AN AGGRAVATED ASSAULT.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 121, 18 November 1909, Page 3

AN AGGRAVATED ASSAULT.

TWO MEN COMMITTED. Two young men, named Thomas Higgins and John M'Carthy respectively, before his Honour Mr. Justice Chapman, in the Supreme Court yesterday, pleaded , not guilty to a charge of assaulting Charles Herron, so as to cause him actual bodily harm. Mr. F. O'Leary appeared for the accused Iliggins. M'Carthy was undefended. Mr. M. Myers, Crown Prosecutor, outlined the case. On the night of 14th September last, the two accused, who were hawking' potatoes, caJled at Herron's fist shop in Taranaki-street, offering their wares for sale — a cheap lot. 1 They were both under the influence of liquor, and a dispute arose ovet the transaction, ending, it was said, in Herron refusing the potatoes. An altercation ensued, and Herron, owing to the threatening attitude of both accused, armed himself with a carving-knife and a steel. An assault by both men, according to the evidence, followed, in which complainant was chased from his backyard . through the shop and across the street to a shop opposite, wherein a further assault was committed. Counsel for the Crown characterised the attack as a brutal one, complainant having had his Jower jaw fractured, besides sustaining minor contusions and scratches. Charles Herron, who appeared witn his head swathed in bandages, confirmed counsel's statement. Both men, at different times, punched him, and used threatening language. There had been no definite bargain made by him with accused Sibout the potatoes. In selfdefence, in the back yard, he had flourished an axe. Medical evidence was called to testify to Herron's injuries. He remained in the hospital for three weeks. Several witnesses deposed to having seen both accused assaulting Herron in his back yard and the shop opposite. M'Carthy was particularly violent. No evidence was called" on behalf of Higgins. M'.Carthy elected to go into the box, wltbre he asserted that Herron had provoked the quarrel. He denied altogether the assault, in otherwhere than in Herron's own shop, and as related by the previous witnesses. The jury returned after an absence of half an hour with a verdict of guilty. Mr. Myers stated that there were previous convictions against both men. Accused Higgins, who his Honour considered the chief offender, was sentenced to eighteen months' and M'Carthy to nine months', imprisonment.