POLICE COURT.—Monday. [Before his Worship the Mayor and T. Ritchle, Esq., J.P.s.] .

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXVII, Issue 4401, 3 October 1871, Page 3

POLICE COURT.— Monday. [Before his Worship the Mayor and T. Ritchle, Esq., J.P.s.] .

t , BEUHKBNNJBSfI,— For, tbis offence five perSOUS were fined in the usual manner. .

Lakceny, —George Sjmps >d, a young lad, was charged with, stialipg » lamb, value 10s., the property of James DHwohh.—Tftr. Dil-

"worth stated to the Bench that he did not wish to press the charge, and said that for sosne time past he ha* lb«t a number of Articles from hi* premise! . At last he set one of his men to watch, and so detected the prisoner in the act of stealing the lamb, He hoped the Bench would not deal severely with the case, but discharge the lad with « aution, which was done.

; Breaches of Municipal Police Act. - damei Ryan, for allowing two oows to stray in Symonds-sfcreet, was fined 25a. and costs. Thomas Hollywood, for allowing a goat to stray, was fined sa. and costa.— — • J. L. West was brought np for being away from his vehicle. It was proved that every precaution had been taken to prevent any accident. Fined la. and costs.-: Jokn Stuart, for allowing a horse to stray, was fined sa. and costs. James Sainiburv, for being in charge of more than one vehicle, was fin^d ss. and costs.

Dog Nuisance Act,-— Riobard Sandall was brought up for allowing two dogs to rusk at a young lad named William Dayis, in; Rutland-street. The defendant wm alrio charged with allowing a dog to wander at large in Kutlaud-street, without a collar.—Fined, for the first offence, 40s. and costs ; aud for the second offence, ss. and coats. Larceny as a Bailee, —Thomas H. Pearson was brought up on remand, charged with, appropriating £17 10s. — The proseoution stated that they had no evidence to offer. The prisoner was therefore discharged.

Larceny.— Andrew Crombie, .G. W. Smith, and W. King were charged -with stealiag from the cutter 'Woodstock* » weighing machine, rained at £10. — Thf case was remanded for & week. — Mr. • Joy appeared for Andrew Crombie, for whom bail was allowed in two sureties of £50 each.

Destitute Persons Reuef Okdikance.— John Wilson 'was charged with deserting his wife and two children since September 16. — Mr. J. B. Russell for the defence, and Mr. Joy for the complainant. — The prosecutrix deposed to having received much' ill-usage from defendant, and to having been turned out of the house by him. In eross«examina« tion she admitted having used provoking language towards him on account «f some jealousy she entertained in respect to hia behaviour in regard to other females. She refused to listen to him. She had taken the children away from her husband when ha was prepared to take them to the Thames and support them. He had given her everything out of the house, and gone away with* out anything himself. - Under these circum* stances Mr. Joy asked permission to withdraw the case, which -was accordingly dismissed.

