OWNERSHIP OF SHEEP

Press, Volume LXXV, Issue 22662, 17 March 1939, Page 7

OWNERSHIP OF SHEEP

CLAIM IN MAGISTRATE’S COURT NEW PLYMOUTH, March 16. Judgment was reserved td-day by Mr W. H. Woodward, S.M., after a hearing lasting four days in the Stratford Magistrate’s Court 6f an action by Mrs L. A. Garlick, of Te Wera, against W. H. H. Young and W. J. Poison, of Stratford. The case was one of the longest to have been heard at Stratford. . Mrs Garlick claimed £IBO, which was reduced during the hearing to £l6O, for the value of sheep alleged to have been converted to their own use by the defendants, in or about September, 1936, and alternatively £IBO, reduced to £l6O, being money had or received by the defendants. . The case involved 6B ewes and lambs, which Mrs Garlick claimed crossed to the adjoining property used by Young. Much of the argument concerned the use of similar earmarks by plaintiff and defendants. The' defence was a complete denial of the conversion of the sheep. It was suggested, also, that the sheep might have died. Counsel’s submission was that plaintiff had not discharged the onus of proof, and that she had not proved identification of even one ewe at a time when identification was necessary, and opportunities were offered by Young and his manager to establish ownership.