POLICE COURT.—Thursday.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIII, Issue 4421, 14 January 1876, Page 3

POLICE COURT.—Thursday.

[Before R. C. Barstow, Esq, It.AT.] • Assajjlt.—Francis Dubedat pleaded guilty to a charge ,of assaulting Thomas Vausselt, and' said he was sorry for his fault. The prosecutor did not wish to press''the charge, I and a fine of 20s "with the alternative of f I days' imprisonment with hard labour was j therefore inflicted. I

Threatening Language. — John B. Smyth' was charged by his wife, Catherine Smyth, with threatening to take her life. The prosecutrix deposed that the prisoner had used very strong language and violent conduct towards her, which had continuedfor 19 years. She was afraid of sustaining some bodily harm if he were not restrained. Mr. Moore, a compositor, gave evidence as to having seen a disturbance at the house of the prisoner on Tuesday evening. To prisoner : I did not see you Strike anyone. Edwin Odium was also examined, but failedto throw any moreilight on the subject. The prisoner had acted towards him the day after the disturbance in an annoying manner. The prisoner was then sworn, and deposed that he had been an abstainer for five years, but that on the day in question he had. taken a "nobbier." His wife flew into a rage when he told her that he had had a glass, and she used some very strong language towards him. : He had always been a very peaceably disposed individual, and would rather have a divorce than submit to his present course of life. The case was remanded until Saturday, in order that the' evidence of several other witnesses might be obtained,

Licensing Act.—James -Knox Grant was charged with selling liquor, on 10th January, without a license. Mr. Hesketh pleaded guilty on behalf of defendant, but urged in extenuation that it had occurred under palliating circumstances. Defendant was making arrangements for the transfer of the licence, but that was not yet quite completed. Inspector Broham did not press for a heavy penalty, v but the practice was becoming so frequent that the police were compelled to take notice of and stop it. Mr. Hesketh admitted that publicans were too often in the habit of considering the transfer of the license of secondary importance to the transfer of the lease of the house. His Worship commented upon the custom which obtains in too many cases of putting into a public house a non inal licensee who pays the real proprietor a certain sum per week. The Act did not contemplate anything of that sort. The full penalty that could be imposed in the case was £50, but under the circumstances he would fine the defendant £5 and costs, (193). Inspector Broham stated that in future he would press for heavy fines. Education Rates.—The hearing of a number.of cases for non-payment of the Education Bate, was adjourned till the 3rd February. ' J

Assault.'—Elizabeth Nicholson was charged by Elizabeth Stanley, with having assaulted her. A charge in. which the above persons changed positions; wa3 also laid. Mr. Laishley appeared for defendant, and Mr. Joy for-complainant; iOn the joint-application of the learned-gentle-men, both cases were'adjourned till Saturday, t—William : . and Johanna . Grace were . charged with assaulting Thomas and Marga-. ret Merrigan, on the 3rd inst. ; arid Thomas, 'and Margaret Merrigan were charged, with assaulting William and Johanna Grace, on the same date. Mr. Laishley-said he appearedfor the Merrigans, and his learned friend, Mr. Joy, for the Graces ; and as there were four cases arising out of the same set of circumstances, he asked that the hearing of the

first evidence might serve for all the casesj This course was agreed to. Thomas Merrigan~a settler-living at, Mount. Eden,, dcposed s Remember Monday, January 3." J On the evening 'of : that day) between 7 and 8 o'clock, I -was standing outside my own gate, vraiting for my wife and two children to return with.the newspaper. As they were ■passing the door of the house of the Graces, two large bull-dogs were set at theui, and I also observed stones being thrown at my wife and, children. My wife turned round, and said, '' Don't let the dogs tear the children." William Grace then came off his verandah, and said to my wife, ' 1 Who the h—l are you?" I- proceeded to where Grace was standing, and said, "You savage, are yon going to carry out your murderous threats ?" He replied, "Do you call me a "savage?" I then said, " You are worse than a savage to attack a helpless woman on the public road." With that he seized me by the neck, threw me down, and said he would strangle me. I cried out "murder." Grace had heavy blucher boots frith iron toe-bits on at the time, and with them he jumped on my chcst, side, and head, when down. My wife then threw herself on my body to save me. Grace struck her between the eyes with his clenched fists, and kicked her on the breasts, side, and leg. While my wife was on the ground, Grace still retained his hold of me by the neck. He was at length compelled to release me. by a man named McAdam. When I stood up, a stone thrown by Mrs. Grace struck me on the side of the head. Did not in any way assault the Graces, neither did my wife. Had I been alone with them, he would h»ve killed me, as he has threatened me a long time past. In consequence of the assault, went with my wife to Dr. Hooper, who examined our wounds. [A certificate was here read'from Dr. Hooper, stating that

