IS IT BLATCH?

Auckland Star, Volume XXXII, Issue 168, 29 July 1901, Page 2

IS IT BLATCH?

The question of the identity of the man who was apprehended in New Zealand last November as the murderer of Mr Alfred Welch, a Colchester draper, will soon be settled.

On Monday the prisoner was [brought up before the Colchester magistrates, presided over by the Mayor. The representatives of the Press were excluded, the only persons present being officials of the Court. When half-an-hour . had elapsed the public were admitted, and jthe Mayor made the following statement to the large crowd who entered, and to the Press:

"The Bench, acting upon the instructions of the Chief-Constable, and upon his representations in the interests of justice, have had the accused man in camera before them, and have remanded him, acting as they have acted under the Indictable Offence Act of 1848."

What good purpose wao served by such secret proceedings heaven alone knows.

A remand was again formally ordered, and the prisoner walked out of the dock waving his hand to someone at the back of the Court, said to be the man Isaac Lillyv/hite from Leeds, who claims the accused as his brother. The people in Court cheered loudly as the prisoner disappeared with his warders, and it wns very evident throughout the proceedings that the people of Colchester are firmly convinced that the police have got hold of the wrong man. The prisoner has been placed in a roomy eel], which has been freshly whitewashed for his accommodation. A new bed and bedding have been supplied for his comfort, and his food is of the best. In order to secure the man's identification, the police have arranged for Mm to parade in the yard of the , police-station among several other

men of similar height and build. Some dozen men and women who knew Blatch in the old days will then be introduced into the courtyard one by one to see if they can pick him out.

The police are taking every precaution against mistakes, and at his own request the man now in custody is to be submitted for identification, first unshaven, and then after having been shaved clean.

Meanwhile the prisoner is in the best of spirits.

[The cable has since informed us of the failure of the police charge, and the identification of the prisoner to the satisfaction of the Bench as Charles Liilywhite.—Ed. "E.S."]