MAGISTRATES COURT

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21806, 11 June 1936, Page 11

MAGISTRATES COURT

WEDNESDAY (Before Mr E. C. Levvey, S.M.) CRUELTY TO HORSE Frederick Jones, a fishmonger, pleaded not guilty to a charge of illtreating an aged black gelding. Mr D. J. White, inspector for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said that, on May 29, in Durham street, he saw accused beating the horse, which was harnessed to a fish cart, with a thick stick. On overtaking him, he had discovered that the horse was lame in one of its forefeet. He drew Jones’s attention to this lameness, and Jones had stated that he had another horse and would not work the lame one in future. The following day, however, continued Mr White, when he was on his way to Leeston, he met Jones near Halswell using the lame horse. When asked why he used the horse, he replied that he had to take some oysters to Halswell. Jones, in evidence, denied having illtreated the horse. It had been shod a day or two before Mr White met him in Durham street, and though there was a sandcrack on one of the forefeet, the horse was fit to work. After being warned by Mr White he tried all over the town to get another horse without success as his other horse was at Ladbrooks at the time. “I feel very much tempted to fine you heavily to give you a taste of what you have given to this poor animal,” remarked the magistrate in convicting Jones and ordering him to come up for sentence within six months if called upon. Jones was ordered to pay costs. SERIOUS CHARGE Albert William Menneer was charged that on May 27, 1936, he committed an unnatural offence on a human being. On the application of Chief-Detec-tive W. H. Dunlop he was remanded until June 16. REMAND GRANTED Charged with failure to account for sums totalling £24 to the Fuller Brush Company on divers dates between April 10, 1936, and June 8, 1936, Arthur Rodger Eden Oastler, for whom Mr J. A. Bretherton appeared, was remanded, on the application of ChiefDetective Dunlop, until June 16. SHOPKEEPER GIVES SHORT MEASURE For exposing for sale pre-packed sugar without the weight stamped on the outside of the package, Henry Charles Hammond was fined £5 and. was ordered to pay costs, and he was fined a similar amount and was ordered to pay costs for selling sugar short weight. Defendant, who pleaded guilty to both charges through Mr R. A. Young, had a shop in Sydenham, said Mr R. T. Bailey for the defendant. A complaint made by a woman resulted in an inspector visiting the shop and weighing a number of packages of sugar and cereals. The weight was not marked on the outside and they were from a few grams to two ounces light. The scales were in order. When the inspector went to his van to get his certified scales Hammond tried to remove - some of the other packages from the shelves. “It seems that he had set out to make a wholesale disregard of the regulations,” said Mr Bailey. Hammond had been in this small business for 15 years, and had never been before the court before, said Mr Young. He had measured an odd weight of bird-seed on this day, and had accidentally given the next customer, the woman who had complained, threequarters of a pound of sugar instead of a pound. It had been a genuine mistake. The scales had been proved to be faulty and had since been adjusted. The other goods, which the inspector weighed, were not sold. The magistrate remarked that even slight short weight was serious In a locality such as Sydenham. UNEMPLOYMENT LEVY For falling to pay the unemployment levy due in February, 1932, Oswald Beckham Clayton was convicted and was ordered to pay costs. For the department, Mr T. A. N. Johnson said that Clayton had already been given time to pay. Mr K. J. McMenamin said defendant had paid most of the outstanding levies and hoped to pay the last soon. The magistrate remarked that he could impose a fine of £5. RANGIORA (Before Mr H. A. Young, S.MI) Arising out of a collision between a baby motor-car and a motor-truck on the Ohoka-Cust road on May 14, both drivers appeared in court. John Francis Dawson (Mr E. D. R. Smith) was charged with having negligently driven a motor-lorry, and Frederick James Scott with having failed to give way to traffic approaching on his right. Both pleaded not guilty. Sergeant O. P. McEntee said that the vehicles collided at the intersection of Bradley’s road and the OhokaCust road, and travelled 24 feet after the Impact. The car driven by Scott was almost a total wreck, and Scott was injured. The intersection was a wide one, and not dangerous. If the drivers had kept a proper look-out there would have been no accident. For Dawson. Mr Smith said that he was approaching the intersection at a slow rate of speed, and was particularly careful to observe the off-side rule. Scott contended that he had taken reasonable precautions, and said he did not see the lorry until just before the impact. He questioned the statement that the lorry was not travelling at more than 16 miles an hour. Lengthy evidence on the speeds of the vehicles and the visibility at the corner was heard. The magistrate said that Scott was primarily liable for the collision, as he did not keep a proper look-out. The intersection: was not a dangerous one, and the collision should not have occurred. There was also negligence on the part of Dawson. If he had kept a proper look-out he would have seen the car. Dawson was fined £1 and Scott £2. Both were ordered to pay costs.