TROTTING RING-IN

Evening Star, Issue 18628, 8 May 1924, Page 10

TROTTING RING-IN

THE DINGO-KIHGSDALE CASE. GUILTY OF CONSPIRACY. POLICE PRESENTATION PRAISED. Remarkable public interest was shown yesterday in the case in which John Richards and Walter Leonard James Cameron were indicted on four counts —two of conspiracy and two of intent to defraud—in connection with (ho allowed ring-ing-in of The Dingo for Kingsdaio at the Gore Trotting Club's meeting in October of last year. Tho Crown Prosecutor (Mr F. B. Adams) conducted the case for the Crown. Mr A. C. Hanlon appeared for the. accused Richards and Mr J. .Sinclair for Cameron. CROWN PROSECUTOR’S ADDRESS. The Crown Prosecutor (Mr F. B. Adams), in addressing the jury, said that there was no need at that stage to discuss tho evidence at length, hut ho intended to deal with three points brought out in it. In the first place, there had been some discussion regarding the height of tho horse in view of M ‘Neill’s statement that when he registered The Dingo he gave tho height as 16 hands 2Jm, whereas when Kingsdale was registered the height was given as 15 hands 3in. A measurement had been made, and the true height had been found to be 15 hands 3in. Tho actual difference was that between sft 3in and sft 6Jin, which in the measurement of a horse was quite a substantial difference. But it would bo recollected that tho height, 16 hands 2-Jin, was ascertained by the witness M’Neill, who was only an amateur as far as trotting horses wore concerned. And by his own statement this measurement was quite unverified, and therefore carried no weight when contrasted with the evidence of such men as Butterfield, Hooper, ami Martin. It also must be remembered that when Mr James took the registration of Kingsdale he did not verify the measurement. The Crown's evidence showed that tho horse concerned in ’he action was The Dingo, and there was not the slightest evidence to show that it was any other. The defence had an opportunity to call witnesses, but this had not been done; whilst one of the counsel for the defence had left tho various Crown witnesses severely alone. Dealing with the question of handwriting, counsel stated that there were other handwriting experts in Dunedin besides Mr Challis, and if the defence wanted to it could have called evidence in rebuttal of his. MR HANLON’S ADDRESS. Mr Hanlon, who addressed the jury for over an hour, said that in regard to the two charges of conspiracy the jury could not convict one of the accused and acquit the other; both must he convicted if the jury decided one or the other was guilty. He thought his learned friend and he would be able to show that the jury was not entitled to convict on any of the four counts. During tho hearing of tho case there was one peculiar thing. That was that, although he represented one of the accused, he had not had to open his mouth to say anything to any of tho witnesses or anyone else in connection with the case. Nothing had been brought against the accused he represented which necessitated his asking a single question of any witness. There was no necessity for his asking a question if the evidence did not incriminate his client. Ho would like to impress upon tho jury the fact that they must approach consideration of tho case entirely upon the material brought forward in tho court. They must obliterate everything with regard to trotting scandals and ringing-in, and approach the case only upon the evidence, the remarks of counsel and of the learned judge. Learned counsel went on to say that it was no part of tho business of accused to prove, his innocence; tho Crown had no right to suggest that the accused should establish his innocence. Tho Crown Prosecutor had no right to ask the accused to explain some, of the circumstances which had not been explained. If there were mysteries, it was for the Crown to explain them. If the mysteries could not be explained, then the benefit of the doubt must go to the accused. It was one of the most decrepit charges of conspiracy he had ever known. In respect to Richards, there were only one or two points in which his name was mentioned. When the horse was purchased at Lauder Richards gave Cameron a cheque for £l7 to pay for it: but Cameron gave him tho money back afterwards. Learned counsel, contended that there was nothing in the fact of Richards (who employed Cameron in his business) having given the latter a cheque to justify the jury finding him guilty of conspiracy. Richards had seen tho trial of tho horse, and put his watch on it. As a result of that, ha went to Gore, and had £IOO on the totalizator, and collected a, dividend of £1,087 10s. Did that show anything more than that ho was game to put his money on the horse? .Further, there was no suggestion that tho dividend was divided between Cameron and Richards. That was all tho Crown had against Richards in order to establish a. charge of conspiracy. Had Richards been up to a fraud it was hardly likely bo would pass a cheque to the totalisator; ho would probably have gone to tho windows and bought, say, two £5 tickets here, a few £1 tickets there, and a £lO ticket somewhere else. Tho question of the identification of the horse was tho crux of the whole case. There could bo no conviction unless the substitution of one horse for the other had been proved, but that had not been proved. Even if there were dishonest practices, no evidence had been brought to show that Richards was connected with any improper practices. Learned counsel went on to refer to the height of the horse. The former owner of The Dingo said it was registered as 16,2 J hands. When the horse in the police yard was measured for tho jury it was found to be 15.3 hands. The Dingo must have shrunk. Learned counsel went on to criticise the evidence for the prosecution, and said that several witnesses had identified tho horse only by general observance. If it was not proved to the satisfaction of the jury that tho horse in tho police yard was The Dingo, then tho two accused must be acquitted. MR SINCLAIR'S DEFENCE. Mr Sinclair said that there had been a good deal of talk and gossip over tho case, and suspicion had been thrown at practically every trotting owner in the dominion; and in consequence of this a great deal of prejudice had been created in the minds of the public. Counsel contended that the evidence for tho Crown must be such as to establislTlseyond any doubt that the accused had both acted together in pursuance of a conspiracy agreed upon. He did not think that tho evidence had reached tho required standard of proof. Had any evidence been submitted to prove that the horse was The Dingo ? Counsel did not think it had, and stressed tho fact that tho case rested entirely upon tho identity of tho horse. Cameron had always acted in a straight-forward manner, and even a fortnight after tho Gore Meeting he asked that the horse should bo inspected to thereby ascertain its bona (ides. Was that the action of a conspirator 1 On every occasion that ho had been approached by Mr Samson, tho police, and the Trotting Association he told most comprehensively the history of how ho obtained tho horse. No witness ever said that Cameron had refused information, and he went to the Trotting Association’s inquiry and answ r ered the questions that had been put to him by every member of tho board. Ho not only answered the questions, but had wiped the floor with the members of the association. Cameron, in Ills statement to the board, said that ha bought tho horse from a man named Donnelly at Lauder; but why had not Donnelly been called by the Crown? Why, should Donnelly tell a lie ? Why should Donnelly make a statement to the effect that the horse was Kingsdale ? The race was run on October 20, and immediately afterwards suspicion was aroused, evidently on account of the large investment on the horse; but it was extra-

