KEAST, THE EVANGELIST.

Auckland Star, Volume XXVIII, Issue 274, 25 November 1897, Page 6

KEAST, THE EVANGELIST.

A BAD EECOED.

FOUE YEARS' HARD LABOUE,

! Richard Henry Keast, the quondam 1 'Evangelist,' was brought up at the Supreme Court Criminal Sessions on Nov. 22, before His Honor Mr Justice Conolly, on several counfec/ forgery and false pretences. He was : charged with having on June 5 forged | a letter purporting to be a request for the payment of money, and with havingl obtained by false pretences from D. A. Gray the sum of £1; also with that on June 18 at Auckland lie did obtain from Edward Waters by means of a forged document; with forging the same document, and with uttering the same. When asked to plead, Keast said 'Guilty' in a low tone of voice, and handed up a written document to His Honor. Detective Grace stated that he had obtained some information regarding the past record of the prisoner. la IS9O it appeared that he was at Brisbane, when he drove a cart He eloped from Brisbane with a young woman who was working in a restaurant. Subsequently he was seen in Ballarat, when he said be was working as a miner. He afterwards went to Sydney and then to Fiji, aid he came up to Auckland about nine months ago. When arrested he was a greaser on the steamer Terranora. His original occupation was said to have been that of a clown in a circus. His Honor.—He has no right to consider himself a clergyman of a0? denomination ! Detective Grace.—No right whai; ever, your Honor. He has a great influence over females of a religions turn and weak minds.

His Honor said that the ac-cused-had a bad record. His.conduct in all this showed him to be a man totally devoid of principleHe had g-one to a settler's house near Onehunga, representing hims«j to be a missionary or a preacher oi some sort, and had taken the settlers daughter away to Auckland, aJw while here committed two forgeries. One of the names was entirely .unknown, and there was no doubt it^as written by himself. There was also forgery in the name of the young woman, who had been foolish enougft to accompany prisoner to Auckland. His Honor said he had no doubt that if the prisoner's past records were*"' lowed up it would be found to be tnai of a dishonest and immoral man. What rendered the matter worse was that all this was clone under the cloa* of religion, and he (His Honor) W no doubt that it was through tn^ professions of religion that he » been able to impose on a number people. He would be sentenced i four years' imprisonment with w labour on each of the charges, tn sentences to be concurrent.