POLICE COURT NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13226, 11 July 1906, Page 7

POLICE COURT NEWS.

; A DISOBEDIENT BOATSWAIN. j At the h Police Court yesterday, before Mr. j C. C Kettle, S-M.,, William Hansen, boatswain of the steamer Wakamii, was charged with wilfully disobeying the lawful com- j mand* of the master of the vessel whiie in. port at Auckland. • : • :'■';Captain White-Parson? said that Hansen, when ordered to "turn to." bad absolutely refused iq dc so. He had signed on foi the round trip, and had asked him (the captain) to pay him off at tins port. If he (the captain) were to do this, lie would es- j tablish a dangerous-precedent, as any man ! might come to him during a voyage : and ask I to be paid off. The accused had been j troubled wilt-rheumatism, and wa* medi-j cally examined. He was shipped at Newcastle, and did his work well on-the voyage. | "I won't go mi that ship again," said ; Hansen, when asked by Mr. Kettle to ex- ! plain iiimadf. "The men will 'do' fori , me," .. He bad been at sea, 30 years. i ~..'"'Now, don't you want to st-o*. here?" j asked His Worship. . "I can quite understand your taking fancy to Auckland." " I don't see much nice here." replied, the j accused, who was sentenced tc two days' j imprisonment. .'.. i ['ALLEGED THEFT AND DESERTION ! ! FROM 1 S.S. OSWESTRY GRANGE. i, Three able-bodied 'men, Alexander Geit- ■ mann, Thomas Riley, and -Joseph Morgan, I were charged with having stolen dress ina;'ferial, tweeds, and 90 bottles of wine, the ! 'property of .Captain Taylor, of the. s.s. t Oswestry Grange, and also with deserting from the same vessel. Accused pleaded not. guilty. - : • •' Chief-Detective Mai-sack explained that the steamer was now at the Bluff, and he asked for a. remand.of eight days, so as to obtain the witnesses. , The accused had only been arrested on Monday night. The remand was granted. CRUELTY TO A HORSE.. ~ ?Eli deal pleaded not guilty to having cruelly ill-treated a horse by working it when its back was covered with sores. Evidence was given to the effect that the horse was quite unfit for work, its back being covered with wounds of long stand? iug. The saddle used was badly stuffed, and a bar of iron had formed quite a dent in the animal's wither. » Mr. Kettle, who said that he knew a, good bit about these sort of cases, examined the' horse, and said it was worse than the care which ho had seen on Monday. The defendant had shown carelessness and want of thought. lie would be lined £2 and costs. LEAVING A CART UNATTENDED. William Walsh, a carter, pleaded guilty when charged with having leit his cart unattended a longer time than reasonably necessary in Jervois Road, and was fined ss. • CHARGE AGAINST A HOTELKEEPER. ? Mr. Kettle gave judgment in the. case against Walter Dyer, a Kaukapakapa publican, charged with knowingly withdrawing beer from a cask without destroying the duty stamp. ' Mr. S. Mays prosecuted, and Mr. F. E. Baume appeared for defendant. I Mr. Baume contended that unless the .prosecution could prove that Dyer drew beer from the cask with an absolute knowledge that the stamp had not been destroyed, he could mot be convicted. As a matter of fact, Dyer's evidence showed that he had not known that the,stamp had not been destroyed, - '■ j Without calling on. Mr. Mays to\ reply, jjjl'r. Kettle said that if Dyer bad wilfully neglected to deface the stamp and defraud the revenue, he could impose the highest penalty, of the law, but he did not think it was done wilfully in this case. It was gross carelessness, and a man in defendant's "position should see that" the stamps, were 'defaced. He would be fined £5 and costs. 1 ,';!... ■ "-a ■ MAINTENANCE CASES. "•■' Samuel John Smith,". who was charged with disobeying alt order for the maintenance of his two. children, said he did not receive notice of the order when it was made, but he! had seen something about it in the papers. He had not earned enough money lately to pay anything. ' He bad not spent more than £5 in drink since April, 1905. Mr. A. Herbert-Jones, who prosecuted on behalf of the Charitable Aid Board, said that since April, 1903, Smith had only paid £25-2s towards the support of his wife and two children. Mr. Kettle said defendant was one of those man.that would not take a warning. He sentenced defendant to one month's imprisonment on each charge, the sentences to be concurrent. He warned "defendant if he came before the Court again that he would receive six months. Andrina Gregg Monerieft' was lined £2 for disobeying an order for the maintenance of Joseph' Moncrieff. It was stated .that the arrears upon the order, amounting to £2 10s, had been paid. •'■'"' David Baxter, who is at present living in Christchureh, was sentenced to be imprisoned for two months for neglecting to obey an order for the support of his child. The. wan-ant would be suspended if accused paid the arrears, amounting to £14, immediately. ■•-,-■ In the case Bennetts v. Bennetts, in which Kate. Maria' Bennetts sued- Percy Bennetts-, Lance Bennetts, and Royal Bennetts for maintenance, each of the* defendants was ordered to pay 3s per week towards her support. DRUNKENNESS. . The only case of drunkenness before the Court was that of Edward Alcock, who, in answer to Mr. Kettle, said he had come in from the bush to "knock down" a cheque. Accused was fined 5s and costs, or in default 24 hours' imprisonment.