ALLEGED MALICIOUS INJURY TO PROPERTY.

Auckland Star, Volume XXVI, Issue 75, 29 March 1895, Page 4

ALLEGED MALICIOUS INJURY TO PROPERTY.

A SINGULAR'CA.;S.

At the Police Court to-day, before Mr R. .S.'Bush, S.M., two girls," each aboub 14 years of age, named Emily Alien and Ada Neal, were charged with having on the IBth insb. wilfully damaged cerbain property, to wib the dwelling-house of John Spiers, labourer, Ponsonby, and certain property contained therein, of the value of £3 3s 6d. Mr Baume appeared for the defendants and Sergeant Gamble conducted the prosecution, "i ' '.'."': .'•;'-■'

Constable {Carlyon deposed to going to the houso of the complainant and finding a great portion of the properby in bhe building having the appearance of having been maliciously damaged He found a lob of filthy writing on the paper on the wall in a girl's handwriting. The property damaged included clothing, a lamp glass, a smoothing iron,' a fishing line, a door lock, a pob of, flowers, a fowl house, and seven books. In bhe 'books was bho same handwriting that, bhe wibneßs had seen on the walls. Witness bad seen the accused Ada Neal and her mobher after his vieib to tho house, and had asked the former to plead guilty as tho complainant had expressed lub wish not to have such a filthy case go into courb. - - Sergeanb Gamble said he would like to draw attention to the fact that in one of the books were the initials -A.-D. '

Constable Carlyon continuing, bis evi-. dence said he had obtained the signatures of the accused and now produced them. On;the afternoon in question Mr and Mrs Spiers wero absent from their home. The two accused bore a very bad character in .Ponsonby. ' ' Mr Baume asked the'witness-to. abate from whom he got his information; Witness said he had been informed that such was the case, bub he would decline to give thename of his informant. . .Margaret Spiers deposed to being away frDm^homo on the afternoon of the 18th inst. When she returned she noticed the two accused coming oub of hor gate and going on to Neal's verandah a short distances way from her place in Jervois Road. On gbing in the first bhing she noticed was that the clothed on the line were covered with mud. A window ab the back of the house waa open and a geranium pot on the sill smashed. Witness then gave details of the destruction which had been done to her property inside tho houso, and .stated furthor bhat she noticed thab bhe mosb filthy language, had beon wribben in tho books and on tho walls.

In cross-examination, witness admitted that she had not road any of the books for a long time past. The accused and herself had always been good friends, and ahe did not know any reason why her property had been injured in tho way it had. Witness had had frequent conversations with the accused since the occurrence, but both of the lattor had denied having done the damage. When tho witness and her family went out about two o'clock on the afternoon in question, the back door was locked, but tho front was left unlocked.

Amy Spiers, thirteen years of -age, daughter of the previous witness, corroborated her mother's evidence, and was cross-examined by Mr Baume with reference to the spoiling of the words found in the books/and on the wallsY',' She spelt '** Adelaide,;' " Adelade," and " pants " Vpan-e.''. (Thisspelling was 'shown to be tho'same as that in the books produced, alleged 'to bayo rbeen done by' Emily ■Allen.) '"- ■'"'■;" ' ' ■ Mr Baume said ho admitted the property had been damaged, but ho was prepared to prove an (.Kin. The defonce was simply that the &cco??d did hot go into the complainant- house ab all on the 18th of ftj.arc._i, H.e (Mr Baume) ' would r prod o cc: ~wi tt->essee ;: 66"; prove '-H at they were in some other placd when the Spiers wero away from, home on that day, and one, Mrs Walton, a neighbour, would sivear that ib was utterly impossiblo that any bwo girls could go inbo that place and do the damage complained of in an hour or an hour rl' and a half. It was, in fact, ridiculous to believe thab two girls so respectable could go into another person's place for the mere sake of doing such an extraordinary acb.

Emily Allen (13), and A-a Neal (16), denied positively thab they went into Spier's house on the 18th inßt. Lucy Albon, a neighbour of the complainant, deposed that she was certain no one was walking aboub in Spier's houso on tho afternoon of the date mentioned. She did not think the accused were likely to do what they were charged with doing.

In cross - examination by Sergeant Gamble, witness dsnied that she had said she waa oub on the afbernoon of tho 18th instant. She would nob swear that no one was in bhe house. If Bhe had slippers on ib was quite likely that witness would be unable to hear them walking f.-orn hor house. 9 (Lefb sift;* .