POLICE COURT NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18395, 10 May 1923, Page 5

POLICE COURT NEWS.

DISTURBANCE IN A HOUSE.

YOUNG MAN IMPRISONED.

A disturbance Jin a house at"* New North Road one evening recently resulted in a young man, John O'Shea ,- (Mr. Mouat), . appearing in the Police Court yesterday, before Mr. J. ;W. t Poynton, S.M., on five separate charges. He was alleged to have assaulted his mother. Emily O'Shea, used obscene language, -wilfully. damaged • two panes of glass, assaulted Constable Taylor while in the execution -of his duty, and resisted Constable Taylor. Accused pleaded . not guilty. v.:'-,. ■'' ' ' Sergeant Rowell said', he was called to the house about 7 : p.m. Constable Taylor 'was already there, and: accused, his wife , and his mother were alsopresent; The front door was smashed, glass was all. over the place, , and the house - was in a state of disorder. - Accused was then <juiet, although intoxicated, but it was impossible for him to stay in the house for the night. His mother ; gave him in charge. . Accused, ' when ; asked . quietly, refused to go with {witness, to , whom he seemed to be temporarily insane. He then. fought very strongly ■ against being handcuffed; ■He kicked Constable Taylor in V the ?abdomen, " and had "to bo ' kept down until a taxi arrived. All sorts of violent language ' were used by : accused in the house and on the verandah, while outside a crowd of 30 to 50 people had gathered. To all intents and purposes, he was, a madman. His mother said, "It is either he or I. If he does not go, I will have to walk the streets tonight." ; •Emily O'Shea said her son came home with: a: friend to whom she objected. Accused seemed determined to have fried onions for his tea. > She became frightened at his threatening attitude toward her, and •, ran out of the house. He did not actually hit her. \ ; The wife of accused said she. did riot hear the door smashed, or any bad language. She did not see him assault the policeman. . " '.. ' ■"."* - , - The magistrate imposed a; sentence of 14 . days' • imprisonment on each of the charges of assault and language, : the terms to be concurrent. On the other three charges, accused was convicted and discharged. Accused had two previous convictions. ' SENTENCED FOR THEFT. - « ' A Maori, Wi Pon, aged 23 (Mr. Wallace), pleaded guilty to a -charge of having stolen a coat, a pair of trousers, a belt, and a pair of boots, of a total value of £14 12s 6d. It was stated that accused, who had only just \ come from Rotorua, had been drinking heavily. He was befriended by some man, from whom he stole the articles. Counsel 1 emphasised the fact that accused was under the influence of liquor at the time, while he had given the police every assistance since. Accused, -who had a list of 16 previous i convictions, was sentenced to one month's imprisonment, to bo followed by not more than two years' reformative treatment. • The magistrate remarked the man had to be kept under control, as ho was preying on society. ALLEGED OPIUM OFFENCE. Two Chinese, Ah Chew and Ming Yui (Mr. Tong), of ' Yelverton Terrace, appeared on : a charge of having been unlawfully in possession of opium in a form which was; suitable for smoking or which could be made suitable for smoking. The information was brought by the collector of customs. Both : defendants were remanded for a week. ASSAULT IN THE STREET. The assault of Arthur Dowd. by striking him in the face with his-clenched fist was the charge against Thomas Edward Burgoyne, aged 21, who pleaded guilty. The circumstances were that Dowd was found lying in a dazed state on the footpath outside the Sailors' Home. One man present said Dowd had been knocked down because he had stolen £2. Accused then came along and said he had knocked Dowd down because he had stolen £2 from him. It was stated that Dowd was at present waiting dismissal from the naval service for suspicion of stealing. Accused was convicted and discharged. ROGUE AND VAGABOND. A charge of being a rogue anr 1 -k 3 bond was made against Charles Franks, ged 44. He had been found sleeping in Albert Park and had told a constaOle he had no money, no friends, and nowhere to go. He admitted two previous convictions for vagrancy. He was convicted and remanded for sentence till to-morrow to allow inquiries to be made. BY-LAW CASES DISMISSED. The ; driver of a horse-lorry, Hainsby Paul, was charged with having failed no recognise the warning signal at the Breakwater Road railway crossing. The railway officials' evidence showed that a train which was about to pass had to stop, otherwise there would have_ been a collision. The defendant said he had stopped his horses, but his team was a young one and the horses, growing restive, jumped forward on to the line before he .could pull them back. The charge ; was dismissed. ; ' A charge of not having given a direc lion signal at a street intersection was made against a motorist, James Petrie i.tl.. Terry). The magistrate said per haps there had been a misunderstanding, and the charge was consequently - dismissed. , .