LAW AND POLICE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 11870, 23 January 1902, Page 7

LAW AND POLICE.

I' POLICE COURT NEWS. , Mb Thomas Hutchison, S.M., disposed of i the ; business at- yesterday's sitting of the I . Police Court./. ;~ ■"■. *--_.'■. .--,- 1' Drunkenness: Leonard . Craig,, against I ■ whom a previous conviction for inebriety had I ; Sen recorded, was fined ss. with the option S / 'of coing to urisen for 2* hours. .; A first- };' , offender was dealt with in the usual manI • ' ' Ob=cene Language : A man of middle age, ' tamed John Galbraith, was charged with having used obscene language ;in Princes-. street. A resident of the neighbourhood "' cave evidence to the effect that accused had ,-..-*■ for the past couple of nights taken up a - position outside his house, and made use of .' extremely filthy expressions. Accused stated ! that his conduct was attributable to over- ; indulgence in liquor. His Worship imposed ! ' ; a fine of 40s, with the alternative of two weeks' imprisonment, with hard labour. Discharged: Two women, named Eliza i - [Agnes McMillan and Jane Pollard, appar- "'- ently about 30-years of age, were placed in I . - the dock to answer a charge of the larceny of the sum of Bs, belonging to Mrs. Edward ' Shearer. The facts of the case, as stated • by prosecutrix, were that on the 21st inst. ' she," in company with two lady friends, en-;. • tered tho Custom-street baths for the ex- ; press purpose of watching the ladies swim. Previous to "settling down to view the swimming, the party strolled into the dressingroom', and while there prosecutrix inadvertently left her purse, containing the amount mentioned, on the table in the room. After sitting outside the room for a while witness recollected that she had left her purse .in the room, and on returning to the room she i found to her astonishment that it had disappeared. The two accused were then undressing in the room preparatory to going >; into the water. When witness complained to several ladies present about her loss, one . of the accused immediately left the room, j "•■':and dived into the water, and remained there .for some time. The purse, and the amount ,in it, had not yet been recovered. After . further'evidence had been heard, the case eventually broke down, tho prosecution being unable to state clearly as to whether : ~: the puree was left in the dressingroom or not. ''His Worship dismissed the case. A Peculiar Case: John Grccnsmitli, a man i about 30 years of age, was charged, on re•j. mand, with the theft from the person of An- ' pie Webber of four gold rings, valued at £4-. • Accused pleaded not guilty, and was defended by Mr. J. C. Martin. For the prose- , cution Annie Webber, a young woman, stated in her evidence that on the 17th inst. - she visited the residence of Mrs. Dooley a - particular friend, of witness', in Wakefield-' Street, and during the day assisted her in her 'domestic duties. Towards evening the ac- ' cused came to the house, and being a friend of Mrs. Dooley's, he was admitted, witness ' ■ being introduced to him. Witness slept at "Mrs. Dooley's house that night, and so also .did accused. When witness arose from slumber the following day she was surprised "■-' to find that her rings had during the night ■ been taken off her fingers. Accused left the 1 house early that morning. Entertaining suspicion that accused was responsible for the . theft of the rings, she went into town in the endeavour to meet accused. She was suc- ; cessful in her search for accused, and when they met accused in tho presence of Con- '" stables Reid and Finnerty returned the rings '■■'■•:, to witness. 'Accused was wearing one of the ' ' rings at the time, and the others he carried , in his pocket. After handing the rings over : " to witness accused said that she (witness) had ''■-'■ given them to him. Constable Finnerty, in is evidence, deposed that when accused was ■ in the. guardroom at the High-street station, ho told witness that ho (accused) bad taken the rings for a "joke." Mr. Martin, at the conclusion of the case for the prosecution, --Stated that.he did not think the case was -.sufficiently strong- to, justify the Court sending accused to the Supreme Court for trial, .and he would consequently call evidence in : support of 'the defence. In reviewing the ; '; * case, he said that accused, who was partially deaf, was a miner, and had monetary means. - The rings, he alleged, were not deliberately ' stolen, as ha 3 been stated, but that the prose- . cutrix (Annie Webber) had made accused a present of them. At this stage His Worship ~• said that he was of opinion that tho case , was ono that should be decided before a jury, ,t and he subsequently committed accused to . the Supremo Court for trial. Bail was permitted in cno surety of £100. ONEHUNGA POLICE COURT. ' At the Onohunga Police Court yesterday morning, before Mr. John Rowe, J.P., a hawker named John Bowes Monkman was charged with being drunk while in charge "of a horse and cart in Onehunga on January y., v2l. He pleaded guilty, and was fined IDs. -