Milton Magistrate's court.

Bruce Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 3030, 24 January 1899, Page 5

Milton Magistrate's court.

j .Monday^ January 23. .-, .v, -; :.t ■■.-.. (Before MeigsrsßC Wayne'and JiEj' Brown, \ A stttlog [ ; 6f : : ;iiio ?pWp?' v Court vWas heldy ybaterday tpf'Se^ ,wi*h ; the remanded case Against iHoliael M'Alpiue, W 'hayingV it is allegedi on or about :20, a1l Table Bilii' stolen thr^ the property, of; ?[enry>Flett, junr. ;i , -„-, .'. . ' Gfalef J Dataotive i,■ O' Brfcsn . ; appeared Kto : proseoute aod»;Mr> H iggltt defended. -■.■'- •After the, charge had' been read, Mr Brown : said 'that " ; tifaere^ %&d; a legal point involved^ whlb^^the Bench Would rather ..tiave "dtfltermined^by" a If it" were poaaible they.j would very much prefer lo| adjourn 6he ; oase ; at the same time, if it was nepbsiary they would go on with it. Mr Haggltt Baid he had intended to apply to have the oaße dealt with summarily ander "The Indictable Offences Summary Jurisdiction Act," but he understood that the polioa had some ob jaotion fle suggested that DeteotVve O'Brien should state the objection, bo that he might reply to it. Mr Brown: Before going into that, will you kindly, show us tbat we have power whan the case is brought up under one Act, to deal with it under another ? . Mr Haggitt: Section 3 of "The lidlotable Offences Summary Jariadiotion Act 1894" givea you full power. . Mr Brown : What olauae ? Mr Haggitt: Seotion 4, which reada as follows : — "Any two or more Justices, or a Magistrate ahalU have Bummary juriedioUion and authority in respect of the indiotable ' ffsnoes mentioned in this Aot. Every prosecution shall ba commenced within alx months after the oomn»iaßion of the offenoe " Cnief-Deteotlve O'Brien: The offence of sheep stealing ia not mentioned in this Aot Mr Haggitt: Sheep stealing is simply theft under the Criminal Code. Chief- Detective O'Brien : In the first place, will Your Worships decide to hear the case ? Mr Brown aaid tbat they were very unwilling to hea the oase, the emallneep of the theft (£1 2a 6d) wae nothing, but the subject was a burning one in the country ; and for that very reason it should be deoided by a man who was responsible for bis work. Although he hid been connected with the Benoh for 29 years and had tried to do his duty all along, he bad never conducted a case presenting difficult features. Pie said he had always been of the opinion that such caseß should be decided by a Magistrate, and aaid that he had not the legal knowledge to undertake it. The case seemed a small one, but it was not. Praotioally, they had no other oourse than to dismiss the information or Bend the oase to the Supreme Ooarfc. Chief- Deteotlve O'Brien agreed that that waa ao, and said that as far &3 he wzi ooncerned, he had not the least doabt that their Worships would de*l with the oaae impartially and jaatly, Of ooursa the matter waa entirely ia their hands and U the; thought the responsibility waa too great, then by all means let them adjourn the oise so that the Magistrate coigns deal with it. ; Mr Brown sad that if it were a small oaae he wo.uld not hesitate for one moment,, bub the offenoe was the sSmo if 500 sheep had been stolen. After some further discussion it was deoided to adjourn till two o'clock ao that Mr Hawkins might ba oommaaioited with and asked to fix a day for the hearing of the odse. On resuming at 2 p.m. Chief- Deteosive O'Brien read a reply from Mr Hawkins, which aaid that he would not ba able to take the cdßa till Thnraday, February 9, at 3 30 p.m. The speaker pointed out tbat as a oaae could only be remanded for eight days, it would be necessary for the Court to sit that day week in order to grant a further remaad. Bail was fixed at the same amount aa on Thursday last. It ia underatood that witnesses will not be required to attend till the date on whioh the oaee will be finally disposed of.