November 19 and had put up at an hotel there. The case was formally proved for the Crown, and the prisoner submitted in his defence that his statement, although he . admitted' that it was not true, had; not done anyone any harm. He further submitted that the , 9th Commandment, " Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour," defined perjury, and he had therefore committed no offence. The presiding judge said, when summing up, that the commandment was for the next world, and that the commandment for this world was contained in the criminal code. The prisoner was sentenced to one year's imprisonment, and was set at liberty but a short time before he was re-arrested at Whangarei.