ASSAULT ON A CONSTABLE.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 5117, 13 January 1888, Page 3

ASSAULT ON A CONSTABLE.

The police assault case came on this afternoon. Da- id Roulston, Elizabeth Roulston, Rebecca .lane Roulston, and Thomas Roulston were charged with having on tinIs. of January last assaulted one FaU'ck Carmoody. a'poli.-.- constable, whilst iv the execution of his duty.

Mr Lascelles appeared for the defendants, and pleaded not guilty. Constable Carmoody deposed ho wa- a con-table stationed m Napier. Was on duty on the 31st ot last mouth, and on the Ist. of this month. AVas not in uniform. Recollected being in Carlyl.-s'i-et at halfpast one ou New Year's morning. Ho was watching a iiiimlar of larrikins iv front of the Royal Hotel. They came from the hotel to"the. end ot the Recreation Ground, and be walked on in front of them, a considerable distance ahead. AVb.-n they got. to the corner of the Recreation Ground they stopped then. 1 . Ho was then under Lucas's verandah. One of the larrikins came out of the crowd. AVhen the boy got opposito him, he (witness) sat ou the doorstep. Thu boy, who was on the Recreation Ground side at tlie time, came across the street. Sat down b.-eause lie thought the boys were observing him. The boy looked at him, it was v bright moonlight night. Believed it was the boy Roulston, but thought at tho time that it was another boy named Percy. The boy then ran to the opposite side: ran some distance until lie got to a vacant section. !'•.Mowed him, ami found him ill the back yard of a bouse near the section. Asked him what, he was doing there, lie said he lived there, and at t hesame lime s;ui_r out " Father.'' Almo-t. immediately ai'iirwards the door opened, and Roulston rushed out aud came over to whore he was standing and struck him i'witness) several times in the, face, ('ailed out. "Slop, man: I'm a constable, aud I will explain win - I am here.'' He took no notice ot this, and continued striking him. Gio-'ci with him. aud the two women in ! Cou.t caught hold of his arm. The boy | a No struck him. In the sonfi'e that foli iow.d !..- was eitla i knocked down or he ; fell tlon n. could not say which. Then made I for the , pen suction. 'Before lie got out of the v-:i 1 -h',nbi.-u picked up a bottle and "hit. him on the bead with it: 'he bottle broke on hi. head, with v. hick he was .stunned. When io: was getting tip he saw Roulstofl lookb-g al ..at him. He thought at the time he we; looking .for another bottle. As he was clearing out he wus hit j ou the back with soijiethiug. Could i-o.

say whether it was a bottle or a stone. That blow knocked him down. Roulston got on top of him, and began kicking him, and he theu called out fur help. A man named Madden came to his assistance, and ho pulled Roulston off. Told him several times while struggling in the yard that hu was a constable in plain clothes on duty. When Madden came to his assistance, and he was able to get up, he got out his handcuffs with the intention of arresting him. Roulston again struck at him, but Madden stopped the blow. Received a black eye, a deep cut, a wound along tho side of his ear, a big lump on his head, and one of his ribs was fractured. Dr Lines attended to him. The account produced was the one he received, £1 lis Gd. Defended himself as much as he could. The boy Roulston in Court struck him on tho side of the head. Had not quite recovered from the effects of the assault. The two females came out of tho house, but did not see where they afterwards went to ; left them in the yard.

To Mr Lascelles: Had no uniform on. Through tho boy coming from tho larrikins thought he was up to some mischief ; that was the reason why he followed him. New Year's Eve was an evening on which boys Were up to larks. Had not seen these boys provoke a breach of the neace. Believed the boy called out "Father, father," and ho might have called out " Father, there's a man after me." Could not say for certain. Was a very short time ou tho ground when he told him he was a constable. Roulston took him by surprise. Did not give his name. Had known Roulston since ho had been here, which was oloso on twelve months. Had never known Roulston to be drunk. AVhon ho went into the yard did not know that it was Roulston's house. Thought that tellitig him he was a constable was quite sufficient.

Dr Lines deposed ho attended Constable Carmoody for six days. He was suffering most from a severe injury on his side. He was incapacitated from attending to his duty. Tho injuries to tho ribs would stop him from going to work for ten days. Patrick Madden deposed he was a butcher. Recollected tho Ist of January. AVas in Thackeray-street early that morning, about half-past one. Heard some women screaming, and went in the direction of where the sounds came. Saw Roulston kneeling on Carmoody, who was lying on tho ground close to a shed. There were two females present and also a boy. Roulston was striking the constablo in the face. Caught hold of Roulston and told him to let the man up. Pulled Roulston off. After Carmoody got up told him ho was a constablo. Roulston made another strike at Carmoody after tho latter had got on his feet, but he (witness) prevented him. Carmoody tried to put tho handcuffs on Roulston, but the latter ran into tlie house. Carmoody tried to catch him, but the women stoppetl bim. A\ r as about two or three hundred yards away when ho heard the screams. Carmoody appeared much hurt; he had a cut near the eye, and he was bleediug from tho nose. AVent up the road a bit "with Carmoody, and then left j

To Mr Lascelles : Carmoody said to Roulston, "You must ho mad. I'm a constable." Saw several blows struck. Thought the boy had hold of his father's shirt, trying to stop him. AVilliam Smith, painter, gave corroborative evidence.

To Mr Lascelles : lie did not interfere because he saw there were women there, and when women were concerned he generally kept away. Sergeant Cullen also gave evidence.

Mr Lascelles addressed the Court at length m behalf of the defendants.

The R.M. said tho information against the boy and the two females would bo dismissed. But in the case of tho father he would inflict a fine of £10 with costs Els, witnesses' expenses £1, prosecutor's expenses £1 Us (id, iv default threo months'imprisonment with hard labor.