RESIDENT MAGISTRATES' COURTS.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1112, 20 February 1872, Page 2

RESIDENT MAGISTRATES' COURTS.

AHAUHA. ■ ; Thursday, Fbbruaby 15. (Before 0. Whitefoprdj Esp., R.M.) George Page surrendered to his bail O n a charge of indecently assaulting a chijd,^ named Margaret Dewspn, at Napoleon, | "' on 30th January. The accused M this ■ case was firat arrested on a charge "of committing:the capital offence.. He was brought up at Ahaura and remanded to Cobden.to enable, the prosecution to pro-,, cure medical evidence. The , evidence Drs Morice and" Smith showed that the , more serious charge could not ise 'fltti-^ ! ■ tamed, and the accused waa remanded to. Ahaura for the production of furth^ evidence of the lesser offence. Sergeant Goodall and Constable Hunter made some* slight additions to the testimony 'already given by them, .and Margaret Dewaon, s . the mother of the child, was again' called, f who said that aiew days before the alleged" offence was committed there was a fight .. between twa men at , a.grOg. shanty; at -; Napoleon, and that one of them, received,.' a wound in his hand from which the blocid' , flowed freely. .The child was present with other children belonging to the woman in /-< whose house the row was,, but ithej witness was certain the stains "onherchild a nnderclpthing did not occur then. ■ This?, witness gave' her evidence; dia '""a ver^\ flippant manner, and she afterwards, when counsel for the accused was. addressing the Court for the defence, kept up a ranz ping cprnhientary upon; his speech," arid? '''" she was allowed to do thi^. unchecked by the Court ; or ' Jiny- 6f its "bfficeri; The prisoner, on ! being catftioned : in the "visual manner, made a statement 'a#- follows ,t— He sa|d ; hb was returning from Napoleon' i ! with 1 his packhbrses after delivering 'lbiad 2 " * ing there, and ? when near Topsy Cre^k he . met the ch^ld in company Vi^H ,?' lai''.. named Smith. ' The child knew him' (he' 1 was formerly storekeeping at Napoleon), and she cried to ; go with him. He told . her that her mother would whip her if she went, but she said her mother knew she was going to see a little girl named Lizzy Jones, who was going away, and who was staying at Clauson's, some distance down the road. The child followed him as far' , ; as the :clearing at Topsy Creek, arid : he' y : told her several times to go home. The, boy whowas wi%the chUdwhen'.he mW' " her had gone on to Napoleon, and he ha^ no alternative but tp take the child up 6i J the saddle before him, as he did not like 1 ; to leave her in the bush by herself, 4 ; He shortly after vmet a ma^- hame^ Shearatone, and he requested him. to take the (jhild b.ack to her' mother. He refused, and the child cried agaiii- and would not leave him. It i ia" Bh6B"tim©^" afterwards he heard a cooey, and turning back he met the chiid'a mother, and he wfta going to hand the ghild down gently T :4o her, when she pulled the child violently | off the saddlesand beganbeatingher. He" renionstratedv.witht^e mother, who then took a switch and again beat the child. He proceeded towards Ahauraj and ion the* 'way picked up the two chUdren^MiH'* Jones and brought them to the town. When he heard the reports lof his being v, accused of taking liberties with the child I he went to Sergeant Goodall toj make in- :■, quiries and to deny the charge, and he now solemnly denied that he ever meddled with the .child, or ever dreamt 6f doing | such a thing. ... ~^ , Mr Guinness addressed the Court for .the defendant, and pointed out that the/:' medical evidence was in favor of the'ipn*^ soner, and that although the child ga^e very clear and distinct evidence, It should ciiot be forgotten that she was in ttejhfantls^ of and tutored by the mother—^ person . of notorious character, but from the very -nature -of the charge portions of the child's evidence must be incorre^ctV commented on the absence of the-bdyVU Smith, and on the fact that Shearstone was uot called for the- pr6secutiit«tf ' although it was to procure the evidence

of these two witnesses that the case was remanded from Cobden. He contended that the conduct of the accused by going to the police when he heard of the infamous accusation made against him, was not that of a guilty man, and after alluding to the previous good character borne by the defendant, he characterised the case as one trumped up, and one in which evidence. For the defence, he called Edward Shearstone, who said he met the accused with the child before him on the herse, about three miles from Napoleon. The prisoner asked him to take the child back, but she began to cry, and refused to leave defendant. He passed and shortly afterward she met the mother, and she asked him if he had seen her child, and he told her the child was with the defendant. The mother then said— "He (the defendant) would took well if she sent the police after him for taking her child away." She seemed much excited, and very angry. James Lock (Mnrr and Lock), said he knew the defendant, and that he resided in the district for over three years. He bore a respectable character. The defendant was in his employment, and he was one of his bailsmen. James M'Laughlin said he knew the defendant for four years, and gave similar testimony to his character to that given by Mr Look. In answer to Mr Staite the witness said

(For continuation of Aews see 4th Page.

he was o.c of tlio prisoner's sureties, and would bo again if required for any amount. Tho Magistrate- said that the evidence did not warrant him insending the accused for trial, but ho told him that he acted most indiscreetly in taking tho child from its home. He warned him of the danger of meddling with children of tender years on unfrequented bush roads. In tj" 8 in * stance the prisoner ha 3, even according to his own stateuicut, acted in opposition to his better judgment by taking the child away from its natural guardian, instead of sending it back. The evidence did not boar out the charge, and defendant would therefore be discharged. The Magistrate's judgment was received with loud applause by the crowded Court. Mr Staite appeared for the prosecution, and Mr Guinness defended the prisoner. Samuel Loftquist v. Timothy O'Neill. — This was a criminal information, setting forth that the defendant maliciously killed a pig, the property of the complainant, at Napoleon on 14tli October, 1871. The complainant is a market gardener at Napoleon, and the defendant is a butcher - living next door to him. The prosecutor alleged that on the day named the defendant was feeding his pigs, and that one of his (prosecutor's) pigs went towards the feeding place, and that the defendant struck it with a stick. From the effects of this injury the pig died, and from a post mortem examination which the prosecutor made on the body of the animal, he found, as he alleged, sufficient evidence to account for its death from the effects of defendant's violence. There was a similar charge for killing another |pig. The defence in the first case was a denial of the act. and in the second that the pig alleged to be murdered was still alive. A number of wituessen were examined, and his. Worship reserved his decision in each case. Messrs Staite and Guinness for the prosecutor and defendant respectively. Ten publicans at Half -Ounce were fined 5s each with costs, for keeping their houses open at prohibited hours on Sunday, February 4. Constable Dorris proved the offence in each cose. Sergeant Goodall did not press for heavy penalties, as this was the first offence on the part of the defendants, and it would act as a caution to others for the future. Prudcnco Watkinson v. Julia Easton. »-A charge; of assault. This case arose out of the lost. The defendant went to the house of the complainant under the hypocritical pretence of enquiring "if there, were any letters for her." A very unneigliborly answer was given to this apparently civil question, when one word brought on another until a scuffle took place and the assault complained of was committed, during which the defendant succeeded in abstracting several ounces of the complainant's hair from "the locality of her head," as a witness described it. Elizabeth M 'Master proved the assault. The dofendaut was fined 20s with costs.