ordinary that no ono was able to identify tho horso until three months after tho raoo was run. Trotting horses were evidently not difficult to identify, and yet only throe witnesses had been able to identify the horse. Martin, tho veterinary surgeon, had not seen the horso for two years after ho had “ fired ” it. and yet ho told them in all seriousness that he could identify it. It would bo interesting to know how many jockeys, owners, and racing “ fans ” had been approached to identify tho horse during the past six months, observed counsel. It could ho imagined that there had been scores. Who was tho man, ho asked, who was in the best position to say what horse it was ? It surely must lie M’Neill, who bred, trained, and' owned it for eleven years? Yet he was not prepared to say that it was The Dingo. There had been no suggestion made that M’Noill was not an honest man. Could any explanation be given for the discrepancy in the heights of the horse? He submitted that the explanation lay in tho fact that Tho Dingo and Kingsdale wore different horses. And there was another fact that had not been mentioned, and that was that The Dingo, on the evidence of tho handicapper, should have won by 140yds, hut instead of that there had only been daylight between first and second. Many horses were able to go a mile in 2min lOsoc, and yet there was all this trouble over a horso that could only do the journey in 2min 24soc, Cameron admittedly paid very little for the horse, hut sonic of tho best horses in the land had been bought very cheaply. Iris Honor: But not clcvcn-year-old horses.

Counsel, continuing, quoted an authority on handwriting to show that too much should not be made of this class of evidence. He said that a great deal had been made of tho fact that tho horse had been registered two davs before it had been received in Dunetlin, but he contended that the dates were not always infallible, and he suggested that the secretary of the trotting club had been careless in that respect. HIS HONOR'S REMARKS. His Honor, in summing up, said this was an extremely important case—important from the point of view of the accused and from the point of view of the general public. The whole case resolved itself into a question of whether The Dingo was substituted for tho Lander horse. The jury would have to find both accused guilty or innocent on tho first counts and individually guilty or innocent on the others. His Honor referred to the various dales, and handed a list of these to the jury' in order to assist it. Continuing, he said the defence was that Kingsdalc was the Lauder horse bought from Donnelly. There was a suspicion in a case like this that a great many people were involved, and they did not know the whole facts in the matter. One would think that the men who sold the horse could with absolute certainty state definitely whether the horse was the horse ho sold or not; but with a witness like that it was not necessary for the Crown to call him. It was most astonishing that Donnelly had not been called by tho other side to say whether the horse was the horse he had sold. There was no suggestion that Butterfield was lying or had a grud.ge against accused. He had ridden the horse a dozen limes, and had had it at his place for two weeks, and could he be mistaken I Then, there was the evidence of Martin and Hooper. Tire evidence of the previous owner of The Dingo was most unsatisfactory, but if he had not made some mistake in his measurement this horse could not he The Dingo. As to the purchase of the Lander horse, the jury was quite entitled to infer that the money was never refunded. There .was only a bare statement. James had said there was no mistake made as to the date of the inspection of the horse. VERDICT OF GUILTY.

The jury relived at 5.30 p.m. and returned in half an hour with a verdict of guilty on the first and second counts, which were those of conspiring by fraudulent means to defraud the public, and in particular William Francis James, and the Gore Racing Club; aud conspiring to commit a crime punishable by imprisonment with hard labor—namely, the, crime of obtaining moneys from the Gore Racing Club with intent to defraud by a false,pretence, by representing the trotting horse rho DWo to be a trotting horse, named Kingsdale! The jury added to its finding a recommendation that the (Sow Zealand Trotting Association exercise greater care in taking registrations. His Honor deferred passing sentence, and remarked that a great deal of credit was due to the .police for tho way the evidence had been pieced together and prepared for the court.