ASSAULT ON DETECTIVE

Evening Star, Issue 17324, 12 April 1920, Page 6

ASSAULT ON DETECTIVE

A MALICIOUS WITNESS. COURT'S STERN REBUKE. An unusual feature of a case in the Police Court this morning, in, which a man nJ.nad Archibald M'Callum was charged. with assaulting Detective Beer, was the.strong comment of Mr Bartholomew, S.M., upon the evidence of a youth named Collins, whose statements defaming Detectives Beer and Kelly he described as wicked and malicious lying. The offence by M'Callum pleaded not guilty, and was defended by Mr Neill) sprang; from an altercation outside the Princess Theatre on Saturday night, hi which the police protected the manager (Mr Hamer) from threatened assault. Detective Bear said that at 8.15 on Saturday evening he and Detective Beer were called to the Princess Theatre. The, manager complained that accused and another man had seized reserved seats and would not leave. A3 there was a change of interrupting the entertainment they were left theTe till the interval At that stage accused left the house, and upon being informed outside that lie could not return to the seat he had occupied he became abusive, and came .it Mr Hamer in a threatening mannjr. Detective Kelly and witness removed him to the foot'path. Prom there- he struck witness en the head with a walking stick, and witness closed with and threw him. Detective Kelly and he took Idm. to the station. On the way he resisted, and had to bo throva and handcuffed. Detective Kell}- corroborated. Defendant said he paid for two seats in the dress circle. T\ r hen he and his mate sat down two ladies cams along for the seate, and they "gave them up, taking two o+hers. After the perfo.-mfince started Mr Hamer told them the seats were reserved, and witness said that if the management brought along anyone for the seats he and his mate would <jet out. This was not done, and no other seats were offered them. A f - the interval, when told that he could not get back, he suggested that he should get his money back. The detectives ran him out violently to the road, and hia classes were broken. . He became very excited, and rushed at. the -detective Leonard Collins, accused's companion, said the manager told the detectives to run accused out. and after taking him out lan arm each) they punched him at the back, sending him violently out to the roadway. Dr Falconer (medical superintendent of the Hospital) gave the history of the man. who is _ a returned soldier. * He had a bullet in hia brain, which it was not ■ deemed advisable to remove, and under stress of great excitement he would be irresponsible. Witness added that, while perfectly honest, he had found him liable to imagine things that were not so. The Magistrate said the type of case was not altogether uncommon. Accused, owing to injuries sustained on active service, was liable to lose control of himself and to act in a passionate manner. His evidence in some respects was not truthful, and with regard to the witness he had called—Collins—the Court must express strong condemnation. On the face of it his evidence was deliberately false, and of a wicked and malicious nature. It was perfectly plain that accused was not punched, since he himself did not make the slightest reference to receiving a punch. The two officers who removed him were experienced and responsible I men, well thought of by the Court and tho community at large. It was necessary to say this to show hiw malicious was the statement made. It was unfortunate that Collins could not be dealt with further. With regard to the accused, the offence, if committed by a civilian, would ' have been a very serious one, and could not be overlooked even in the medical circumstances related; to overlook such action would be to put a premium on it, and encourage it. He would be given tho ! opportunity of meeting a monetary penalty—a fine of 40s—in default seven days' imprisonment.