THE COURTS.

Press, Volume LVI, Issue 17021, 18 December 1920, Page 12

THE COURTS.

! SUPREME COURT. FRIDAY. IX CHAMBERS. (Before his Honour Mr Justice Kezdmac.) Probata was granted in tho estate of John Watt Letters o: administration were granted in tho fillc-.vicg deceased persons' estates: — Fenny Chariotte Birch (surety reduced to £100): Isaac George Wilkins (sureties dispensed with); Alfred Henry Trott. ' In lh4 case tho Commissioner of Taxes r. Kitckingbam, Greymouth. a motion to Tej move action from the Magistrate's Court to ' the Supreme Court. An order was granted j accordingly. In Hawkins v. Ha.—kins, a. motion to make ) decree nisi absolute, tho order was granted. A similar order was granted in Griffiths v. Griffiths. In Berry v. Berry, an order rrnf made to issue decree absolute and foT the custody of the children. MAGISTERIAL. i | FRIDAY. j (Before Mr V. G. Day. S.M.) i DRUNKENNESS. | Two first offenders for drunkenness were each convicted and fined Ss, or in default twentv-four hours' imprisonment, j " INDECENT LANGUAGE. I On a. charge cf having used indecent | language in a trnmear, John Coouey was j convicted and fined 40s, or seven days' im- ; i:risonment. On a further charge of drunk--1 enr.csr. he Yv-as convicted and lined 20s, or ! forty-eight lfours' imprisonment. ! ' ALLEGED ASSAULT. ] William Grieve and Arthur "Rochfort were I : rtniiinded till to-day oil a charge of having ! ' unlawfully assaulted Wiiiiam Arthur Gains. ! ! Kach wp.s granted bail in his own recegni- i | Kar.co of £10. I ■ A chnrge of assault was preferred against j ; William Downing by William J. Adams. ] ; After hearing tlie evidence, the Magistrate ! (ii?ir.i3sed the case. THEFT. ] John Aligns (Mr E. A. Cuthbort), aged 02 j years, pleaded guilty to> the theft of a port- t ' vmnteau containing crticles valued at £2fi ° ! Uis, the property of James Cameron. ! lie was admitted io probation! for twelve . r;-.onths. ITo v.-as also ordered to pay £20 ' 1 t'i the complainant at of £1 weeklv. J REMANDED. ' j : William Gilbert Eldred was charged with the theft of a bicycle, valued at £7, tho pro- j |ic-rty of John Allan AdnmEon. Tho accused, j -,vbom Mr A. J. Malley appeared, pleaded j ■ no' guilty, and was remanded till Wednesday. ! " SENT TO GAOL. ' j , l'"rcderick Henry Bennett was charged with i ■ having ou November otb stolen a bicycle, valued at £8, the property of Ethel Maud i Brown; with the theft of a bicycle, valued 1 at £5. tho property of a person unknown; a I bicycle, valued at £"! 10s, tho property of , William H. B^tomrui. ; The accused pleaded guilty in each ini fiance. ' Senior Delectivo Cameron stated that the : bicycles had been stolen in Christchurch and sn'd in Kainpoi. The Magistrate convicted the accused, and .-■enter.ced him to three months' imprisonment ; u!l each charge. j ! TRUANCY CASES. I On charges of failing to send children, to j ; echool, E. Birch, Henry Isaacs, and George : Jncksoa were each fined ss. \ i DISMISSED. ; Francis James Mcßratney (Mr A. J. Malley) pleaded not guilty to a charge of having stolen a. bicycle, valued at £15, tho property of William John Calder, and also of having : received the bicycle knowing it to have been ! stolen. i 'The cases were both dismissed, tho Magisj tiato stating that the accused's explanation regarding the possession of the bicycle was a reasonable one. ! BY-LAW CASES. Edward. Hartnell was fined 5s on each of two charges of allowing cattle to wander. A charge against him of having rescued a cow which had been seized by a ranger was dismissed. A charge against William Sly of allowing cattle to wander was dismissed. William Wardell was fined 10s for leaving a car unattended, as also was Charles Clark. Adams, Ltd., - was fined 10s for leaving a car without lights. Edward Sharlick was fined 20a for having no' lights on his . motor-cycle. A fine of 20s was imposed on Lily Rowo for cutting a corner. Harold Roy Paynter was fined 20s with costs oil each of two charges of speeding. Henry Donhhm was fined 20s' for speeding. On similar charges Samuel F. Coatos 1 v.