“Beaten Up and Left for Dead”

Northland Age, Volume XVIII, Issue 79, 15 July 1949, Page 1

“Beaten Up and Left for Dead”

Allegation by Accused Wi Sylva. farmer, of Waiharara, was charged before Mr. W. Carrol Harley, S.M., in the Kaitaia Court on Tuesday, with behaving in a threatening and disorderly manner in a public place at Waiharara. He entered a plea of not guilty and was represented by Mr. R. H. Kelly.

Sgt. H. J. Harrington prosecuted. Srecho Urlich said that he was at a dance in the Waiharara Hall on the evening of May 14th after a wedding that had been held that day, and whilst he was discussing some matters with some friends, accused had come and grabbed him by the shoulder and wanted to fight. Accused had said to him, “I’m awake to you” and had still persisted in h'.s desire to fight. Sylva had seemed very anxious to fight, stated Urlich. “It wasn’t your fighting night,” interposed His Worship. When accused had commenced to use bad language, continued Uilich, Constable McNeil had been called and had requested accused to keep away. To Mr. Kelly, Urlich said that he would not say there was an argument going on at the time when accused had grabbed him and challenged him to fight. They were just discussmg various matters. They were all Dalmatians discussing various matters after a Dalmatian wedding. “When he grabbed you, wasn’t that to stop you hitting another man?” asked Mr. Kelly. “No, it was not.” “Isn’t there bad blood between you two. Aem’t you one of a party that beat and kicked this man into a state of insensibility some time ago, and then put him into a drain, and covered him with grass and titree, because you thought that you had killed him ?” asked Mr. Kelly. “I don’t know anything about that.” Constable R. T. J. McNeil gave evidence as to the trouble on the night in question, and stated that if it had not been for his persence there that night, there would probably have been serious trouble. Accused, he stated, seemed to be in a very excited state, and had his fists clenched, crying out “I’m going to murder Urlich before I go home.” 0 Sylva in defence, stated that he had been on an invalidity pension since the time he had been beaten lip by Urlich and his friends. He had been in hospital for five days after that, and has suffered from fits ever since. “I" own 50 acres of land in the middle of Dalmatian-owned land, and they don’t like it,” stated Sylva. To Sergeant Harrington, accused denied that he had made application for an invalidity pension some considerable time ago. and that he had used any bad language at any time during the time connected with the present charge. Sylva also denied that he had evercaused any trouble anywhere, and that he was considered a nuisance at dances in the locality. The i information was dismissed. Wi Sylva was also charged that on

the same date he stole a pair of shoes from a parked car outside the Waiharara Hall. Norman Grubisha, a farm labourer, stated that he had gone with his parents and sister to Waiharara to attend a wedding, and he had been wearing a new pair of shoes, but that he had had to change them for-some oldI er ones that he took with him, because the new shoes being worn were hurting. These he had left in the hack of his father’s car. j About midnight when he left the hall, he heard someone arguing about shoes as he came from the hall. He stated that his mother had found his shoes on the ground beside the car. No one had had authority to take anything from his car, and he identified the shoes produced in Court as his shoes. Mrs. Kate Grubisha, mother of previous witness, said that she had left the hall while the last waljys was in progress, and she had been addresed by Mr. Katavich who asked her if that was her car. She had heard an argument about shoes, and had gone round to the other side of the car to get in, and had found her son’s shoes on the ground beside the car. M. Katavich said that when he was entering his car at near midnight on the date in question, he saw accused emerging from a neighbouring car, and he had in his hand the shoes that were produced in Court. ■ Katavich challenged accused and asked him what he was doing there, as that was not his car, and he also asked whose shoes Sylva had. Sylva said that they were his. Katavich said he doubted this ’ last statement, and accused wanted to bet him 10/that they were. Constable R. T. J. McNeil said that when he interviewed defendant, Slyva had told him on the 20th May that they were his wife’s shoes that he had had at the time Katavich spoke to him. On the 30th June when the constable had again interviewed him, Sylva had stated that he had taken the shoes by mistake. In reply to a question by Mr. Kelly, Constable McNeil stated that he knew nothing about the shoes until he was interviewing Urlich in reference to the other charge. Sylva in defence stated that he had been asked by his wife to get her shoes from a car outside. He had gone out to the car he thought she meant, and had taken openly a pair of ladies’ shoes back to her. His wife had told him that he had made a mistake, and he had taken them back to the car from which he had taken them. He was not a friend of Katavich, and described him as a bad man. To Sergeant Harrington, accused stated that he did not know what sort of car Munro Murray owned; he only knew where his wife had told him the car was. He had not had a bottle of beer in the car when he went out. He had not taken the shoes. Mrs. Queenie Sylva and Kahu Ngarere both gave evidence in support of Sylva. saying that Sylva had gone for the shoes as asked by his wife, and stating that he had returned with a pair of ladies’ shoes which Mrs. Sylva had stated were not hers. He had immediately left the hall to replace the shoes. Mr. Harley convicted accused, and when he had read the list of accused's previous convictions, said : “You have been good for six years now, Sylva, Why did you want to do stupid things again?” Accused was admitted to probation for one year, conditionally upon his reporting every two weeks, and conditionally upon his not going near the Waiharara Hall whilst there was entertainment of any kind being held there. , “If you want to go to th epictures, you can go to Awanui or Kaitaia,” stated Mr. Harley. “This man has been troublesome round sports grounds also, your Worship,” said Sgt. Harrington. “I’m not worried about sports grounds. They can look after themselves. But there are women round Waiharara Hall, and I am not going to have them subjected to this sort of thing.’”