CRIMINAL SESSIONS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17546, 11 August 1920, Page 8

CRIMINAL SESSIONS.

FIGHT IN FLAX CAMP, -f ■ MAN STABBED IN BACK. ACQUITTAL OS ACCUSED. A stabbing affray in a flax -cutter's camp at Thornton, near Whakatane, resulted in the appearance before Mr. Jus* tice Stringer, in the Supreme Court yesterday, of Patrick Lally (Mr. A. Moody), on a charge of assault, causing actual bodily harm. The Hon? J. A. Tole, K.G, in opening the- case for the Crown, said the accused ■ was a flaopcutter, living in a camp at '< Thornton. . On Sunday, June 13, he went to visit another flax-cutter, named Cameron, at a neighbouring camp. During the afternoon the two men came to a satisfactory agreement regarding a flax-cutting contract, and the accused stayed to tea. During the evening a quantity of whisky was consumed by all the men in the tent, and at about nine o'clock an altercation, which led to a fight, arose. Cameron ' suddenly cried out that he was stabbed, and his wounds were seen, but the actual i stabbing was not Observed. The injured I man was removed by motor-car to the Whakatane Hospital, where he was detained Jtat treatment for three weeks. When interviewed by the police the ' accused said he was drunk at the time I and remembered nothing. The questions to be decided by the jury were, whether the prisoner stabbed Cameron, and, if so, was he in such a condition as to be incapable of comprehending the seriousness I of his action ? I Alexander Cameron gave evidence that I at about nine o'clock, when all the party were under the influence of whisky, an argument arose. Witness came to grips with a man called Andrews, who threw him face downwards on the floor. While in that position the accused stood over him with a knife and dealt him two blows in the back. Thomas Holt stated that when Andrews threw Cameron on the floor he picked him up. He saw the accused make two circular movements of his arm round Cameron. He subsequently saw the accused with a knife in his hand. Mr. Moody : But how could Cameron have been stabbed then, if you were lifting him and shielding him with your body ? Further pressed, the witness said he did not see the accused holding a knife. Other witnesses stated that the party of ' five men were very drunk and a ". general I mix up" occurred." [ Medical evidence was given to the effect i that Cameron sustained two wounds in his back, one 2in and one 4in deep, which could have been caused by a sheath knife. There were two, scratches on his chest. His_ Honor, in summing up, said only two facts had been clearly proved. One that all the men were more or less drunk and the other that Cameron received two stabs. In his opinion, as the men were mad drunk and fighting in a dimly lit tent, the wounds might have been inflicted by anybody. In the circumstances ; there was not sufficient evidence to justify I a finding that the accused inflicted the ] wounds. , The jury, without retiring, returned a verdict of not guilty, and the accused was discharged. , KOT GUILTY OF ASSAULT. COMPLAINTS BY CHILDREN. Three charges of having committed indecent assaults upon girls under 10 years of age were made against Francis John Trevelyan (Mr. B. A. Singer). After hearing the evidence His Honor said the children's complaints and the .admissions made by the accused to the detectives were ambiguous, and it was for the jury to decide what interpretation to place on them. The jury returned a verdict of not guilty. (