A BROKEN CHAIR

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 71, 17 December 1935, Page 3

A BROKEN CHAIR

Seaman Charged With Wilful Damage A chair broken in a restaurant brawl was the subject of argument in the Wellington Magistrate’s Court yesterday. Mr. W. F. Stilwell, S.M., was on the bench. The ease was one in which a jseaman, William Henry Taylor, aged 35, was charged with being drunk in Taranaki Street on Saturday evening, and with wilfully damaging a chair valued at 7/6. the property of Joseph Pivac. In evidence, Pivac, the proprietor of a Taranaki Street cafe, stated that on the evening in question Taylor called at tlie restaurant in a drunken condition, and asked if he could be trusted for a meal until Monday. When he was refused and told to' get out, he went to beg from people in tlie dining-room. He refused to go away and sat down in a chair and refused to shift. A scuffle ensued, and witness hit Taylor, who had tried to strike him with the chair, which he threw on to the floor, breaking it. Witness then summoned a constable. Cross-exam-ined by accused, witness denied having broken the chair himself. Tlie police constable who arrested Taylor stated that he had seen the, broken chair. The defendant was then still looking for a fight, and he had taken him in charge. On oath, Taylor said Pivac had deliberately picked up tlie chair and broken it. The proprietor bad hit him without warning, he said. “The crack I got sobered me up very quickly.” “I am satisfied the prosecution has established its case. 1 think this man’s memory must.be at fault,” said the magistrate. Taylor was convicted and fined 10/- and ordered to make restitution, on the charge of breaking the chair, and was lined 5/- on that of drunkenness.