POLICE COURT.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 70, 22 March 1916, Page 2

POLICE COURT.

("■ "ore Mr. F. V. Frazer, S.M.) DRUNKENNESS. Only two inebriates made up this j morning's list. An elderly firet offender, whose face was wreathed in a halo of unusually voluminous whiskers, moet cheerfully admitted hie guilt, and was fined 5/, plus 2/6 cab hire. John Neale (05), who had been up only two days before. ■ wa6 convicted, discharged, and prohibited. ESCAPED FROM CUSTODY. Enitt de Ciesa (10), the young Belgian girl who was before the Court some time, ago on a vagrancy charge, again appeared, this time charged with escaping from the Salvation Army Home, Parnell, on Saturday morning last, and with lieing a Toque and a vagabond. When oU'ered the usual alternative of trial by a jury the accused elected to accept it, and to give evidence. She said that olie had escaped from tho Home once before, and had been back there only ono week.- "The Army ladies have been telling lies about mc," she declared. "I've been treated terrible up at the Home. The matron said she didn't want mc there." The Magistrate remarked that tho Supreme Court did not sit till .May -2.1, and after some discussion the accused agreed to be dealt with summarily. SubInspector Mcllveney suggesting that if a sentence of reformative detention were imposed it wouid be possible to apply to the Prisons Board to allow the girl oui on license in order that she might enter the Mount Magdala Home, a. Roman Catholic institution at Christehurch. The Magistrate eaid that an application on thoee lines had been made to him by the St. Vincent de Paul Society, and ho had feLt inclined to fall in with the suggestion. On the first charge the girl was convicted and discharged, and on the second wae sentenced to three years' reformative detention. jt;- A PUBLIC NUISANCE. -4gnefl Herbert (50), who had made a number of previous appearances, ad- j milted a charge of soliciting, but indignantly denied that she was a rogue and vagabond. Two constables stated that, the woman had been seen in company with men in various streets of the city ai night, and that she appeared to have done no. work since she had last becu released from gaol. The accused made a long and very rapid statement regarding work which she tsaid she had been doing. The SuHnspector reniarkcd, at tho close, that the woman was a menace to the public health, and should not be allowed at large. A sentence of two years' reformative detention was enforced. THE DEVONPORT ASSAULT. A charge against John Thomas Ryan (50) that at Devooport on March 7 he assaulted bis wife so as to cauec her actual bodily barm, was reduced at the request of the sub-inspector to one of common assault, and Mr. A. Moody, for Ryan, thereupon pleaded frailty. The sub-inspector explained that Kyan was separated from hie wife in January, but had been taken back. One day he came home at lunch time under tho influence of drink, and knocked hie wife down, breaking her noec and leaving her in a senii-conscioiie state. The police found him aftcrwaxds hiding in a. "henhouse, Ryan was a man who had occupied a good position in life, but as it result of ■ gambi'm<; and to some extent through drink, ho had come down in the world, being now employed in a billiard saloon. He wae very violent when in liquor, and wae a cause of fear to his wife's relatives. It would probably be best for all concerned if 'he were sentenced to a term of reformative treatment ac he could then be let out on license, and the subsequent supervision ■would be a good form of restraint for him. Mt. Mloody urped the Court not to impose a sentence, as Ryan had never before been in gaol, and already ho had ■been on remand in custody for si fortnight. Lately he had had a number of trouble, which had preyed on his mind and led him to drink. His wife intended to go and live with a son in the country, and there wae no likelihood that tht assault would bo repeated. In any case police supervision should be sufficient. Ryan, in a statement, said that he had always done his best for his family. The ateault was eimply the result of three or four bottles of beer that he had had with a party of returned soldiers. He mentioned that he was the inventor of a device now beinjr used against German submarines by the Admirnlty. nnd that he had a letter from the Firat Lord to that effect. His Worship said that a term on ths Inland had suggested itenlf to him. but he ■worild take time to consider the matter. A CASE FOR PROBATION. James Kilgour, a youth, admitted having broken into a house at Brooklyn and stolen a concertina and some other goods, to a total value of In/. He stated that ho honestly believed the jooda had boon given to him by a relative of the owner, who find been away from the house for a while. He had an idea that the owner would not approve of tho !»ift, and so broke into the house and took the goods. The charge being treated as one of simple theft, Kihjour was convictisd and ordered to report to the probation officer (Rev. F. R. Jeffreys) for a period of twelve months. MISCELLANEOUS. A charge against George Fisher, that 'he ill-treated a horao by leaving it in a paddock without water, was dismissed, the evidence showing that water Iwd been taken every day to the nnimal, Us bad physical condition being due solely to blood-poisoning caused by a wound from a rusty nail. Albert Gordon and Frederick A. Henley were fined 5/ and 7/ costs for leaving motor-cars in by-streets for longer than the period allowed 'by the bylaws.