HOUSEBREAKING CHARGE

Press, Volume C, Issue 29673, 17 November 1961, Page 11

HOUSEBREAKING CHARGE

Young Man On Trial

t The trial at a young man J who is alleged to have broken s into and entered ahomeownt ed by Mabel Claude at the e intersection at Glenroy and i Portland streets, Woolston, on - the evening at September 11 .opened in the Supreme Court 1 yesterday. '■ The accused is Robert 1 Marshall Williamson, aged 20. 5 After evidence of four Crown t witnesses had been given Mr ' Justice Richmond adjourned i the trial to today. The ac- ■ cused, who pleaded not ■ guilty to the charge, is repi resented by Mr J. N. Matson. Mr P. T. Mahon is appearing ■ for the Crown. 1 Outlining the Crown’s case ’ Mr Mahon said Mrs Claude 1 was absent from her house - on the day of the alleged ■ offence. About 8.20 pm. a i neighbour saw two men, act--1 ing suspiciously, at one of ! Mrs Claude’s windows. They 1 then entered the house and ■ she saw matches being lit ! inside. The men later left • the house, climbed the fence • on to the road, and walked off ; towards Ferry road. Dog Picked Up Scent The police were called and i i the accused and another man, , I Carstairs, were seen by a ■ patrol walking along Ferry ! road. They were questioned . by Constable Peterson, who i had the police dog, Buck, but . said they had not been fur- ;! ther than Hargood street. ; They were then allowed to . leave. At the house the police dog . picked up a scent and followed it over the fence and along to Ferry road. The trail continued to the intersection iof Ferry road and Radley i street, where the dog recovered a torch from grass i on the bank of the Heathcote i river. The torch was later I found to have been stolen I from Mrs Claude’s house. The point where it was found i was near where the accused ; and Carstairs were spoken to by Constable Peterson. The police dog continued to the intersection of Ferry and Ensors roads where it lost the trail, said Mr Mahon. Unknown to Constable Peterson at the time a second police patrol, which was making its way out to Woolston some 10 minutes after the first patrol, had seen the accused and Carstairs, and taken them back to the Central police station for ques- | boning. They were picked up lat the spot where the police ; dog later lost the tracks it ! was following from the house, Mr Mahon said. Footprints found on the windowsill, and ja pillow under the window in Mrs Claude’s house, were seen to be similar to those ! made by shoes the accused ; and Carstairs were wearing , said Mr Mahon. He submitted ! that on the evidence the j jqry should have little difficulty in finding that the ac- , cused was one of the men who had broken into Mrs ' Claude’s house. Winifred Mary Churchill ( gave evidence of seeing two ; men enter the house. She 1 saw matches being struck. ; and telephoned the nolice after the men had left the house and walked off along i the street. Constable Peterson said ; that when he reached the i house he received information i which led him to suspect < that the accused and Carstairs. whom he had stopped i in Ferry road, were the < offenders. He then radioed 1 for a second patrol to travel 1 along Ferry road and accost the men, and he then set the dog on the trail from the 1 house. <