A TOO ZEALOUS CONSTABLE.
At the District Court to-day Oscar Johnson, pupil teacher of the lower Heathcote school, sued P. M'Gill, a constable, for £100 damages for illegal arrest and unnecessary violence connected therewith. The evidence showed that the constable had arrested the plaintiff without any charge having been formally preferred, but. acting on the presumption of plaintiffs guilt in consequence of having been shown a letter from a doctor stating that a girl plaintiff was supposed to have assaulted was in a precarious state. The constable had handcuffed the plaintiff in the presence of a number of children and other teachers in the school, and notwithstanding a remostrance from the head master that the plaintiff would go quietly. Johnson had since been entirely exonerated before the R. M. Court. For the defence it was pleaded that the constable had acted under the belief that he was justified by the Police Offences Act. Judge Ward pointed out that the Act was much calculated to mislead, as it provided a special penalty for constables not performing their duty, though in this case the constable had acted under a misapprehension of his duty. The. jury found for the plaintiff and awarded i>so damages.
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Bibliographic details
Grey River Argus, Volume XXXII, Issue 5441, 10 March 1886, Page 2
Word Count
201A TOO ZEALOUS CONSTABLE. Grey River Argus, Volume XXXII, Issue 5441, 10 March 1886, Page 2
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