TWELVE MONTHS

Grey River Argus, 13 June 1931, Page 3

TWELVE MONTHS

Greenway’s Sentence REEFTON ASSAULT CASE. At the Supreme Court yesterday, before Mr Justice Adams, Henry Edward Greenway appeared for sentence on a count of being found guilty of a serious offence of assault that, at Reefton on March 14, with intent to do grievous bodily harm he did actually do bodily harm ,to Daniel Neenan.

On behalf of the prisoner, Mr W. P. McCarthy said that Greenway had been in custody for the past two or three months, and he asked that that be taken into consideration. Greenway’s record showed very few offences during the last ten or twelve years. There were some offences ,but they were committed many years ago. He asked that the absence of recent offences be taken into consideration. His record was comparatively clear during the past few vears.

Mr F. A. Kitchingham. Crown Prosecutor, said he had little to add to the Probation Officer’s report. A list of the prisoner’s previous convictions was before His Honour. He was convicted of a scries of offences in 1918, involving dishonesty, and was also cnvicted of theft at. Greymouth in 1927. His Honour said the crime of which the prisoner had been convicted was a very serious one. He had been found guilty of a very serious offence. The jury had, quite properly, found Greenway guilty of the most serious of the offences with which, he was charged. It was an attack upon an unfortunate old man. and was of a brutal nature, and one was left to conjecture as to the real cause of the assault. It was quite clear that no provocation of any kind had been given. On the evidence as it stood, however, the prisoner must be given a substantial sentence, and he would be committed to prison for twelve months. The period since his arrest, three months, would be taken into account, and the sentence would be presumed to commence as on the date when he was taken into custody.