RESIDENT MAGISTRATE'S COURT

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3202, 3 October 1881, Page 3

RESIDENT MAGISTRATE'S COURT

MONDAY, OCTOBER 3

(Before H. Eyre Kenny, Esq., R.M.) DEUNKENNESS. David Horton was charged with

this offence, and fined 5s and costs or 48 hours.

Henry Looley, charged with the same offence, did not put in an appearance, and his bail was estreated. LAHCENY. Willhelm Hartzig Schipper was brought up on remand charged with the larceny of a watch at Hastings. James Callahan, on his oath, said he knew the prisoner, who was living at the Pacific Hotel at Hastings, and carrying on the business of a watchmaker. Witness gave him a watch to repair in August. When the watch was repaired prisoner said if it was not right he would repair it again without charge. The watch stopped, and he took it back. He went again for it in September, and found that the accused had left. He never gave the prisoner authority to give away or sell his watch. Ihe watch produced was his. He never saw the prisoner again until he saw him in custody. He valued the watch at £5. His Worship said there was no evidence to convict the prisoner of stealing the watch. He warned the accused that he had had a narrow escape. Although he could not be legally convicted of stealing he was morally guilty of taking property that did not belong to him. He would be discharged. CATTLE STEALING. S. W. P. Peddle was charged with this offence. Mr Lascelles, with Mr Cornford, ap« peared for the prosecution, and Mr M'Leau for the defence. Eobert Edgar Stevens said he was a farmer residing on his own land at Patakou. Prisoner was his next neighbor. Had been on the land five years next April. He kept sheep and cattle on the land. There is one particularly wellbred cow on the station. He remembered the 21st September. On the morning of that day he and John Maddigan were watching in a small clump of manuka and fern on the prisoner's land. It was just before six o'clock when he saw the prisoner coming from his (witness's) land driving two cows. The prisoner was 28£ yards away when he first saw him. He continued to drive the cows towards them until he got up to the fence between his land and witness's. The cows then turned round towards the slip panel through which they were in the habit of going to his home paddock. Prisoner then turned them back to the dividing fence. The gate was chut. Prisoner opened the gate, and turned the cow Blossom through, leaving the other cow on the road. Prisoner then shut the gate and continued to drive the cow through his land and through another gate. He opened the second gate, and driving the cow through he shut it. The distance between the two gates is 170 yards. He continued to drive the cow through a eecond paddock. Witness and his companion left their hiding place and kept nearer to prisoner. Prisoner drove the cow towards his wTiare and the bush. Witness opened the second gate, ran up to prisoner, put his arms round him, and said, " that is the last cow of mine you'll steal; you have stolen too many of them." He said to Maddigan, " Take him in charge, John." Prisoner looked white and trembled very much. Maddigan took hold prisoner by the collar, prisoner fought and struggled desperately. Prisoner also made a great noise shouting. He then begged them not to hurt or kill him. Witness told him they intended to take him to Napier. Maddigan tied his arms with a piece of rope, and they brought him back to his (witness , ) house paddock. Prisoner would not go into the house. He went along pretty quietly He (witness) got a man called Overton to identify the cow. They brought prisoner down to Napier. He had never given prisoner or any other person any authority to take the cow out of the paddock. When they apprehended prisoner he and the cow were about a quarter of a mile from prisoner's house. Prisoner had a number of sections in the bush. The cow Blossom would be worth £12. She was a red and white, short-horned, handsome cow. There was no bread oa her,

Cross-examined by Mr M'Lean: Peddle was in possession of his lsnd before witness took his land. They bad not been good neighbors. They had had a few quarrels. On one occasion the quarrel went further than words. He (witness) did not challenge prisoner to fight. They did fight, and witness's foot was dislocated. Since then the quarrels had not been more frequent. They would have been if be (witness) had stopped to quarrel. The quarrel was not more than three years ago. He had expressed his opinion about prisoner to his neighbor, to Mr Scale, and Mr Scale to him. He had also spoken to John Lincoln about prisoner. He had never said he was determined to get Peddle out of there. He had never said so to prisoner. On the occasion of his sending prisoner a letter about the injury he had done to his flock, he met prisoner the next morning;. Prisoner came across the paddock to him, and said " Did you put that letter in the ivhare P " Witness said, " You saw my signature to it." Prisoner then said, v You are the hottest member I ever had to deal with ; by I'll pay you out for it." He (witness) did not reply to him. He told Mr Scale that prisoner was very unneighborly. The principal cause of disagreement was the making of roads. They had never brought pressure to bear on prisoner about the roads He missed his first red steer in March last. He had missed cattle four years ago; he lost a bull, a cow, and a calf, and found no trace of them. He never -watched prisoner in consequence of losing cattle in March. He made complaints to the police when he lost his steer in March. The inspector suggested a search warrant, but it was afterwards arranged to send a man to watch with him. He lost three other cattle after be lost the steer before he lost Blossom. It would be about the latter end of June when Maddigao went up. They were not successful in discovering anything, although they tracked three of his cattle through a gate which prisoner keeps locked, and has kept locked for two years, and of which he keeps the key.

Left Sitting.