both Mr. and Mrs. 'Merrigan were suffering from severe' bruises.] To Mr. Joy: My house was situated about a dozen yards from the . house of Mrs. Grace. I did not see Margaret Smith or James Carroll there. - I saw William Bowden. I was not at Mrs. Grace's gate before being struck. I had no stone iu my hand, neither had my wife, When I first saw Mrs. Grace she was out on the road. Mrs. Merrigan "gave corroborative evidence. Ellen Merrigan, 11 years of age, and daughter of last witness, also gave similar testimony. William McAdam deposed : On the night of the 3rd inst., .while reading in my house, heard dogs barking and children screaming, and ran out to see what was the matter, and found a number of persons struggling on the ground. Saw Mrs. Grace striking Mr. Merrigan on the head with a stone. To the Bench : Merrigan waß bareheaded when the stone struck him. I didn't see Mrs. Merrigan at all. The remainder of his evidence was confirmatory of Merrigan's statement. At this stage of the proceedings the Court adjourned for half an hour, and on resuming, Wm. McAdam was recalled, and stated, in answer to a question from the Bench, that Mrs. Merrigan might have been present at the affray without his noticing her. Wm. Grace, deposed : On the evening of the 3rd January remember being at my mother's house shortly after 8 o'clock. Kemember seeing Mr. and Mrs. Merrigan and their children on the road, outside the fence of my mother's house. They were throwing stones on to the verandah. I asked them what sort of conduct was that? Mr. Merrigan then cursed and flung a stone at me. My mother was inside her house. I caught hold of the prisoner in order to prevent him from taking jmy life. His wife then took me by ; the whiskers, hit me on the eye, and bit my hand. Merrigan's daughter attempted to help her father and mother; but I threw the three of, them on to the ground in one heap. Neither I nor my mother set any dogs on the Merrigans. I did not see any dogs there at all. I did not say to Mrs. Merrigan, " Who the h—l are you?" 1 did not attack either of the Merrigans. Did. not

say anything to Merrigan or his wife. I kept Merrigan down until McAdam came up, and at whose request I released him. As soon as Merrigan got up he lifted some stones And- attempted to strike me willi them. James Carroll, Margaret Smith, and my mother witnessed the occurrence. A person named William Bowden arrived on the scene when the fight was drawing to a close. To Mr;Laishley : McAdam was present when Merrigan attempted to strike me with the stones after I had released him. I swear I did not kick Merrigan when he was lying on the ground. Neither did I kick Mrs. Merrigan. They were all lying in a heap under me. To the Bench : lam quite sure that I did not first lie down on the ground and allow the Merrigans to crawl underneath my body. Mrs Grace gave similar evidence to that given by the last witness. She might have thrown stones, but did not remember doing so. Whilst McAdam was present, Merrigan picked up stones, but did not see him attempt to strike her son with them. She had been bound over to keep the peace in that Court before. The occurrence happened shortly after 8 o'clock. Margaret Smith, a girl of about 14 years of age, and a niece of William Grace,. —corroborated his statement. James Carroll, a lad of 13 years of age, and a nephew of ■Wmi Grace, and Wm. Bowden, a brother-in-law, gave similar testimony. Wm. McAdam was again re-ealled and stated that he did not see Mr. Merrigan pick up stones after Grace had lei Mm go. If Merrigan had thrown stones at. that time he must have noticed them as he was leading Grace away in front of him. He did not see the boy Carroll there at all; neither did ho see the girl Margaret Smith at that time. Mr. .Laishley put in evidence testimonials as to|Merrigan's previous good character, and Mr. Joy did the same on behalf of Grace. Mr. Laishley' ' stated that he and his learned friend had agreed to waive any ricrht they had of addressing the Court, in consideration of the long time the hearing of the caso had taken up. After a short deliberation, the Bench imposed a fine of £3 and £1 19s costs, with the' . alternative of two months' imprisonment with hard labour, upon William Grace, and Johanna Grace was fined 20s and costs, or one month's imprisonment with hard labour. The solici-" tors' fees of two guineas in each case were awarded. The cross-charges brought against the Merrigans -were dismissed. The total expenses, including fines, costs, and fees, which the Graces had to pay amounted to £12 13s 6d.