CRIMINAL SESSIONS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19040, 10 June 1925, Page 12

CRIMINAL SESSIONS.

HAMILTON SUPREME COURT. SENTENCES OF "PRISONERS. TWO SUCCESSFUL DEFENCES. 1 t / [by TELEGRAPH. —OWN CORRESPONDENT.] HAMILTON. Tuesday. The Hamilton sessions of the Supreme Court opened to-day before Mr. Justice Herdman, who remarked on the light nature of the criminal calendar. The Grand Jury returned "no bill" in tho case iu which a youth, Bernard Roy Dudley, was charged with arson. Several prisoners who had pleaded guilty to various offences appeared for sentence. A young Maori, Charles Tuhi, had nothing to say concerning his admission of the theft of a horse from John Oliver, of Cambridge. His Honor stressed tho seriousness of tho offenco and said tho probation officer's report was far from satisfactory, while even the natives could not give a good word for accused. Prisoner would be sentenced to a period of reformative detention not exceeding 12 months. Reginald Sumner (Mr. W. J. lung) appeared on five charges of breaking and entering and theft of £2 at the premises of D. McL. Wallace, Matamata, and one of breaking and entering with intent to commit crime. His Honor said Sumner had pleaded guilty to the offences, but had been given an excellent character by the police prior to the offences. He would be admitted to probation for a period of two years. In addition to the statutory conditions he would be ordered to pay £1 lis costs of prosecution and to abstain from entering billiard salloons during the term. Jn asking for leniency in tho case of Joseph Wilson, a young man charged with breaking and entering arid theft (£l4 8s) from the promises of W. W. MacFerson, at Manunui. Mr. J. F. Strang said it would appear from the depositions thai, tho offence wa3 duo to drink. Accused had attempted to throw away tho stolon property, and therefore had obviously no premeditated intention ol: profiting by his crime. Counsel suggested that a period of detention on Palcatoa Island would be in the interests of justice, as to associato the accused with criminals would tend to mako him a criminal, while at present he was only foolish. His Honor said he could not see his way to granting probation as accused had been before the Court previously, although his .previous offences had not actually involved dishonesty. Tho accused's own statements showed that he must have had all his faculties about him when ho broke into tho premises. As lie was only 24 years of ago His Honor was a verso to sentencing him to a term of hard labour, and would impose a term of two years' reformative detention. Woman Found Not Guilty. A middle-aged woman, "Elizabeth Mayor (Mr. Tomkins), was found not guilty on a charge of obtaining boy's clothing to tho value of £ll by false pretences. Tho allegation was that a clothier, L. Jackson, sent goods to her son, on probation at Onewnero, on representations by. accused that she had access to the boy's banking account. Tho accused was stood down for sentence on further charges of obtaining furniture, to the value of £B9 from JBelz, a second-hand dealer, to which she had entered pleas of guilty. The caso in wlich an aged man, P. Clancy, is alleged to have stolen a watch, gold chain and sovereign caso, from James Dalton while the latter was asleep on the Frankton railway station, resulted in a disagreement of the jury. Mr. Gillies applied for a retrial. Mr. Seymour, for the accused, Said it was impossible for the man to:.find bail and ■ His Honor remanded Clancy to appear on Monday, whcn.it would he decided if it was possible to conclude the Case this session. Fraud Charge Fails.

James Trevatlion Thomas (Mr. D. Seymour), was retried on a charge of obtaining credit by. fraud to the extent of £6 by means of a valueless' cheque. The charge arose , out of circumstances in which three men, all of whom had been drinking, tendered a cheque at Morrinsville as taxi-fare, Mr,. Seymour, for the accused, ■ addressing the jury, said it was extremely questionable whether accused was aware that the act of giving the chequo was fraudulent. • The defence was that one of the men had made preparations for a similar offence, even going to the length of stealing his father's- chequebook for the purpose. This man, upon whose evidence tho case against Thomas mainly rested, had already been convicted of the same offence arising oat of the same circumstances. As far as accused was concerned there was no evidence to show that his action was premeditated, while he had no reason to believe that the'other man was anything but honest. His Honor said all the evidence tended to show that' accused played a leading part. After a brief retirement tho jury returned a verdict of not guilty and Thomas was discharged.

• THE BLENHEIM SITTINGS. i MAN PLACED ON PROBATION. [BY; TELEGRAPH.- —PRESS ASSOCIATION.] BLENHEIM. Tuesday. In the Supreme Court, before _Mr. Justice Alpers, a young man, David Henry Henderson, was found guilty of carnal knowledge of a girl under'l6. Evidenco showed that the girl was of loose moral character, and His Honor, taking all the circumstances into consideration, said the ends of justice would be met by putting accused on probation for t\vo years and ordering him to pay the costs of the prosecution. Alfred James Desmond Mitchell, for carnal knowledge in respect of the same girl, wa3 found not guilty.