THE DINGO CASE

Gisborne Times, Volume LX, Issue 9799, 8 May 1924, Page 5

THE DINGO CASE

BOTH ACCUSED FOUND GUILTY OF RINGING-IN.,

SENTENCE DEFERRED

DUNEDIN, May 7. The Supreme Court was filled with a large crowd of auditors again today to hear the continuation of the alleged “ringing iff” at the Gore trotting meeting in October of last year of The , Dingo for the trotter Kingsdale. The accused, John Richards and Walter Leonard James Cameron, are indicted "on four counts of conspiring to defraud the Gore Racing Club, William James and the. public. The four counts brought against the accused wore (1) that tin or about Oc- ■ tober 1, 1923, at Dunedin, they did conspire one with the other by fraudulent means to defraud the public and, in particular, William Francis James and the Gore Racing Club; (2) that on the same date they did conspire one with the other to commit a crime punishable by imprisonment with hard labor for three years, namely the crime of obtaining money from trie Gore Racing Club with intent to defraud by a false pretence by representing the trotting horse “The Dingo” to be the trotting horse named “Kingsdale”;' (3 that on or about October 20, 1923, at Gore with interit to defraud they did attempt to obtain from the Gore Racing Club the sum of £95 by means of certain false pretences by representing “The Dingo” to be “Kingsdale” ; (4) that on the same date at Gore, with intent to defraud, they did obtain from William Francis James the sum of £IOB7 10s by means of a certain false pretence by representing “The Dingo” to bo “Kingsdale.” As indicated yesterday, members of the jury were kept together last,, night. They slept at the Leviathan Hotel under police guards. Earlier in the evening they \yent to a place of amusement under escort. After the remaining witness, who had given evidence in the Lower Court had been examined, Mr Adams- (the Crown Prosecutor) intimated that he had a fresh witness —one who had not given evidence in the Lower Court. Mr Hanlon said the defence had no notice of what the fresh evidence was to be. , . Mr Adams said the witness arrived from Christchurch last night. He had notified Air Hanlon five minutes after he knew witness was available.

His Honor permitted the witness to be called. Oswald Edmonds Hooper, a neighbour of the McNeill’s, said that ho knew The Dingo. He had seen it driven about the roads since it was young and half a. dozen times he had ridden and driven it himself. This morning he examined a horse in the ■police yard and to the best of liis belief it was The Dingo. To Mr Sinclair: Witness said he had come •to Dunedin because lie had brought some horses down for the meeting here to-morrow. When he was here in July, lie went to'Grant’s stables and recognised the horse m the box at The Dingo. This closed the case for the Crown.

For the defence, both Mr Hanlon and Mr Sinclair intimated that they would call no evidence.

After the adjournment for lunch, the horse in the police yard was taken into Stuart Street and ridden in hopples by Arthur Butterfield for the benefit of the jury. The demonstration attracted a large crowd. Mr Hanlon, addressing the jury, stressed the point that Richards had acted in a very straightforward manner and pointed out that it was unlikely he would be engaged in a conspiracy when he went to Janies on the totalisator opening and get a betting book from him and gave him a blangk cheque and afterwards was paid his winnings by cheque. That was not the action of a man conspiring to defraud The point most strongly emphasised by counsel was that the horse shown to the jury stood 15 hands 3 inches high, while the measurement of The Dingo taken by McNeill, the horse’s former owner, was 16 hands 2i inches. The judge, in summing up, pointed out that the measurement of The Dingo was made by an amateur and that it might not have been quite accurate. The jury, after a retirement of half an hour, returned with a verdict ot guilty against both accused on the first and second counts and added a recommendation to the New . Zealand Trotting Association to exercise greater care in accepting nominations. The Judge complimented the police on the manner in which they had collected the evidence. Sentence was deferred.—P.A.