MAGISTRATE'S COURT

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 14223, 11 December 1911, Page 2

MAGISTRATE'S COURT

(Before Mr H. W. Bishop, S.M.) INSOBRIETY. - Four•* first offenders for insobriety,, one of. them 71. were each fined 6s, in default twenty-four hours' imprisonment. . Charles Russell, alias Gordon, for a similar offence, with four previous, convictions within the rast twelve months, was fined £1, in default seven days' imprisonment, and a prohibition order, to hold cood for twelve months, was issued. REMANDED. ! John Sullivan was remanded* to appear at Dunedin on, Tuesday on a charge of committing theft of goods valued at £70. VAGRANCY. "Charles Brown was charged with vagrancy, in that ho had no visible t lawful means of surT>ort. He had a bad record, and was ordered to be detained for two years ' for reformative treatment. Bernett Coyle, on remand, pleaded not guilty to a charge of. /being an idle and "disorderly nerson, in that he had no visible lawtul means of support. Hβ was convicted and ordered to come up for sentence i. calKd on, on the understanding that ho went to the Salvation Arniy Rescue Home for six months.. . A DISHONEST STAKE-HOLDER, j Joseph Ernest Nicholson pleaded not guilty to stealing £1 18s 6d, the property of Wm. Edward Ramsay, on September 26th. .. \V. E. Ramsay, builder and contractor, stated that he gave accused a cheque for the amount, and asked him to pay it into witness s account, but accused did not do so Accused cashed it and kept the money. Clmrles Edward Snow, detective, stated that the accused admitted the offence, and the two others mentioned in a subseouent charge. ■ Accused stated that he lost the j cheque for £1 18s 6d. V Accused was then charged with stealing on the same date £5, the property of \V. E. Ramsay, and £3, the property of Phillip Munn. W. E. Ramsay stated that he and Phillip Munn had a bet of £5 as to whether Munn had ever been in South Africa with a contingent. Witness handed accused a cheque for £5 in Munn's billiard-room to hold as his stake in the bet. Accused went away and cashed the cheque. Phillip Munn, billiard-rcom proprietor, stated that he had known nccusod for three weeks. Witness gave him his £5 cash stake to hold. Detective Osborne gave similar cvi- , dence to that of Detective Snow. | Accused quoted a case heard _at the general sessions in Melbourne in September 1908, in which Mr Justice Hodges had held that money .parted with for stake-holding purposes was parted with for an i legal purpose, and ( could not be recovered. - The Magistrate sentenced accused to six months' hard labour on earli charge relating to the £5 stakes, and three months' hard labour on the othar charge, the sentences to be concurrent. i