POWELKA SENTENCED.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 14391, 9 June 1910, Page 6

POWELKA SENTENCED.

TWENTY-ONE YEARS IN GAOL.' PRISONER, DOWN. : CARRIED FROM THE COURT.' ; [BY TELEGRAPH. association. Palmebston North, Wednesday. The final scene. in the long rial of Joseph John Poweika, took place at the Supreme Court yesterday when the prisoner was brought before His Honor Mr. Justice Cooper for sentence on the various crimes to which he had 'pleaded guilty and of which ho had been found guilty. The Court was crowded, and Poweika, who had shaved off his moustache, was looking particularly smart and youthful. Mr. C. A. Loughnan appeared as Crown Prosecutor. As the long list of crimes on which he was to be sentenced was read over to him by the clerk of the Court, the prisoner showed considerable emotion. When asked if he had anything to say why sentence should not be passed upon him Poweika said : "I am very sorry for the offences I have committed, and on which I have been found guilty. I only hope that you will be as lenient as, possible as I, had to com-', mit a lot of the offences to keep life in me while I was out. I might also say that although I pleaded guilty to stealing that furniture I no more stole it than you did. Your Honor." His Honor : "Then why did you plead guilty Prisoner : "There was no other way out of it. The man from whom I bought the furniture in the first place couldn't be found, and the receipts that he had given me couldn't, be found either. ~ It was my misfortune and to plead guilty was the only way out of it." At this stage Powelka broke down, and His Honor ordered that a glass of water be given to him. This revived him somewhat, and he continued as follows :— " I wish you would not be hard on me, Your Honor. I have had a pretty rough time since I was a boy of 13, and have been battling over since. I have lost everything now and I can only ask Your Honor to be as lenient as possible in connection with the murder charge that has been brought against me." •> His Honor : "You have been acquitted of that charge." Prisoner : "Yes, Your Honor, but it appears that it is only a half acquittal. I have heard a lot about it since, and it seems as if I were still guilty. I would like to swear on oath here that I never did it. I would sooner hang than be thought to have committed murder." ' The prisoner's face was now working convulsively, and he seemed incapable of further speech. " ' _ _■ In addressing the prisoner, His Honor said : "It is painful to have to sentence a young man in reference to a series of very serious crimes. *I have to do my duty, however, and I have to protect the public against such offences as ydu have committed. It may be that your early life, might have had something to do with your lapse into crime." You have certainly during the past 12 months committed as many crimes as the ordinary criminal commits in the course of his lifetime. You commenced your career of • crime in November last with the theft of a bicycle, to which you pleaded guilty. \ You followed up that offence by further offences of the most serious description, including breaking and entering' and stealing goods from the homes of various residents in this district. You have pleaded guilty' to •no less than seven charges between December of last year and January of this year. . ■-'"■ " ',• ."''- ~... „". "On March 12 you escaped from custody, and then another series of offences were committed by you to which you have pleaded "guilty, namely, five charges of-, breaking and entering and theft. You have also been found guilty of arson. "I have a report before me to the effect that you have an ill-balanced mind, and it must be so. I find that prior to your present series of offences you were convicted of attempted suicide. I have to protect the public, and I have also to protect you against yourself, so the sentence must be of such a nature that will ensure the public against your committing any further offences. " I shall sentence you on the charges of breaking and entering which were committed prior to your escape from custody to .seven years' hard labour." Prisoner here collapsed in the box. "For the theft of the bicycle two years' hard labour, the sentences to be concurrent. "For escaping from gaol at Palmerston, two years' hard labour. For the breaking and entering offences since your escape from Wellington gaol, seven years' hard labour; the sentences to be concurrent with each other, and cumulative with the first series. "On the charge of arson, seven years' hard labour, to take effect at the expiration of,the two previous series of sentences." His Honor added that he proposed, subject to the ruling of the Court of Appeal, to declare the accused an habitual criminal. The prisoner was in a state of complete! collapse at the conclusion of the pronouncement of sentence, and had to be half carried from the Court, where there-was a considerable sensation. •