SUPREME COURT.— Criminal Sittings.

Auckland Star, Volume II, Issue 453, 23 June 1871, Page 2

SUPREME COURT.— Criminal Sittings.

THURSDAY, TUNE 23

(Before His Uonor Sir George Arney, Knight, Chief Justice, and a Special Jiiry,.)

His Honor took his seat on tho bench at 11 o'clock.

Specimen Stealing.—William Eird was arraigned upon an indictment charging htm wilh stealing from the Nonpareil Gold Mining Company) \fy raißtabi.Oreek, a quantity of goldbearing specimens.—Mr. BrooTtfield conducted the prosecution on behalf of the Crown.—Mr. Kees defended tho prisoner.— The -.indictment ! way brought under-.*the 30f.ii section of the Larceny Act, which constituted the stealing of certain kinds of property a feldnjr. The kind of property provided for arc gold-ore, metal, mineral; manganese, niuudie, coal, &c. There were five counts in the indictment. The first charged him with Stealing throe ounces of gold ore, the second charged' him with stealing the same quantity of gold. These Were the two counts upon which the prosecution lvlied for the establishment of the felony. There were other counts charging tho prisoner with larceny in stealing three ounces of "goldore," " gold," and "gold bearing quartz " respectively.—From the statements of-.-the Crown Prosecutor it appeared that the prisoner was foreman of the "night-shift" in'" the Nonpareil at the data named .in the indictment, lie had charge of the working from midnight to eight o'clock in the morning. One .of the Selective officers (Murpln), in consequence of information received, determined to watch at the entrance to the mine. Ho was on tho watch for. some time with Constable -Brennau when the prisoner camo out of tho mi no between eight and nine o'clock a.m. The prisoner proceeded, towards his hut. The constables seized him before lie got info his house. Told him they h;id a warrant against him, and that he must submit to be searched. The prisoner resisted the constables; refused to be searched, expressing his desire tv see the manager. The1 constables refused to accede to his request. They searched him, and in hi 3 pockets were found the specimens which formed the subject of tho present inquiry. It wa3 the duty of the prisoner to hand orer all specimens found during his shift, either to the manager, or to deposit them in a box kept for that purpose. For the defence, it was stated that tho water had broken into the mine that morning, in consequence of which there had beon considerable commotion amongst the men employed in the mine. In consequence oT the excitement this occasioned the prisoner forgot to give the specimens to the manager at the proper time, or to deposit them in tho box a3 usual.— Roderick Macdonald Scott deposed that ho wsa, on the 27th of May last, the legal manager of the Nonpareil Gold Mining Company (Registered). Produced the register and tho leasehold miner's right. Had no knowledge of the prisoner personally, except knowing him by. sight.—Cross-examined : The prisoner is n t in this case prosecuted by tho company. —Mr. Brookfield : This is an oifenco- against ■the public—John GfoleUwo&hy, working manager, deposed that tho specimens found on the prisoner wero similar to Lho quartz usually taken from the Nonpareil gold mine. The prisoner acted In the capacity of " night boss" on the 271h of May.—ln cross-examina-tion by Mr. Rees, the witness aaid the water had broken into the mine that morning. Tho prisoner came to witness's house that morning to apprise him of tho fact, That was about seven o'clock. There was a great deal of confusion in the mine in consequence of ths water breaking in. Witness wont immediately to tho mine. The worth of the specimens might be 10s., perhaps 15s. There were many richer specimens in tho bos. There was about forty pounds weight of quartz specimens in the box. The prisoner was considerably excited whec ho came to witness. A man might put such specimens in his pocket, and in consequence of the confusion forget them.—li,e-oxamineds: Tho prisoner soon became composed. His first words were, "For God's suke como down to the mine, for the water has broken in, and is rising in all the passes." Could not say what part of the mine these specimens were, brought from. They were richer than' the average, but not sa rich as others. The specimens would be good specimens for anything. Witness was not aware of any order to tho men that they were not on any account to put specimens into their pocket. Witness did not remember having given such an order himself. The prisoner said he had taken these specimens 'from tho mine.—Detective Murphy deposed that about eight o'clock he saw tbe prisoner cotne out. of the mine. He had a box in his hand, which he laid down at the offieo door. Saw him go away, but not in the direction of his own house. Witness saw him afterwards go in the direction of 'his houae. Followed him, and just as he was going in witness seized him, and told him. information had been received of his stealing, specimens from the mino. Tho prisoner would not willingly be searched. He wanted to call the manager, who lived next door. Brennan beld him while the other constables searched him. F/ound one specimen in ,the watch-pocket- of his waistcoasfc, one specimen in each of the waistcoast pockets, two specimens in one trousers pocket, and one in the other. The prisoner said they were " two or three specimens which he had' picked up during the night, and forgot to give to the manager." This was at least three-quarters of an hour after the prisoner had given the specimen-box to the manager. The search took place in the back room. Ayoung woman, not his wife, came to tho door shortly; after he was searched. There is gold visible in each of tfrese specimens. Found: one or two other, specimens in the house, but they-were of very little value. .The bottoms of the prisoner' trousers were wet.—Re-examined : Both the young woman and the prisoner's wife, who were in another room'; might have heard what

was passing while the prisoner wa9 being searched.—Constable Brennan gave corroborative evidence of what occurred as described by the last witness.—This was the case for the prosecution, and Mr. Rees submitted whether there was any case to go to the jury.—His Honor: Severance from tlie mine appears, according to Mr. Brookfield, to be contemplated by the Statute. I do not think there is evidonco of that so as to constitute a felony. But 1 am clearly of opinion that there is evidence to go to the jury of. simple larceny.—Sarah Parnell was called as a witness for the defence, and said that she was on a visit to the prisoner's wife on the morning of the 27th. Site was in bed when the prisoner came into the house, fol-

lowed by the constables. She described 'what passed. She deposed that when the officer^ wei'e going to search the prisoner, he threw; off his coat. He did not' attempt to resist the officers in any way. Prisoner, when asked where the specimens came from, replied that they came out of the Nonpareil claim.— George Cox, a worknianin the mine,said that about- 7 o'clock that morning the water broke' into the mine. • Even at 8 o'clock there was a rush of water coming out of'the main drive, and'witness got up to .his knees in water. There was a great deal of confusion that morning. ' . ,'.,