SUPREME COURT.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVII, Issue 33, 7 February 1906, Page 6

SUPREME COURT.

YESTERDAY. {Before His Honor Mr Justice Edwards.) FIVE YEARS. FOR THEFT. At the Supreme Court criminal sittings yesterday afternoon the hearing of ten charges of theft preferred against John Francis Usher was continued. In giving evidence for the defence, accused stated that on December 7th he was finally discharged from the Avondale Lunatic Asylum. The first crime mentioned in the indictment was committed on December 1. He stated that the box which had been left at the Railway Hotel, Onehunga, in which a largt amount of stolen property was found, was not his, but had been "given into his charge by a man who said he would call for it. As it was not his, he did not take it away with him. He did not remember what happened after he left the hotel until on the 28th he purchased a ticket to New Plymouth for 15/. He was formerly in the Imperial Army, and had served through the South African War. He had been fourteen months in a lunatic asylum in South Africa, his affection being due to a sunstroke, and while in the asylum he had several relapses. He had come to New Zealand on the advice of the medical officer of the institution, and had been committed to the Avondale Asylum on November Bth, a few days after his arrival. The property produced he knew nothing about, and did not remember it ever having been in his possession. Mr Tole: You don't recollect Detective Fry finding some of the stolen property on your person?—No, I don't recollect anything about it. I don't remember being arrested. Witness continued that he had been drinking heavily on December 27. His Honor: How did those portmanteaux come into your possession?—l don't know anything about it. Accused stated that he had been on parole on December 1, when the thefts were committed. The jury, without retiring, found a verdict of guilty. His Honor, in sentencing prisoner, said that it was plain that he had entered upon a deliberate system of crime, and a considerable sentence must be imposed. Immediately after he came to New Zealand he commenced a career of crime, plundering the citizens and putting the country to a heavy.expense. He was dealing with him leniently, perhaps too leniently, when he imposed a ■ sentence of five years' imprisonment with hard labour. INDECENT ASSAULT. A middle-aged Maori named William Tuki Perry was charged with attempting to carnally know a Maori girl under the age of nine years, and as an alternative with indecent assault on the same girL Evidence as to the assault was given by the girl and by several other natives. Accused offered no defence except to say that it was seventeen days after the alleged offence before the girl complained. The jury returned a verdict of guilty without retiring, and His Honor, who said that the offence was a very serious one, imposed a sentence of five years' hard labour.

TO-DAY'S PROCEEDINGS. A PAPAKUBA TRIAL. 'Archibald Douglas, alias Donald D. Ross, an elderly man, defended by Dr. Bamford, pleaded not guilty to a charge of obtaining a cheque for £4 by false pretences from William Gibson Wray at Drury on November Bth, 1901 William G. Wray, who was formerly licensee of the Drury Hotel, stated that the accused, after staying there for a week, asked if witness would east a cheque. This was done, Douglas exchanging a cheque with his signature for £4 in gold. The accused represented that he had an account with the Bank of New Zealand, but the cheque was returned marked "No account." In reply to Dr. Bamford, the witness said he did not remember the accused telling him that a sum of money was to be placed to his credit in the Bank of New Zealand. Constable Lanigan, who was present at the accused's trial in the Police Court, Papakura, said Douglas pleaded guilty, and elected to be summarily dealt with, but the justices hearing the case decided to commit for trial owing to the nature of the case. His Honor: The precedure is not satisfactory, but it is a matter for the jury. The acensed and another witness gave evidence to show that at the time the cheque was made out Douglas had sold his interest in a piece of land, and the purchase money was to be placed to his credit, but the purchaser failed to carry out his promise. The uncompleted transfer was produced. j In summing up His Honor commented upon the procedure of the justices who ', had heard the evidence in the prelimi--1 nary trial, remarking that it was a preI posterous proceeding that a witness j called at the first hearing was not bound J over to give evidence in the Supreme Court simply because the witness was called by the Bench. They also had no right to invite a man to be tried summarily, and then commit him for trial. The jury, after a short retirement, found the accused not guilty, and he was discharged. Thomas iinnegan was indicted for stealing £2 3/ from the person of Thos. Elliott at Auckland on December 30th. j Elliott, a storeman, deposed that i while he was having a drink in the Victoria Hotel the accused, who was one of a large number in the bar, suddenly bumped against him and put his hand in witness' trouser pocket. Elliott said he caught Finnegan by the arm, but the accused got away with the money and went to his mates at the other end of the bar. The accused had asked why the constable to whom Elliott complained did not arrest him, and the officer in qaestion, Frederick William Blank, was called. He said he thought Elliott had been drinking, and advised him to report the matter again when he became more sober. Continued on page five.