SOUTHERN COURTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 12602, 17 June 1904, Page 5

SOUTHERN COURTS.

'. [St TELEGRAPH.—PRESS ASSOCIATION.] . Wellington, Thursday. , The following prisoners were sentenced by the Chief Justice to-day:—Thomas Coughlan, for escaping from custody, Wanganui, and theft of clothes, to three months' . imprisonment at the expiry of his present term; Frank Anderson, for escaping from -'}'- custody by jumping from a train, four months at the expiry of bis present sentence; William Gray and Agnes Welsh, for theft, nine and six months' respectively JMrick O'Brien, for theft, nine months'. New Plymouth, Thursday, . At the Supreme Court John Turner wa* ■ found not guilty of indecent assault. A decree nisi was granted in the case of <' Knowles against Knowles and Ballam, husband's petition, to be made absolute in three months. Costs were allowed against co-respondent. Nelson, Thursday. ; The Supreme Court was occupied all day ■ in the trial of Thomas McFarlane, charged \ '■ with wilfully setting fire to the Criterion ':.; Hotel, Lyell. The jury to-night returned a !J;' verdict of not guilty. The Judge, address- [;;„•,' ing the prisoner, said, " You are discharged," -iy" and prisoner remarked, "I thank your ;;;: Honor, jury, and counsel." The Judge said, " You had better say no more. The jury Bay that you are not guilty and you are discharged." ;','■'. DitNemn, Thursday. .-" The libel action, Finlay versus Spencer, ;.: arising out of a circular connected with the PH transfer of Perseverance Gold Dredging Company's head office from Alexandra to ? Dunedin, was concluded to-day, 10 of the ';] .jury finding a verdict for the defendant. The jury found that a portion of the circular "issued, stating that plaintiff had conducted . ' his business in an underhand manner, was ' true in substance and fact, that the allega- ', tyms in another paragraph did not refer to the plaintiff, no. did it impute misconduct to him, and that defendant, in writing and publishing the circular, was not actuated by actual malice against plaintiff. Costs were allowed as per scale on the amount claimed.