MAGISTRATE'S COURT

Greymouth Evening Star, 27 October 1931, Page 2

MAGISTRATE'S COURT

TO-DAY’S GREYMOUTH CASES. Mr. W. Meldrum, S.M., presided at the Grey mouth Court to-day, Senior- ( Sergeant C. E. Roach representing the i P °Anoft'ender for drunkenness, arrest- , ed in Herbert Street on Saturday, was , fined 5/-, the amount of his bail. On a charge of using obscene lan- , guage in Boundary Street on Saturday Timothy Joseph Patrick Callaghan was fined £2. On a charge of drunkenness, he was convicted and disJames Irwin Barrow (Mr. W. P. McCarthy) applied for the remission of arrears on a maintenance order, amounting to approximately £25. The Senior-Sergeant did not object, and the

arrears were remitted Arthur Edwin Hibbs (Mr. J. W. Hannan) applied for a variation of a maintenance order made in December, 1925, for the pavment of £l4 per month to his wife and family. The arrears, amounting to £3l, were remitted, and the order was suspended until January 1. * Charged with the theft, at Greymouth on October 11, of five oranges, valued at 1/3, the property of George Long Lowe, a Chinese, a plea of not guilty was entered by Earl Victor Coburn, for whom Mr. T. P. Brosnan appeared. George Long Lowe stated that Coburn and a friend, Herbert Leach, came to his shop on Saturday night, October 10, and asked him to take them to Hokitika on the following day. They called at the shop on the Sunday morning, and Coburn left his overcoat there. After dinner, Coburn, Leitch, witness and his cousin left for Hokitika. When they were near the Recreation Hotel, Coburn said he wanted to get off, to see lus mother, and Leach accompanied him. Witness and his cousin went on to Hokitika, and returned about 5.30 p.m. He then foujid that tho back door of the shop was open, and some money was missing. Coburn’s overcoat was still in the shop, and a detective made enquiries about the oranges in the pocket. Witness did not give Coburn the oranges, and he had no right to take them. To Mr. Brosnan: He did not see Coburn take any oranges. Leach and

Coburn were frequent visitors to see him at tho shop, and sometimes had fruit. Coburn generally asked for it when he had any. Witness did not actually see the oranges taken out of the coat. The Senior-Sergeant said that the oranges were found in the coat by De-tective-Sergeant Holmes. Mr. Brosnan admitted that the oranges were taken by Coburn. The S.M. said that Lowe, admitted Coburn and Leach had been accustomed to go to the shop, and that Leach had been in the habit of helping himself to fruit, without any exception being taken by Lowe; also that Coburn had frequently done the same thing, but generally asked permission before doing so. In this case, he did not ask. Both men appeared to have had a drink or two. It did not seem to be a case of ordinary theft, and he did not think he could convict.

In reply to the S.M., Lowe said that he did not get the oranges back. The S.M. (smiling): The detective got them? The Senior-Sergeant (also smiling): He must have! The S.M. dismissed the charge as trivial, and ordered that the oranges be returned to the owner. He declined to allow witness’s expenses to Lowe.