LAW AND POLICE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 12522, 15 March 1904, Page 7

LAW AND POLICE.

.v —. ■».!■_ ..... , POLICF /OUR. NEWS. sitting- of the J?olioo Court was *»ftld hefore Mr. O. Kettle, S«M. Sub-In-•peotot Black represented the police. Drunkenness: A number of persons, who pleaded" ' guilty to charges .of drunkenness, were convicted anil ordered to come up for '--'■■■ sentence , whenkcalled ,upon, His Worship, ■ who administered; several 'warnings, s&ying that as yesterday's was his first sitting upon She Bench here, ha ; would give them ■■■»' chance. , In respect to the offeuoes of Oon*ad Howell and- Mary Stewart, who have a large . nußffber of previous - convictions recorded against them, His .Worship remarked that _ something must be done to prevent the , continuance of. the practice. If they, appeared before him again ;he tirould either t»i»mit them to the inebriates' home or call upon them to : show " cause why ' prohibition orders should not be issued against them. Thomas Purvey pleaded guilty to a charge Of being drunk while in charge ; of. a horse «nd cart at Epsom. ;In convicting, Mr. Kettle Said that he looked upon such of* ■:." fences as very serious, as not. only did the defendant ( endanger his own life, but also those of others, and on that account ha would convict the accused and fine him £1

Indecent Language: Hugh Uiveu, when charged with using "indecent language while drunk in Hohson-Btreet, pleaded (jiuUy, and /His Worship, in convicting, ordered his imprisonment natil the rising of the Court. . Assault l«*or assaulting Jftmes Sallidfty in "the bar of & Newmarket hotel by; (striking him on the face with his clenched fist, George Pederson was convicted and fined 10a and costs. Sub-Inspector Black ; explained that the accused struck the complainant for no cause whatever. \ : , Misconduct in a Hotel: Charges of breaking a pane of glass in the Newmarket Hotel (doing damage to the extent of 10s M} and of using insulting language towards Harold Leek,' the son of the licensee, were preferred against George Keenan. The accused pleaded guilty, and the licensee 'nforrned the Court that the accused, in consequence \,i his rowdiness in the hotel, had been ordered out. He thereupon commenced to use the language complained of, and on getting outside the hotel deliberately shoved his hands through one of the panes of glass in "one of the windows. The magistrate, Hi ftbnvioting, said that he was determined to fut down such offences with a. strong hand. It seemed that Keeaati was partially drunk . at the time, and so might have led the police to believe that Mr. Leek was conductifig his promises improperly, Keenan would be ; fined 20s and costs, besides being ordered to .; pity the amount of the damage done." Kobbed in a Hotel Bar: A seaman named Thomas Burns was Charged With stealing 14s from the person of Victor H.; Simmonds while in the bar of the Commercial Hotel. • Burns denied the charge. The complainant was then . called to state that while he was with the accused in the bar of the Commer- ' cial Hotel the latter put his arm round witness' neck, and while putting 6d into one of witness' pockets withdrew 14s 6d from an-' other, passitig' the money over to a mat*.. : He taxed the accused outside of the hotel with stealing the money, but he denied it, «nd witness gave him in charge to Constable ;' McCormick. Burns admitted to t His Worship that he was in the hotel with the accused, but he said he had no knowledge of , the theft having been committed until the complainant accused him of it outside of the hotel. His Worship convicted and sentenced the accused to seven days' imprisonment with hard labour. . A Boy "Commandeers" a Cart: A small boy, aged between 11 and 12 years, was charged with stealing a horse,, cart, harness and groceries, to the value of £35 4s Bd, the property of Thomas t'letcher Stoddard. Mr. J. O. Martin appeared lor the boy, toaihg instructed by the lad's grandfather, •ad he said the offence would be admittedIn explaining the facta. Sub-inspector Black ■aid the complainant was "■'»■■ grooer, whose man had left his horse and cart unattended \in Albert-street on the 4tb insti.ia ;th« ofdinary course of business. When the man fetuiftted he found tha. the cart was gone, v and he hi once ooasplained to the police. ;■ After: diligent aeaicehiag, it was found that '■: the accused had taken the cart, with which he and some oorapanions drove round Auckland and the outlying districts for the rest ■'.--• M . the day. When night came on "; accused unharnessed the horse at the Domain, where ha left it to wander, leaviag the cart on the loadside. The lad went back-to the Domain mat morning to repeat his previous day a exploit, : but he could not find the horse. Nothing loth, however, he commandeered another one, harnessed it up, and went for another day's drive. This he repeated day after day. Counsel said .he was instructed to ask His Worship to commit the boy to 4h« r industrial school, his grandfather being unable to control ■/ him. His Worship con- ■"' -noted, and, as requested, he committed the lad to th« Burnham Industrial-School. An order for 5s per week for fcha lad's maintenance was made ;by consent against his iffandfaiber..-. . Alleged Theft: John McQueen, a seaman, i - pleaded : not guilty to a charge of stealing one paii of trousers, valued at 27s no, the property of Edward George Clarke, and anSiher.pair of trousers, the property of some 'person unknown. Constable Monarty said that while he was standing at the United Service Hotel corner on the night of the 22th insV he noticed the accused go up to - a mas and try to sell to him foi a drink tome articles which he was carrying under . his arm. Witness* suspicions were aroused, ■ and -he followed the accused, whom he finally ■accosted, : and asked for an explanation as to where he got them. McQueen said from a man- named "Christie," and witness dileoted him to take him to him. ■■- McQueen took him to a boardinghouse, but Christie ij»s not there, and in consequence he arrested McQueen on suspicion. One of the pairs of trousers were afterwards discovered to be the property of Mr. Clarke, of Wel-lesley-street. The accused in his defence »id that he had met " Christie in the street, when the latter asked him to sell the trousers in question for the price of » drink. He tried to do so, but failed. The further hearing of the case was adjourned until tomorrow so that the police might be enabled to find and produce '•Christie.' Alleged "Vagrancy: Charles Mollerstrom, charged with vagrancy, in that he has insufficient means of lawful support, was _ remanded for a week in order that he might be able to procuro work in the meantime. The evidence given by the police was to the effect that the accuse* was continually sleeping out at nights tfpon the wharf, and when- • ever ho got a chance, upon the boats. He had not done any work for the past three months. ..;■'■'"■;.'. ■ ■ ..• ■