POLICE COURT NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13486, 13 May 1907, Page 7

POLICE COURT NEWS.

A RACING PROSECUTION,

ALLEGED "TOTK" BETTING.'

At the Police Court on Saturday Mr. C, (J, Kettle, S.M./; gave h» reserved judgment in the charges recently brought by th« Auckland Racing Club against Henry !Nic* coll. Mr. Sharpies appro re.' tor the prosecution and Mr. W. E. 'Huckett for the. defence.

Mr. Kettle said that iceol l whs digged on four informations with breaches of the Gaming Act. The liril two -charged him with laying totalisatbr odds and the other two with breaches of section 5 of the Act. He would deal with the latter charges tirst. Defendant, he said, was suspected of " t -te" betting at Kllerslie, and was taken before the stewards, and asked to explain certain entries in his book. At the inquiry he did not allege that these bets were made on his own account, nor that the betting was "tote'' odds, but said that the money was put on the various horses for different people. He denied that he was acting as the agent of bookmakers. On defendant's own admissions he (Mr. Kettle) drew the inference that he was acting a*» a turf agent in contravention of section 5 of the Gaming Act. The fact that tho defendant was on the course putting money on the total isi tor for a largo number of people, who bad apparently employed him to do so,, was, in His Worship's opinion, a breach of the law. He had no hesitation in convicting the defendant of the two charge's of acting a.i agent for 4 the purchase of tickets on th« totiilisator. The penalty provided .was three 'months'- imprisonment, or a line of £20, or both fine and imprisonment.* Ho was glut! to 'sec that, the >, Auckland -Racing Club was using its best endeavours to suppress breaches" of the gaming laws. The offence was regarded as a serious one, and the only effective way to deal with K- was to impose such a penalty as would prevent people from embarking on smelt practices. Ho understood that the present, case was the first one in Auckland. ~s Mr. Hackett: In New Zealand, Your Worship. . Continuing,/ Mr. Kettle said that lie would not impose imprisonment. in the. present case, but he wished it to be clearly understood; that in any future canes of the kind he Would consider it his duty to deal severely with the offenders; who 'must not be surprised if they received the full penalty provided by the law.. Ho would convict Niccoll and fine him £20 on each of the two informations, and would further reservo bis deatfioi:uon,tlio other two charges, in order to allovr defendant, if so advised, to test the decision in a higher. Court.

"'/ MISCELLANEOUS. .. Peter Joseph Green, who did not appear, was charged ' with assaulting William - , f Mcherchen. • The complainant said that ; ho had. to put defendant out- .of his" (wit- ' ness whop, and -.wlrtlo -• doing so ; Green, struck him. Defendant was fined £6 and costs, or, -in. default, one month's imprisonment, .. y■ ■;: ■. „ - . ,Y ' , t /<•': ■ \ ; ( Charles Glass, alias-Young, was sentenced - to one, month's imprisonment for committing, an indecent act in Federal-street, while John Dillon, an . elderly man, . similarly v : charged, was ordered to.be kept ;in custody Y until four p.m. - - " Farquhar McDonald, charged with drunkenness (a third offence within six months) • and with committing a breach of ; his pro- - ; hibition order,? was .;sentenced*to 14 days' Y-Y imprisonment on the first charge and fined , i? £2 and costs on tin'-, second. ... A middle-aged man mimed John Kean pleaded guilty to begging in Queen-street, and was convicted and ordered to come up for sentence when called upon. ' lie was also prohibited: for 12 months.' Si.v first offenders (three of whom were I women) were each fined 5s and costs, ,:r, in default, 24 hours' imprisonment for drunkenness. Another, who did not appear, was : ordered to forfeit 'the amount of bail, &1. „