NATIVE GAME SHOOTING

Northern Advocate, 18 December 1936, Page 8

NATIVE GAME SHOOTING

TWO NATIVES CHARGED GUN POINTED AT RANGER. Meta King and Tamihana Waiporori, two Maoris, were charged before Mr Morris, S.M., at Kaitaia on Friday, with having committed trespass on private property at Herekino in pursuit of native game. Waiporori was also charged with having presented a firearm at' Cyril Thomas Sandow without lawful excuse. Both were represented by Mr R. H. Kelly and pleaded not guilty. C. T. Thomas, honorary ranger, stated that on September 7, while working in the forest at 10 a.m., near Herekino, his attention was attracted by shooting. He tried to locate the source, but was unable to do so. Mr Yates, an assistant, was with him, and, later in the day, shortly after 2 p.m., he heard further shooting, which he decided to follow up. The shooting was outside the forest boundary, and he crossed the road to Mr Berghan’s property, where he located the two defendants. Each had a double-barrelled shot-gun.

Witness called upon them to stop when he was about 50 or 60 yards distant, but they turned and ran. Witness followed and called upon his assistant to cut them off down the road. When he was within 30 yards the defen- j dants stopped and turned round. Waipouri presented his gun and said: “I’ll count three, and if you don’t stop I’ll shoot.” He had his gun to his shoulder pointing at witness. Witness continued following up, and Waipouri, after counting three, lowered his gun. 'When accused of trespassing, Waipouri said he had gone on to Berghan’s property to shoot dogs and had run away when he saw the ranger, j because Mr Berghan had threatened to prosecute anyone found on his property. Waipouri admitted that one i shot had been fired, but five had been heard. Witness noticed blood on Waipouri’s hand, and the man accounted for this by saying that his nose had been bleeding, but there were no signs of blood on his face. On making a search, witness found a pair of gumboots discarded by one of the defendants in the chase, and three small piles of native pigeon feathers about 20 yards from where he had first seen them. The feathers were fresh. V. Yates gave evidence similar to that of the first witness. Claud Berghan said there was a notice on the roadside warning trespassers off the property of about 2000 acres. He had been manager for about 10 years, during which time he had never heard of a dog worrying cattle, No one had been commissioned by him to shoot dogs on the property. King Allen, farmer, Herekino, said he was managing a property adjoining Berghan’s. Meta King was working for- him. A week before the dafe of the charge he found a calf on his property which had been eaten by dogs. Later he saw a dog and started out after it with a gun, but the dog got away and witness handed the gun to Meta so that he could go after it.

Waipouri, in the witness box, admitted running away when they saw Mr Sandow. He denied presenting the gun at the. ranger. The gun was not loaded, and witness only had one cartridge in his pocket.. Witness had fired a shot at a dog from 50 yards away, but the dog had escaped, and he had followed it into Mr Berghan’s property. To Sergeant Claason: He had been a Maori College student. He made no statement to a constable at Ruawai and was not asked for one.

Meta King gave evidence which on all points agreed with that of the last witness.

Magistrate’s Finding,

The magistrate, dealing with the first charges, said that if any person was found trespassing on private property with dog or gun the onus was on him to prove that he was not in pursuit of native or imported game and all the circumstances were against the statement that the accused were in pursuit of a dog. If they were after a dog why did they run at the sight of a man? Seeing the onus of proof was on them and there was no doubt about their presence on the property with guns, he would convict. The other charge was more serious. They had the evidence of two men and both, in a sense, were public servants. One held a ranger’s warrant and he was satisfied with the way in which both had given their evidence which had not been shaken. He thought the ranger was a little remiss in not examining the gun to see whether it was loaded, and there was a probability that it was not loaded.

Sergeant Classon: According to the Act it was not a matter whether it was loaded or not.

The Magistrate: If it was loaded it would mean gaol for the accused. After hearing Mr Kelly the magistrate said that instead of £lO as first intended he would fine accused £7 10/- with costs 10/-.