-as ordered to pay costs amounting to £3 IGs Gd, and Mary Earshman fined 10s. For having driven a car in a manner dangerous to the public, W. A. Churchill was fined £10 and costs. At a later stage the defendant appeared, having just arrived from. Alcaroa, and in order to give him a chance to hoar the case against him, a re-hearing was granted, the date being fixed for January 14th. Leslie Lilly, charged with driving a car r without lights, was ordered to pay costs amounting to 7s. For failing to notify the change of ownership of a motor vehicle, Jasper W. Salt was ordered to pay 7s costs. James Burke was fined 10s for possessing , no certificate of ability to drive, and a similar sum for having no number on his motorcycle. He was fined 10s also for speeding over a crossing. DECISION RESERVED. Thomas Tomlinson (Mr R. A. Cuthbert) proceeded against John it. McKenzio and ; David F. Glanvillo (Mr R. TwynoUam) charging them with" having caused water to enter a eewer without authority. . The complainant, the chief inspector for the Drainage Board, stated that the defendants had -frequently allowed unpolluted water to run into a eewer. By such practices extra work wa3 thrown on tho Board's pumpjng plant. The defence was to tho effect that the water complained of was "used" water, aud was, therefore, Quite within the by-law. Decision was reserved. l^ (Bcfor-3 Messrs W. Lovoll Smith and A. T. Brice, J.P.'e.) COMMITTED FOR TRIAL. Richard Sheehan, alias O'Brien, pleaded not guilty to a charge of having stolen from the person of Arthur Francis Quinn a gold tie pin, valued at £10. Ho was committed for trial at the next sitting of tho Supreme Court. THEFT OF MOTOR-CYCLE. Clarence Nelson John Bovey pleaded guilty to having stolen a motor-cycle, valued at £40, the property of Adolph Mu'.ler, and was committed to tho Supreme Court for sentence. ALLEGED FALSE PRETENCES. William Joseph O'Dwyer was remanded to appear at Dunediu on Wednesday on a, charge of having on October 18tli, at Dunedin, with intent to defraud, received from Walter Pearson the sum oi £15 by means of a valueless cheque. DARFIELD. Edward Wood was charged, before Messrs Robert Reid and P. Morrison, J.P.'s, with com. mitt in# an indecont act at tho IHrfieid School bath on the sth inst. After hearing lenghy evidence for tho prosecution tho ! Bench dismissed the charge. i ASHiBURTON. (Before Mr E. D. Mosley, S.M.) j Harold Roy_ Johnston was fined lOe and ! co.sts for leaving a' motor-car unattended. ' Matthew Coffey and Stanley Wright were j each fined £2 and costs for exceeding the I speed limit with motor cars. j John. Ernest Dobbin, for whom Mr : Buchanan appeared, was charged with steal- j ing one caae oi petrol, valued at £2, tho j property of Tucker's, Limited. He was eon- ; victed and ordered to come up for sentence j when called upon. ! Georgo William Spicer was chargcd with j drunkenness, and a breach of a prohibition j order. He was fined 20s, with casts, for I drunkenness, and convicted ar.d discharged I for tho breach of the prohibition order. | A. M. Sutherland was lined £2, with costa. | for exceeding tho eneed. limit with a motor- | car. 1 John Jackson, a taxi-cab driver, appe-ajred j on .v count of having charged a. fare in ex- , cess of that stated in the by-law, ?,s instead I oi Is £d. Mr Orbel' appeared for the* borough, and Mr Johnston for the defendant. Mr for the defence, contended that : the by-lnw was unreasonable, and that it re- ! ferred to vehicles drawn by horsc», and the j words motor-car were not mentioned in the f by-law. Evident© was given by tho ' Mayor, Mr R. Gslbiaith, who considered the j present fares to be unnecessarily low, and j the by-law in need of alteration, and by j Mr F. W. Watt, chaiman of the Borough Council By-laws Committee. Defendant | era.ye figures cbowing the cost of running a j car, and its relation to the fares fixed by ) the Council. Tho Magistrate remarked; that [ the case was one to which he would have j to give- some consideraiioEj And he would re- | serve his decision till after the holidays. His j own private opinion was, however, that the i present charges were \oo low.