POLICE COURT NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13839, 27 August 1908, Page 7

POLICE COURT NEWS.

SHOP AND FACTORY CASES. Before Mr. C. C. Kettle, S.M., at she | Police Court .yesterday, Frederick Mayne, j a grocer, who was represented by Mr. j Brookfield, was charged wish failing to close his shop at one 6'dock on the after- i noon of. July 13. Mr. Shanaghan, inapector of factories at Auckland, appeared for the prosecution, and Mr. Brookfield en- j tered a plea of guilty. i Mr. Shanaghan explained that on the | day in quest ion the defendant closed the j front door of his premises, hut continued { carrying on business through the hack. ! Questioned by Mr, Kettle as to the tea- i son for this, Mr. Shanaghan stated that f the defendant had explained to another { officer that ho was being continually pes- J tered.. by customers on half -holidays. Mr. Kettle: Why not prosecute them for aiding and abetting? Mr. Shanaghan : We cannot do so under the Shops and Offices Ait. '. Mr. Kettle: But you can under section i 49 of the Justices of the Peace Act. It does not seem generally known that pro- j pie can be punished for inducing others i to break the law. • His Worship said that the defendant j had committed a deliberate breach of the. j Act, and he would be fined £5 and cost;;, j Albert. Crumble, manages- of the Now i Zealand Brick, Tile, .and Pottery Com- j pany's factory at New Lynn, was charged, j on the information of Mr. Shanaghan, j with employing a. boy tinder the age of l 16 years without the latter first having : obtained a certificate of fitness from the , inspector of factories. The boy father ■ (James Alexander), who is also engaged at J the pottery works, was charged with id- | lowing his son to be employed without J his having obtained the necessary certifi- j cate. I

Until defendants admitted a broach, the former saying that it was an oversight, as the lad had been simply transferred from the store at the pottery works (where it was not necessary to have a certificate) to a higher branch, where a certificate was required. The lather stated that he was quite ignorant of the law. His Worship said that he would accept the defendants' statements, but as a breach had been committed he would fine Crumble lGs, and Alexander ss, without costs, Thomas Hoskins, an elderly man, was fined £1, and costs 7s, for failing to close his hairdressing saloon at ten clock on the evening of July 18. Joseph Whitefield, tobacconist, who had failed to close his shop at nine o'clock on the evening of July 28, was also finer! £1 rind costs, on the information of Mr. Sha> naghan.

WHO LEFT THE CANDLE? William Wright, a . sturdily-built bluejacket, was charged with having stolen a silver watch, gold chain, silver sovereigncase, several other small articles, and £3 in money, to the total value of £14, the property of W. H. Atkin, and :dso 10s in money, the property of Muriel Phillips. Mr. W. E. Hackett appeared for the liccused, and Detective P. T. McMahon prosecuted. The evidence for the prosecution went to show that the .accused entered the Waverley Hotel on the evening of August 5 about 11 o'clock, and was given a bed. Atkin, who was also staying at the hotel, saw a sailor in his room" some time afterwards, with a lighted candle, and the latter when questioned left the room, leaving the candle behind him. Atkin then got up and locked the door, and when he rose in the morning ho found that his clothes had been rifled. . About the same time in the evening a barmaid (Miss Phillips) ; noticed a. sailor enter her room, and when spoken to he left hurriedly. The following day she missed 10s. In the morning the porter woke the accused up, and found that his candle was missing. The prosecution alleged that,the sailor referred to was Wright. Accused was arrested on .board the Powerful, and when searched none of the missing articles were found on him. -~, .■, , Wright denied the charge. He stated that he was a fully-qualified signaller, and had been in the navy for nine years, having joined when tie. was 17. His conduct and leave certificates (produced by an officer) were both first-class. On August 5 lie came ashore at one o'clock, and was expected to return to his ship at eleven o'clock. During the afternoon and evening he partook of more drinks that he should have, and Tie remembered going down to the wharf at 1.0.30. There he commenced "sky-larking" with some mates, with the result that he missed his launch. In his pocket he carried a flask of brandy, and after partaking of this lie recollected nothing until he was awakened in the hotel the following morning. In giving his decision Mr. Kettle said that he did not consider any jury would convict on the evidence—in fact he doubted if it. would even raise a suspicion in their minds. On the point of identification it was extremely weak. "I do not, and cannot believe that accused committed the robbery," said Mr. Kettle. Wright was thereupon discharged.

"UNPROVOKED AND BRUTAL." A middle-aged man, of email stature, named George Stephens, a cripple, who was not represented by counsel, was charged with assaulting John McDonnell on August 15, so as to cause him actual bodily harm. Sergeant Hendry conducted the case for the prosecution. The evidence went to show that McDonnell, a City Council, employee, was standing in Elliott-street on the night of August 15, when accused struck him in the face with a beer bottle, inflicting a severe injury to his'nose. Sergeant Ramsay, who happened to be in the vicinity, stated that Stephens when arrested, a few minutes' after the occurrence, was "perfectly sober." Accused, who said that he was a labourer and had recently come to Auckland from Mokau, stated that he struck McConnell because he thought the latter was going to interfere with him. His Worship said that the assault was unprovoked and brutal. He thought, however, that Stephens had acted as he had done on the spur of the moment, as he anticipated that McConnell would molest him. Accused would be fined £5, and Court and medical costs, one half of the fine to go to McConnell, Stephens was-. allowed time in which to pay. STOLEN SACKS. John Richard James,, an elderly man, pleaded guilty to stealing 13 sacks," valued at 6s 6d, from Wm. Parsons and Sons' stable at Devon port,, where he was employed as a groom, on Tuesday evening.' Accused was remanded until Saturday "for the probation officer's report. ALLEGED FURIOUS DRIVING. As a sequel to a collision between ■■& tramcar and a cart driven by .a young man named Martin Choree, an employee of. the Wai Wat Aerated" Water Company, on the Remuera Road:! on F; July - 22, the driver of the car (Motorman Hugh Fairer) yesterday appeared on the information of Sergeant McPbee, of Newmarket, charged with furious driving; Dr. Bam ford appeared for the defendant, and after Choyce had given evidence Mr. Meddings, inspector of telegraphs, was called for- the defence, as be could not attend the Court another day. Mr. Mtddings, after giving Ins veri sion of the accident, slid that ho frequent! v journeyed into town from Remuera i by the defendant's cur, and had been impressed with the capable and' obliging manner in which Fairer carried :•; out : his duties. The case.wa* then adjourned until to-morrow morning. - > ;-'; «' T

MISCELLANEOUS. . On the information of Mr. Alder, in- ; j spei-tor to the Society tor the '■Prevention' of Cruelty to Animals, Albert Hoye »as fined 20s" and costs for working & horse with core shoulders. William Laing Dean,, a 'middle-aged man, 'was fined 5s and cost* on a- charge of drunkenness, and- a prohibit ion urdt-r was also issued against hint. ■ ■■: ■-; , ■ " - ■ ) ,'■.:.' ■;: ■'■■.■ , '.'^ l V'v;;^iis:'jHf^-M^®t^i^;^^S^