DESERTION CHARGE DISMISSED

Press, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 25437, 8 March 1948, Page 9

DESERTION CHARGE DISMISSED

INFORMER NOT PRESENT IN COURT , WELLINGTON, March 7. btatmg that it seemed to him that in a al?^T te Prosecution the informant should SM s„”.a Cl> ?J t ' - Mr H ' J - Thompson, the Magistrate's Court to-dav, tu d V of deserting from his ship, the Cornwall, at Bluff, on May r„v-?n ef oV e a a ?“ inst Ronald George San L^d 23 ' d ® s crlbed as an English sei!T: an . a " d waterside worker. The accused pleaded not guilty. “Hie police said that the accused was only arrested last night, and as the shipping company offices had been locked since then it had not been possible to inform them that the accused had been arrested. A warrant had not been sent nom Bluff and a remand would be necessary until its arrival in Wellington. Counsel for the accused said the case was a private prosecution, and the only duty of the police was to execute the warrant and bring the defendant before * Court. They did not have the authority to ask for a remand. The accused had appeared before the Court and was properly charged, and as the inf2rm,a,nt was not Present the charge be dismissed, counsel submitted. The Magistrate said that if it were possible for counsel for defendant to be present, then it should also be possible for the informant to appear. He added that there was no reflection on the police in the matter. “One is reluctant to see these matters dismissed, but in this case it seems to be the practical way out to dismiss the charge for want of prosecution.’’