POLICE COURT NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13473, 25 June 1907, Page 7

POLICE COURT NEWS.

NEGLECTED CHILDREN.,

■/. AN INADEQUATE LAW. At the Police Court, yesterday, before Mr. C. C. "Kettle, S.M., a young married woman, Annie Amelia Sims, was charged ' that on ' June 8, being the mother of children; under the , age of two years, she unlawfully abandoned such children. Sergeant Hendry prosecuted, and accused was undefended. The case was dealt with summarily, .under section 3 of the Children's Protection Act. j ! Alfred H. Jones, ■ relieving ./■ officer ■ at Auckland, said he had made temporary arrangements with the Salvation Army for the maintenance of the accused and her children. Accused gave witness to understand that the arrangement would suit her, but she did not say she was going to the home..," - .... ■ ■; Kate Brown, a housemaid, employed at the Hobson Hotel, said that: on the Bth j inst. Mrs. Smith came to the hotel and asked to be shown the " back way out." Accused went away, -and later on witness found' two children in a perambulator inside the house. The children were very hungry, and witness fed.them. The father of the children was also in the house, but he went away too. • . Sergeant E. Eales said he found the I children in the hotel in a .very hungry iand dirty condition. He had them rej moved to the Salvation Army Home for the , time being, and they had since been j committed to an industrial school.. \< 1 .Frederick V William Sims, father of the; children, said lie did not livo with his wife, "who '■■■ had maintenance orders taken • out against him for the support of herself and the children. .; On-June 8 witness met his wife in. the street and she asked' him ] to talk over the disposal' of -the children in | the hotel. .... While there, . she asked, him | to wait for a few minutes, but as she did j not return he went away, because he want-1 . ed to keep an appointment. He did not' think that his wife would desert the chil- ! , dren. * -' : .-: .',,■-..;■ I i f ln .reply to Mr. Kettle, Sims admitted | that he was in arrears at present. ~..;• ] ;' Mr. Kettle: This is one of the most : shocking cases I have ever heard. The evidence discloses an utter callousness and • a brutal treatment of poor, innocent children, ;. which can hardly be credited among '■ human beings. ■ ; j: The accused said that she/had pawned ;. her boots and clothes to buy food for the children, and had stuck to them as long as 'she could. ■ ' Mr. Kettle said that drink had been at the|bottom' of the whole trouble, and it was quite impossible for him to say where] the - faults lay. ." The accused ; had been I hawking the children about town for some i '■ weeks, and in a fit of desperation, being ■ without money, she threw the responsibility of her husband. Sims, in turn, got! ; up and walked away, leaving the children,! ; who were now, fortunately in an indue- ] trial school. In his opinion the law, was j [Inadequate- to, cope with these cases. He Would adjourn the case for a week, and | Would issue prohibition orders against the •husband and wife for 12 months. I ; , Mr. Kettle, cancelled all previous orders against Sims, rind made a new order of • lis per week against him, for the maintenance of the children. He also made an order of 5s per week against the accused for a similar purpose. ! THEFT FROM A SCOW. j i John Denney, % ~ Maori, and a youth. named Patrick Baker were charged with stealing from the scow Surprise a coil of rope, valued at £3, the property of Robert Henry CI iff Sergeant Hendry prosecuted and the accused were undefended. -Denney pleaded guilty and Baker, not guiljy. The complainant, master of the Surprise, said that Denney was a seaman on the Surprise, and had -given witness a consider- . able amount ; of trouble at times. : ,'t; '':' % :- Arthur Stewart, a seaman belonging' to thej_ Surprise, said that on Saturday afternoon 1 last the! scow was lying at Hobsonstreet Wharf. Denney and Baker rowed up to the scow in a dingey, and in a few minutes a man on the scow called out to j witness that the lead line (meaning the; rope) was in the dingey. .: Witness at once secured the rope and put it in the locker. I Denney was not present when witness took the rope out of the dingey, but was on board the scow getting his clothes. Shortly after this Denney put his clothes into the boat, and. in company with Baker rowed away. Witness then looked into the locker, where "he had put the rope, and found that it had again been stolen. In reply to Baker, witness said that, he (Baker) did not leave the dingey. He also said that Baker remarked that he did not want to have anything to do with the rope. . ' ;/:-"■ ■' Two other witnesses gave similar evidence. .Constable J. Armstrong said that on the date in question he saw the;accused row from ! Hobson-street Wharf to a fishing i boat in Mechanics' Bay, where they put something aboard. ;■ The accused then came j ashore in the dingey, and in replv to wit-1 ness they said they had come ashore for beer. They also said that they did not know anything about the rope. ; Later on! Denney said,he stole the rope, and would plead guilty to the charge. He also said I that Baker did not have anything to do , with, the theft. Baker told'witness that j he rowed Denney over to the scow to get! his (Denney's) clothes, and did not knowi that the rope was in the sack. j - Mr. Kettle said he would give Baker the J benefit ,of j the doubt, and dismissed the! information against him. . Denny, who.i said he was drunk and did' not : know! what he was doing, was sentenced to three months' imprisonment. CHARGE OF OBSTRUCTING THE ' . STREET. - Robert and James Blaikie were charged with wilfully obstructing Queen-street on June 6. '■■ Sergeant Hendry prosecuted, and Mr. W. E. Hackett defended. Sergeant McPhee said that on the after- : noon of the date in question he saw about 30 people standing in Queen-street, near Coombes' Arcade, among them being the defendants. They remained there for five minutes, and when they saw witness walked away. He did not speak to them. Witness also saw one or two men tearing up some paper, which looked like -race tickets. ~ ... To Mr. Hackett: The defendants were not standing on the footpath. He considered they were responsible for the crowd collecting on the footpath. Robert Blaikie, on oath, said that on the date in question he was standing in Queen-street waiting for a tramcar, in company with his son (the other defendant), and while there a Mr. Churton came up and spoke to witness. There was a crowd of people standing in the street' when witness came out of his office in Coombes' Arcade. - To Mr. Kettle: A little bit of betting was done "on the quiet" in Queen-street. He had no desire to produce his betting books. He was not responsible for the crowd collecting in Queen-street. .•; James Blaikie and John Churton gave similar evidence. ,'' Mr. Kettle said there was no evidence to show that the defendants had made any bets in the street. He could not say that what they had stated was untrue. The case was different from the one decided by Mr. Dyer, S.M., whose decision was appealed against and upheld by Mr. Justice Edwards. He would dismiss" the 'information. ',; ; : - John Churton was. "then similarly charged, and pleaded not guilty. Sergeant Hendry- said that the evidence against Churton was. the same as that given against the previous defendants. Mr. Kettle accordingly dismissed the case. : ; .',;. ;;' A STRANGE CASE. ■ ■ , ' On the application of his father (William Dumper), Charles Edward Dumper was bound over to keep the peace for 12 months, in his own bond of £20 and two sureties of £10 each. The complainant stated that his son had often annoyed him. Defendant said that the trouble arose through his father refusing to have a bath.

