LATE COURT NEWS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1290, 19 November 1896, Page 18

LATE COURT NEWS.

The Criminal Sessions were continued on Tuesday before Mis Honor the Chief J ust ice. HOUSE STEALING. Robert Henry Crocker and Harold Heath, who pleaded not guilty on Monday to a charge of horse-stealing, altered their plea yesterday morning to guilty, and were sentenced to 15 months’ imprisonment with hard labour. BIGAMY. Stephen Cosher pleaded guilty to the charges of bigamy and theft, and was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment with hard labour on each charge, the sentences to be concurrent. ASSAULT AND ROBBERY. Thomas Curtis, Walter Curtis and James Mitchell, who had been found guilty of assaulting and robbing Henry Levy, were each sentenced to two years’ imprisonment with hard labour. INDECENT ASSAULT. Robert Martin Kirk, an elderly man, was placed in the dock and charged with having indecently assaulted Sarah Moxham, aged 13, on August 24th. Mr Wilford appeared on behalf of the accused, who pleaded not guilty. From the evidence it appeared that the complainant went to the shop of accused, a bootmaker, to get a pair of boots that had been left to be repaired, when accused pulled down the blinds and assaulted her.

Mr Wilford, for the defence, contended that no evidence of assault had been disclosed, but that the man had simply taken the child's bag of school books as security that the money for the boots should be paid. The jury retired and returned at 4.20 p.m., after a deliberation of three hours’ with a verdict of guilty. The accused was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment with hard labour.