Breach op the Marine Act.— -Philip Jones, master of the schooner ' Sea Gull,' was charged by the Collector of Customs with, committing a breach of the 104 th section of the by-laws of 1863, under section 50 of the Marine Act, 1867, by neglecting to exhibit a light while in the port of Auckland. — Defendant pleaded guilty, and explained the circumstances which led to the omission. — The Court held the charge proved, and fined the defendant £10 and costs. [After an adjournment of an hour, Mr. Dargaville took the seat on the bench vacated by Mr, Philips, who had to take the cluir at the meeting of the Borough Council.] F OBGING AND UTTERING. — GflOrge W. Bull, alias William Williams, was charged by John C. Morriu with uttering a cheque for £15 17s. 7d., purporting to be drawn by E. Walker and Son on the Union Bank. — A. Gibbon, assistant to J. C. Morrin, deposed that on the 18th instant prisoner came to the shop and purchased goods to the extent of £1 7s. 7d., for which he tendered a chequo for £15 17s. 7(1. on the Union Bank of Australia, purporting to be signed byft.Walk«r and Co. He said he had got the cheque from Walker and Co., gum merchants on the wharf, on account of gum, and that there were two other men concerned with him in the sale of the gum. He said he was W. Williams, whose name was in the body of the chequo, Witness , gave him tho balance of the cheque, viz., £13 17s. 18J, The cheque was prftßented, and payment refused, as the signature was not that of the Messrs. Walker 4 — Angui Macdonald, clerk and acting ledger-keeper in the Union Bauk of Australia, identified the cheque as having been presented at the bank, and returned to Mr. Morrin, as tho signature was unlike that of Walker and Co. No other firms of that name are customers of that bank,— William Henry Lyons, partner in the firm of R. Walker and Co., stated that the signature to the cheque was not jfcbat of the company, although it bore some resemblance to it. Prisoner was for some time iti the employ of the firm, both in the office and the store, and was discharged about six weeks ago. — Detective Ternahan had assisted in the apprehension of prisoner. On searching him he found a card (produced) on which the -writing and the amount, £15 17s. 7d., were both similar to that on the chequo. A letter also found upon him, which he himself asserted to be in hia own handwriting, was also similar as to the writing. Oa the following morning, however, Bull adhered to his first statement, that the signature to the cheque was that of B. Walker and Co. — Prisoner reserved kis defence, afld was committed to take' his trial at the next criminal sittings of the Supremo Court. — The same prisoner was then charged with forging a cheque for £75 17s. 7d., purportiug to be signed by R. Walker and Co. — Michael Sheehy, landlord of the Alexandra Hotel, deposed that prisoner stayed with him as a hoarder until the 29th ultimo, under the name of Frederick Walters. Ho then presented the cheque for £7» 15s. 7d., now produced, in favour of W. Williams, and signed by R. Walker and Co. Witness had made no demand at the time for payment, but prisoner presented the cheque, asking for change, as he was " running short of money." On presenting the chequo at the bank, wit* ness was called into the presence of tho manager, who asked him to bring prisoner to him. Witness took him to the Dank, 'but while witness was eng&ged prisoner made his escape. The cheque was returned to witness afterwards. — Mr, Macdonald gave similar evidence to that in the last case, in regard to the refusal of the bank to honour the draft. Eridence was also given by Mr. Lyons as to the fact of the cheque nob having been drawn by R. Walker and Co. — On this charge also prisoner was committed for trial. — Prisoner was then again charged with a similar offence in forging a promiaiory note, purporting to .be drawn by him, and endorsed {by Samuel Evinson, for £24. — Edward Dufaur wat ex. amined, and said that, on behalf of W. C. Offord, he had pressed prisoner for payment of a certaiu account, aud the latter asked whether a promissory note would satisfy the claim. Witness said, "Not unless endorsed by some good man in Auckland." Prisoner said he would endeavour to get some friend to endorse a note for more than was duo ; that he would get the note cashed for the amount due, and witness could hand him the balance. After an attempt to p*sa an unstamped note, ho handed witness the one produced for £24. There was an informality in the endorsement, and witness recommended prisoner to have the endorsement initialed. After this witness showed the endorsement to Evinson, and asked if it was his. At first he said, it was, but subsequently said be had never endor3od a promissory note, and that it was a forgery. — Samuel Evinson was then examined, and denied all knowledge of the prisoner. The signature to the endorsement was not his, although very much like it. He know nothing of the promissory note. Prisoner might have copied witness's signature from a statement he had written to the effect that he would give £5 to the best shot in a rifle club of which prisoner said he was secretary.—Detective Ternahan deposed to having searched prisoner, and found on him a cheque, pen porting to be signed by Samuel Evinson, The endorsement t» the bill, and the T »igwv tare to ' the cheque, were similar. ' Prifojßi w*s then going by the name of Frederick Waters.— Prisoner had nothing to say, in hi« defence, and was committed on this, a» in the former cases, to take his trial at the next criminal sessions of the Supreme Court.

On September 26, at an e»rly"hoar, * •light shook of •arthquake was felt in Napier and Whangnnui.