Arson trial committed to wrong court

Press, 30 June 1982, Page 4

Arson trial committed to wrong court

The trial of a man on 33 charges, including' four of arson involving Methodist Church premises in the inner city, between April last year and January this year, came to an abrupt end yesterday.

It was found that the defendant had been wrongly committed for trial in the District Court, instead of the High Court, on the arson charges. The trial had been scheduled to continue all this week, and 20 of the 32 Crown witnesses completed their evidence on Monday.

Yesterday morning, however. Judge Fraser discharged the jury from giving a verdict in the case and remanded the defendant, Colyn David Stoves, in custody, to July 26, a probable date for trial in the High Court.

Stoves, aged 19, a former window cleaner, had elected trial by jury on four charges of arson, one of attempted arson, nine of burglary, 10 of unlawfully taking cars, six of thefts from cars, arid three of wilfully setting fire to cars. He had been? committed' for trial in the District Court on all charges by Justices of the Peace after the hearing of depositions of evidence of prosecution witnesses in April.

Mr B. M. Stanaway appeared for the Crown, and Mr E. T. Higgins for the defendant.

Discharging the jury yes-

terday. the Judge said that he arid counsel had considered a legal question which affected the basis of the trial.

He said it appeared that the defendant ought to have been committed to the High Court for trial on the four arson charges, after the preliminary hearing. These charges were outside the jurisdiction of the District Court. The District Court was the proper jurisdiction for the other 29 charges and he had

considered whether to proceed with the trial on these charges, but had decided against this as all 33 charges were inter-related and required to be heard together. The arson charges will be referred back to Justices of the Peace for committal of the defendant to the High Court for trial. The defendant was remanded in custody to July 26 pending trial on the arson charges, and for application for hearing the other charges in conjunction with that trial.