COURT NEWS

Grey River Argus, 12 February 1941, Page 7

COURT NEWS

BOOKMAKER FINED. WANGANUI, February 10Peter A. Healey, who was convicted for the fifth time for bookmaking, was fined £lOO and ordered to pay costs by the Magistrate (Mr. J. H. Salmond), at Wanganui to-day. RRogerson, for a second offence ot bookmaking, was fined £5O, and J'. JMcDonald was lined £3O. CHRISTCHURCH February 11. On a charge of breaking into a counting house and committing theft therein, Edward Hemsley Dawson was sentenced in the Supreme Court yesterday by Mr. Justice Northcroit to a year’s imprisonment. He was also declared an habitual criminal. Mr. J. K. Moloney, for the accused, said he was 38 years old and was supporting his three children and his mother. Seventeen years ago he fell from a cliff and two inches of bone was removed from his forehead. There was still pressure on the brain from a piece of bone and this might be the cause of his mental kink for stealing certain articles. His Honour 'said the accused was earning good money when he committed the offence and he could have secured the necessary medical attention himself or through State institutions. If physical infirmity was the cause of his crimes it was more than ever necessary to protect the public by declaring Dawson an habitual criminal.

' The accused asked if he could appeal against the sentence, and his Honour said he had the right to appeal to the Court of Appeal. WELLINGTON, February 10. A claim for £2,000 general and £272 special damages, arising from a collision between a motor-cycle and a car in Wellington on January 20. was brought by Alyn Higgins against Robert James Cousins in the Supreme Court to-day before the Chief Justice (the Rt. Hon. Sir Michael Myers) and a jury. The hearing was adjourned until to-morrow to enable the jury to visit the scene of the accident. CHRISTCHURCH, February 11. A man whose name was suppressed was charged with committing a

grossly indecent act in view of a public place. The Magistrate said that as the offence was quite isolated and there were extenuating circumstances, the accused would be allowed to go wnn a clear name.

The man was convicted and order' ed to come up for sentence if called on within 12 months, on condition that he is under the control of his father when he is not in camp. Stanley Bate and William Crabtree Clegg (Mr. P. H. T. Alpers) were both admitted to probation when convicted of stealing paint from their employers, Paynter and Hamilton, Ltd. ’ Ronald Eric Stanley Worma'ld (Mr. Roy Twyneham), who was convicted of receiving stolen paint from the other two, was similarly dealt with. The charges were separate. The Magistrate said that Wormaid’s story was very thin, and he also would be admitted to probation for two years. Each of the three was convicted and discharged on his second charge. John Berwick (Mr. K. G. Archer) pleaded not guilty to a charge of stealing two blankets, valued at £1 Is, the property of the Army Department, on September 20, 1940, at Lyttelton.

“I hesitate to say that accused stole the blankets,’’ said the Magistrate. “He will get the benefit of the very small doubt that is in my mind." The charge was dismissed, on condition that the blankets were returned to the Army Department. MISSING WITNESSES. CHRISTCHURCH February 11. A position unique in the history of the Supreme Court in New Zealand arose, to-day, when the Crown Prosecutor (Mr. Donnelly) disclosed to Mr. J'ustice Northcroft that through the exigencies of war, it was impossible to present witnesses in a case, in which a resident of the Chatham Islands was charged with indecent assault on a male, and attempted indecent assault. Mr. Donnelly explained that there was no ship to bring witnesses from the islands, and it might be a month before a vessel became available. The Judge instructed the Grand Jury it was open to it to consider the

depositions on the assumption that they had been taken correctly but it it desired to examined the witnesses, then the bill could be adjourned until they arrived, and the discharge of the Grand Jury would be delayed, until the jury dealt with the indictment at the adjournment inquiry.

RIGHT-HAND RULE. WELLINGTON, February 11. In the Supreme Court, the Chief Justice (Sir M. Myers), summing up in a motor collision case, stressed the value of the right-hand rule, which, whatever might be said against it, he thought was very good. “That does not mean, however, that a person who thinks himself entitled to the benefit of the right-hand rule, has to disregard entirely traffic coming on the left. He has to drive safely but at the same time the right conferred by the rule should not be allowed to be whittled away. We must not allow a 1 rule of this kind to be disregarded.” SUBVERSIVE STATEMENTS. WELLINGTON, February 11. Mr. Justice Johnston sentenced Edward Harrison, 44, janitor at Weir House, to the maximum term of 12 months’ imprisonment, with hard labour. Harrison pleaded guilty to being in possession of six copies of the “Tribune,” and three of “Peace and Socialism,” with a view to facilitating the distribution of subversive statements.