A CASE FOR REVIEW.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 7, 9 January 1926, Page 8

A CASE FOR REVIEW.

I We are not surprised that a sentence imposed in Rotorua a few days ago has been followed by a movement for a review of the case by the Minister of Justice. Two men, a half-caste Maori and a white man, had what Is described as "a Christmas spree," which ended in a fight, and they were charged at the local Court with having been drunk and dis- \ orderly. They appeared as first offenders i and pleaded guilty. There is nothing in the report of the case to show that one was more to blame than the other, or that any third party suffered, but the Justice of the Peace who heard the case fined the half-caste £2, with one month's j imprisonment in default, and sent the other to gaol for a month without the option. The latter is a soldier in receipt of a disablement pension, and it is stated.that if the sentence stands he will lose this. A public meeting, presided over by the mayor, considered the case, and it was decided to call the Minister's attention to it. It seems to us that the punishment of the returned soldier was quite out of proportion to the offence, and tbat the Minister will be justified in remitting the sentence.