THE WRONG MAN.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 276, 19 November 1913, Page 7

THE WRONG MAN.

At the City Police Court to-day Edward Murdoch (49) was charged that he used insulting language on Wednesday last by using an offensive name to a special constable on escort duty in Customs Street. ■Special Constable Young ;>tated that be saw Murdoch in the crowd about a lorry that was being escorted down Customs Street, and heard him say the word once. He was quite certain of his man, though he bailed up three or four in that particular section of the crowd at the time to prevent Murdoch getting away. Special Constable K. A. Kerguson corroborated the former witiie-s. stating that the driver of the wagon remarked. "The man with his h;in.ls in hi- pockets i» the one thai .sail it." He Uid not observe that several of the four or five bailed up had their hand* in their packets. Murdoch denied that ho u-ed the word at all. He was with several companions in the crowd on the way l..>ai<-. when j the driver, whom witness knew, pointed j his whip at w-itnees. and aaid. "The man ■with his hands in his pockets said it." Three of the crowd, including witness, were bailed up (with hands in their | pockets), and eventually witness was j arrested. The word wasn't u-ed at all by anybody sn far as witne-s knew. ! After his arxest he was handed over to j a uniform man and taken to the waterside police station, where there seemed to be some difficulty in getting a special consta-bie to identify him and lay the charge. Senior-sergeant Rutledge said that this was the first thing he had heard about the difficulty a.t the wa-terside police station. James Leonard and Robert Brown, who were with Murdoch, stated that neither he nor anyone else near them said tho word complained of. His Worship said it was quite easy to make a mistake of the sort in a crowd. He had been impressed with the demeanour of the witnesses for the defence, and would dismiss the case.