SHEEP STEALING.

North Otago Times, Volume XXXIV, Issue 6976, 27 February 1890, Page 2

SHEEP STEALING.

At the Resident Magistrate's Court at Hampden yesterday, before Mr Stratford, James Laurenson was charged under section 30 of the Slaughterhouse Acl with haying part of the carcase of a lamb in his possession without being able to explain satisfactorily how it came into his possession. Inspector Thompson conducted the prosecution, snd accused was undefended. Hannah Liggett and Eliza Jane Cleghorn said, in evidence, that ihey were aware of the fact that accused had a pet lamb. Frederick Frederickson said on a Saturday in January, between 4 and 5 o'clock in the morning, he heard a shot fired about half or three-quarters of a mile from the place he was living at. In the erening, on returning from work, he noticed a sheep's entrails and blood on the road as if a sheep had been killed that morning. The blood and entrails were found in the direction the sound of the shot came from. He had seen a lamb at accused's place. Cross-examined by accused : He was sure the entrails were not those of & pig, although he could not tell the difference, but there were no pigs at the place. Alex. Frew said on the 25th of January last he saw fresh entrails and blood on the road. Accused lived about a mile away. Sheep, cattle, and horses were running about the place. He was certain it was a sheep's inside he saw. John Stewart said he saw the entrails and blood. Some of the sheep running there were Kitchener's and some Murcott's. Constable Joyce said he risited accused's place on the 27th January. He mentioned the fact of the entrails and blood having been found, and accused said ** It is not me." Witness went into accused's house, and made a search, and found in a small canras bag the two forequarters of a lamb. Witness asked where the skin of the lamb was, and accused's wife said she had buried it as it was smelling- At the request of witness they went to get the skin, and accused's ' wife pulled it from underneath some scrub. It was very wet, and newly stripped, and was perforated with shots. Accused said it was the skin of a lamb of his own which he had killed by cutting its throat. When asked to account for the shot marks he said it was wild and he had to shoot it. Witness could not observe any blood marks in the place pointed out to him as the spot where the lamb was killed. Witness found a double-barrelled gun in the house, with one barrel loaded. He also saw a lamb running about, which accused caught easily. For the defence the accused said the portion of a carcase found in his house was that of a pet lamb be had. The Limb had got a pot nook in its jaw, and it had been shot by accused to put it out of pain. The lamb was shot before Constable Joyce went to bis house. Constable , Joyce did not see a live lamb at his house. Annie Jessie Laurenson said the skin found by Constable Joyce had been in a tub, and she took it oat because she wanted the tub. The lamb was killed be cause it had hurt its jaw. George Russell and William Lunam also gave evidence for the defence, and thereafter accused was sentenced to four months' imprisonment with hard labor in Danedin gaol.