MAGISTRATE'S COURT.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 762, 10 March 1910, Page 11

MAGISTRATE'S COURT.

PIPITEA-STREE]- TRAGEDY. -.'■ ■•; 'ANOTHER EEM AND. , ; . ' .-■ •; (Bpf&rir-'^frw] ;: G^^ ; .' •■'°- At fji'o!'. Magistrate's, Court ; 'yesterday > Robert - CoriciU- 'wascharged, on ■reinandl with the,, murder-. of;., Christopher ■ Denis Smith.- " ■•",■'■..■. J: ': .■'■ •' .. .':'•Mγ.;. Wilfor'fl; who'-appeared.'for accused; stated that it would be necessary to obtain a further remand before he would bp able to gotoii. Ho had to make' inquiries at Nukumiru and Taranaki, and to_rhakc oertain nefcessary: examinations. ,The case was' adjourned lintil March IG \ - : ■'•: _[_■■: ■' •; = '.;■•■•■ THE •' POLICE' VERY, MUCH' ASTRAy! Joseph ■',Lube was:, charged, on- remand with Being an' idW, and disorderly; person in that he had no lawful means of Blipport; " Accused plbaded' not'guilty:. •'•'.'•: -■ . Mr. Meredith reminded . his • ■ Wof ship that this case wis remanded on account of the conflict befween the evidencd'.of a constable, who had,.sworn that-he had niade inquiries from the manager ;of the New Zealand Trafrliriff Company, and had stated that Lubo , had never worked for the company, and was unknown to; 'them. This testimony, was in direct conflict with the statement mdde by accused,'supported by a letter from the manager'of the company. Mr. Meredith, continuing, eaid that further'inqtiry'had now'beeu"made by the police, aid it was.found that the statements which, accused had niade Were" absolutely correct, nnd- the constable had made a: mistake, Mr.: Meredith' added that it' might hkvo been a very seritius mistake.- The ateused was in gaol'without bail, arid jfj-he (Mr.. Meredith) had not taken the tjouble ; to niake personal ihquiricSi the constable's evidence iave stood, Lube! would undoubtedly have been convicted, and.if Lube dared to give evidence,' would Jhavo stood adjudged a? a perjurer/- Mr.' Meredith 'also contended ;hat .the statements p of■ police officers who had given evideiipe that because they had occasionally seen; accused.about the city, and they were confident that he did no iionest work, wal only the merest conjecture, and that efidence of ; that kind was useless. Now that proper inquiries had been made, it vias found that in every caso Lube had efated he had been work'ing it was fouiii to be ■correct, and it showed that in the last month he had averaged over £1 10s. a, week 'in work connected with !the , shipping on the wharves. Mr. Meredith submitted that the caso must fai on the ground that, the evidence against accused was hopelessly unsatisfactory, aid the police were now satisfied by subseduent inquiry that their previous opinion »st 6 the accused's mod! of' living was entirely wrong. His Worship asked counsel to call somo evidence and M}. ; Meredith intimated that imfortunatolj he could not now call the prisoner, bemuse during his detention in gaol,his bind had 'unfortunately become unhinged.! ™<=, difficulty wis got over by Constable M-Kelvio being palled. The constable testified to the result of his inquiries, and the rest of tie information given by counsel. ! . His Worship tllen, stated that he was satisfied that thejman had- earned sufficient money by lionest employment to support himself, ind the case was dis-' missed. The prisoner was afterwards detained and committed to the Mount View Asylum until Marlh 10. A BAD CHARACTER. Thomas Williams, alias Wilson, alias Richard Roberts, ok remaiid, was charged with having, on X'ebrnary 23, at Paokakariki, committed a (criminal act. At the time at u'liich the pffenco was committed accused had only. b*n out of gaol twentyfour hours after liaving served a term of five years for a serious offence. ' .. Prisoner pleadedVknilty find was committed to the Supremo Court for sentence. ■* • ' ■ -.1 :. ■' 1 IDLE AND DISORDERLY. John David Speight, deemed to be an idle and disorderly psrson, in that he had no visible means ol support, waa 6en-

.tenced- to three months', .imprisonment; Accused, who ■ had been -.'. previously 'in gaol;;was described by the police.,as."a. public-house loafer." 1 .; •: •■■'■ ■ • •;.-'• ■ An .elderly man named Thomas Thomson : was convicted of beinK. an "idle and disorderly person,' and ordered to , come up for sentence when called upon, and at tho sttroo into the Benevolent 6ii months. •. INSOBRIETY; ■ : -'y Three first offenders, charged with insobriety, were convicted and discharged. Daniel Keane, with several convictions,, was. sentenced to 2t days' imprisonment; John O'Dca,, previously , convicted, w.as . fined 10s., : ".in default 4S honrs; : Herbert Epoves was sentenced to one month's imprisonment, the Salvation Array,'.refusing to-takehim into:, the. home; George Hastings' was.'fined ; 2os;, or "seven rdays,' and on a 'furtherjchiirgo : of"a breacK'of a prohibitipn 6rder.,was i fined 405.. 0r..14. days'imprisonment., ,\...;..'..' . \_, •.,-... ,■ -■■■; OTHER CASES.- ; .: ''■_...'• George Stant; and. Kate Morgan, 'alias Docherty.,. were each sentenced' -to. • sis mdnths': imprisonment on a rather serious charge. ' ' : '■■ ■" ; -CIVIL BUSINESS. 1 ..-• .;■:'■ ;. A-TIMBEE CLAIM;"- ■ ■.. '. ;: (Before Mr;''W.'.E, Haselden, S.M.) \ The Hutt .Valley Timber Company" proceeded against Eiehard.Keerie Ud. for timber supplied to. H. Hurrell. Mr. Ward appeared- for plaintiffs and Mr. Beero for defendant. The defendant submitted- (1) that the timber had ,been supplied without authority, aii'd (2) that after the authority had been-given the timber was supplied not to the. Bpe'cined-.-place of delivery,.,but to H. Hurrell.' Thq casV lfns. adjourned; until to-day. -, ; t ';-:. : ■'... • ; •;■