DISORDERLY CONDUCT

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 10, Issue 67, 30 December 1946, Page 5

DISORDERLY CONDUCT

MAORI BEFORE COURT 14 DAY’S IMPRISONMENT . The imbibing of a quantity of alcohol apparently sadly affected the memory> and at the same time aroused the warlike instincts of one Henry Wilson, a Maori labourer, who celebrated in advance, the festive season. Sequel was heard in the Whakatane Court last Monday, when the same man faced a charge of being disorderly whilst drunk, in the Strand last Friday evening. Messrs. L. H. Brown and J. King, J.P.s, were on the Bench. When asked to plead, accused confessed that he could say nothing, as he remembered nothing. Sergeant Farrell described to the Court how on the date in question, he had been on duty in the Strand, when he had encountered a group of Maoris, all strangers to the town, in the doorway of a shop near the Rock. He had endeavoured to get them to move on, and the group had broken up, though reluctantly. When accused emerged, he endeavoured to start a fight, and the others in the party also, grew menacing. Some older Maoris who were present took charge of accused, but when they released him, he again came back, and wanted to fight. The other Maoris were also becoming hostile again, but moved on as requested. Later, Wilson was arrested. Accused was a native of Waihi, and was employed on forestry work at Rotorua. Observing that the offence was a serious one, with a maximum prison sentence of three months attaching, the Bench imposed a sentence of 14 days’ imprisonment in the Whakatane gaol.