BETTING PROSECUTIONS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 14972, 20 April 1912, Page 8

BETTING PROSECUTIONS.

SEVERAL MORE CONVICTIONS. LENIENCY IN RYAN'S CASE. The hearing of the case in which John Thomas Ryan, a billiard saloon-keeper, was Charged with keeping a. common, gaming house, was continued before Mr. F. Y. Fraser, S.M., at the Police Court yesterday. , Evidence was taken regarding two bets alleged to have been made with the accused by an ex-member of the police force. It was alleged that he made two bets with Ryan, of £1 each, one on Antoinette and one on Prince , Soult, on April 6. .... Witness stated'that Ryan made ho hesitation in taking the bets. He had known tho billiard saloon for some time, and it *w a meeting place. for. bookmakers and :■ racing men. Ryan could not help knowing that bets were mode there.

. By Mr. Hackatt i He had made , the bets at the instigation of the inspector of police. Ho did not expect any reward for doing £o. He did it for the good of the city. He admitted he was employed on the totalisator at Ellerslie.

Corroborative evidence waealso given.. In referring to certain legal points which had cropped up ' during tho am, His Worship said that, although a" gaining house was not necessarily a betting house, ho was satisfied thai in certain cdrcum* stances it might* bo a betting house. There was no provision that betting papers, double ©vent cards, etc., were evidence. The finding <*f these betting impedimenta ,on the persons of 'the, people arrested in the house could not therefore be admitted «a evidence. If any papers were found on (he ■ person of accused, however, they would constitute evidence. Letters and telegrams in reference to bet. ting matters, and addressed to Accused, might be admitted as evidence. \ ?• < Mr. Haokett, who appeared for tho defence, pointed out that a betting house was a placo where a large number of people met for the purpose of transacting bets. In this Cftae one of the, witnesses had been watching the house for a'long period, and yet only had evidence of one instance in which a bet had beenmade. He intended to «ho\T that the £2 which Ryan had taken on that occasion he had put on the totalisator at EUerslio. and had subsequently paid the witness lis as dividend. '

Rywi, in giving evidence, stated that he took the billiard, saloon in Vulcan Lane in / November last. It was ft jplaco in which racing men web in the habit of congregating. He thought that Vulcan Lano was recognised as the centre of the sporting activities in Auckland. Examined as to the bet he was alleged to have made, he stated that the money 'had been given to him to put on the totalLsator; he had done so, and had subsequently lis, the dividend he had received. The magistrate, in summing up, said he had no doubt that Ryan was guilty, but it was a ens© in which he was disposed to leniency, as he understood that tho accused had a wife and a large family dependent on him. Inspector Hendrey stated that the place had been "a perfect hell," but that ho did n°f> know anything to th© detriment of Ryan's character as a man. He bad no doubt that Ryan's license to keep the billiard room would be ' taken away from him. - *•-"... •: | j • J Hi* Worship imposed a fine of £50, and granted three months' in which to pav it. He added that he did not consider liyon any less guilty than any of the other principal concerned in the betting raids, but that, owing to tho circumstances of the case, he had lightened the punishment somewhat,

Charles D'Arcy and Frederick Williams, who pleaded guilty to having made bets wore frach fined £25, with coats, In tonncotion With the cases in which ha had allowed post# against the police, His Worship remarked that he did not wish it to be _ thought that he considered ..that - the police had exoeaded their duty in bringing before him thosvi caw which had tan dismissed. The police could not avoid sirresting every person found in a betting house. He intended to recommend that in all cases in which costs had been granted against the police, they should be paid out of the . Consolidated Fund. Cha?. Swanson, an elderly man, who was charged with' being on the premises in the British Buildings for the purpose of betting, vehemently denied the charges against him. He alleged that -while, ha and a, mend wero walking along, hia friend went up some steps and told him to wait. He, waited 10 minutes,* and then went up, too, He saw a door half open and poem in; two men grabbed him by the shoulder, and drew him into the room. Ho saw soma men going through people's pockets. He thought they were pickpockets, but afterwards found that thoy were policemen in plain clothes. Notwithstanding his protests, he was convicted and fined 431. _ Two other men, A. Wjikemnn and If. Taff, were' each fined £1 for. being in a common gaming; house.