POLICE COURT.—Wednesday.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVIII, Issue 5995, 3 February 1881, Page 6

POLICE COURT.—Wednesday.

-: ; ..;.-.. [Befoijb J.-ij..Mac(lonald > Esq.,R.3r,] '- n ;.': : i Proving' : Aiy..\ A'aiti,—-Walter" Heiglitoh appeared.to answer^a.chargc .of.-,using offensive language!, ■ and maliciously' injuring a lock'; the"'property; of Charles Burley, of Karangahape Road. Sergeant Gamble 1 conducted the prosecution ;-Mr. Tyler iandi-Mr. Tole .appearedior the 'defence. The'evidence for the prose3iitiou ; .was,heard at a fowner sitting of the Court..: The defence took the form of an alibi. Frederick Samuel Leake deposed =that:he.slept in the.same"same rooni as .accused, who' went tobed on the -night r in question perfectly sober'.; He re«drded Heightpn as a good young man. 'Rose Heighton,' the (accused's sister, gave, corroborative eviqeiice;, ;Mrs. '[ Mas ou,', whose . son' -it ~>yas iilleged. had-been with'.<Heighton,--deposed .that : heVson ; caiiie hpihe'betWeeii , ! 11 and-12 in. a. state .of His' Worship lwieM'jed " the,j •'eviderrtje ' in; d 'very''; lucid ami. critieai niaiiiier, .cxtenqliiig' byertweiity.' minutes. He pointed out thatrthe evidence!

foftKeprosecutionj'was ye_rystrpng.&nd deci- 1 siveLT It:wasibroad moonlight at t tJiie.itiine;Of ) ■ tTie'allegedroccurrence, ; and it was improbable u t'hat they gyguld be Vißeferring.to tlie ievidence i of;. the young • nan ilaspp, - for;. the defence,-he remarked r upon •his, ; stating. tihat he wastvery.dt.uuk,- and did noft.r'emem-,; ber what.occurred, ; could,recol-. leot,tliat,be,w'as cv.ery tired- and anxipus ; tp getto -bed-oliStili bedat.lQ.iO'clock,;Was>qiiite compatible with: haying .been rout at tjor;'2,fl'clpckj and/committing the;ofijeiicefu Bat hei ,was; not.a, chUd r Compelled to go to bed atiany one's dictation,; but :a.'full-grown man, who.was presumablyhis own:master,;; therßfpre.it,was.improbable: that.v any ; moti>re j existed for sneaking, out-, HeiCould'inptigQ_outsicle/the evidence; ofiso many persons.,.that he >v:as Jipme ina sober, state.j-at;y;an;,' eav,iy> hour. i; /'Cages /where JersOns.' had! --quite . (positively to; : what believed.; to M; be :if acts, > but. lifterwards - .transpired, : that. • they, ; were mis.aken*/ hadi ! frequently /occurred,; and lie. Avas. inclined to : 'think it was gq i;i witli ; tlie prosecution!in the present.instance.., He. would ;give the . accused; the benefit of ;the. : . doubt and. .dismiss the case. —Another, case ; against the same persons, relying on similar ■ evidence, was withdrawn by the police. ~,-; ■ i Assaulting, a fousD-KEEPER.—Tiniothj^ ' Hayes was charged with catching . ;]}all, : by.,the throat, attempting to,choke : him,, and threateuiug to do for him. Mr.. C. .Heskethappeared for complainant, and Mr., Tole for defendant. The complainant (poundr keeper at .Mount Eden.) deposed that he con-; fined .twelve of defendant's cattle. on. the 1 12th,of.last month. .About three hours afterwards defendant came to, him, almost weep-, ihg, and .said he.had.no mpney to release "thein; ;spme wanted milking, and would wit'-;. 'n'ess let'iieni go.; ,JTinally. ten .were. allowed .' tb'go,, on: the understanding that.., Wo. should remain for. security. On the next ' day,- defendant . came and. offered , ss. for,,.the, two, saying that witness had > no,business to let them go. In the evening he. came again, with a witness, and tendered sk, but he would not let them go till the full {fee of 30s was paid. Jfext day, having had, : lfegal advice in the meantime, witness agreed to release: them. Defendant came next day t •• theros, and witness made out .an order for the man at the pound to release.i)heni, ! b'u't'he put.it iii his pocket again, and asked for payment of the other ten, justtoshpwj Hayes that He'had not a monopoly of smart-, liiess. Hayes then sprang off his horse, : caught' witness by the throat, singing out ■'fHobbery, murder, . and- Mrs. MeShane.". (Laughter.) ; Witness's wife came-up, took • the paper out of his pocket, and threw it on j i the ground. : Hayes then released himj and ] Jsfeized it. Mrs. Ball and Mrs. Hose Bennett 'gave; corroborative evidence. : Defendant . then went into the witness-box, and stated ■ l|is version. His wife informed him that the .cows iwere in the pound, and 'he .walked! through a downpour of rain to the pound-. : keeper., [He. had only 3s in .his Docket, but. asked hiia: to; allow. him' to take the cows away. , He -agreed, to let all go except one, liut two' were retained, the. witness promis- . ihg to pay sometime. He did-not catch Mr. Ball by ,the -throat, only by the waist, to keep his arms .down, as he wan ted -to get the order.' .Tlie two w-omenattacked hi-n, and almost tore his trousers, off. (Laughter.) Mr:'Robertson, baker, deposed that he heard ' Hayes call put' murder. He then" saw Hayes mounting his horse, and Mr. and Mrs. Ball struggling, and lie thought they were fighting. Mr. MeShane, carter, deposed to bearing Ha,yes cry out '"robbery," and saw Ball trying to pull Hayes over'to fence. Did not notice that Hayes had been deprived of any of his habilaments.^—His Worship said it was clear ..art assault had been committed. The plaintiff wasin a'positibn that every man's hand'was against him, and should ; be protected: Hayes was fined £3 and costs with an alternative of 14 days' imprisonment