| MISCELLANEOUS. Ethel McGilligan, a young woman, for whom Mr. W. E. Hackett appeared, pleaded guilty to being a rogue and a vagabond, having "insufficient lawful means of support. Mr. Hackett said that the accused was prepared to go to a home, and Mr. Kettle remanded her for a week in order to see what could be done for her in the meantime. '-..'■: " ' I The case in which Ronald and Leonard Morrison were charged with assaulting j Victor and Elizabeth Carlson on June 9 was again called upon. Mr. W. E. Hackett appealed for the defendants. Sergeant Hendry said he had been informed that the* complainants had left the colony, and he therefore could not offer any further evidence at present. Mr. Kettle accordingly dismissed the informations against the defendants without prejudice. , v;- " ■! ;, " i Four first offenders were each fined 5s land costs, or in default 24 ' hours' imprisonment, for drunkenness. Two others,! who did not appear, were ordered to > for-! feit the amount of bail (£1), .and another! j (an elderly, woman) was . convicted and discharged. ,' .... ; i

j OXEHUNGA POLICE COURT." J A short sitting of the Onchunga Police Court was held yesterday morning, when Messrs. John Rowe- and John Stoupe, J.P.s.. presided. Sergeant Twoiney represented the police. Robert '-Garry alias Graj-don Garr. was arraigned for travelling between I New Plymouth and Onehunga without payj ing his fare. Garr pleaded guilty. The I police: report showed that accused'had been previously.convicted.for a similar offence, whereupon the Bench inflicted a fine of £2, and ordered Garr to pay £1 Is, the amount lof the fare, in default '2B days' imprisonment; ~. ';,: . ,' ' . • -V , ■■