A POLICEMAN’S WORD

Dominion, Volume 19, Issue 95, 16 January 1926, Page 6

A POLICEMAN’S WORD

NO BETTER THAN ANOTHER

MAN’S BY TELEGRAPH-SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.. Auckland, Jnauary 15. "It’s not a bit of good me putting up a defence, because you’ll take the policeman’s word before mine.” John Jack Ellis, a young man, made this statement in the Magistrate’s Court this morning, when asked if he had any questions to put to a constable who bad given evidence against him on a charge of using obscene language in a billiard saloon. “The sooner you get that notion out of vour mind the better,” retorted Mr. J. W. Poyutotl, S.M., in stern tones. “That’s not what you think, but what someone else has told you. It is a wrong idea altogether. If fifty policemen came in this Comt and gave evidence your word would be as good as theirs. That notion makes you defiant and disrespectful of the law. He lie policeman, priest, parson, or sailor, a man’s word is taken for what it is worth. You are liable for contempt of Court for that remark. We could lock you up for a week.” Ellis, wlho looked quite surprised, elected to give evidence and got into the box to state that lie "let the word go in anger” during the course of a game in the billiard saloon. "He admits it. To his credit lie hasn’t told lies about it,” observed His Worship.

Senior Sergeant Edwards said that the prosecution had been brought in the nature of a test case in order to find whether or not a billiard saloon came within the definition of “a public place.”