THE CATHRO CASE.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXX, Issue 3785, 6 July 1899, Page 7

THE CATHRO CASE.

CHARGE AGAINST, A 'SOLICITOR

j THE SECOND TRIAL. 1 The second hearing of the charge against William Nichol Cathro, solicitor, of having on the, 4th February, misappropriated a sum of £1084,15. lOd,, belonging to' Air J. .tprior,-. solicitor,:, of, - in . w’hicli---,a,»former jury disagreed!,' was ■ begun, in i the- Supreme Court, yesterday morning before Mr ' J|Usticei Deriniston.- .y . . -I Mr ’A:. Gray ! prosecuted on behalf of the CrdWn, ' and '.Mr.'. T- M,‘ Wilford . defended the accused, • who pleaded - not guilty. ;. - , !- 7 - ! Mr John Thomas,<Sapsford .was fore-man-of the jury, i.) j-a-yv-i,,, • i 1 The particulars of -th'e’cose were fully ventilated in the “NeW-,Zealand Times” when the.. . case was pievionsly before the Court. ' Briefly, the case for the Crown was. tliat the..accused, as. managing clerk to Mr Prior, converted a cheque for £IOB4-; Is-IDd, which was to have been -paid to Messrs- Moorhouso and Hadfield. Solicitors; ef ' Wellington, oh acounfr of Afr W. P. Studholme, who Was receiving a loan bn’ mortgage from the Advances to Settlers, Department, Which Mr Prior represented'jit Feilding. j In opening the. ica.se; Air -Gray referred to ’the statement ■; recently mad© by the -apciised That on'the'Saturday- night he was' in Wellington; ho wat-walking oh ■the‘-footpath! about;’ fifty'yards' nin the. police station sriddypfi’.Sfc. George’s Hall when he was against the- hall a'‘.-mafl spoke, to him. He did not-remeiriber anything else until the following Sunday morning when he found himself lying bh a section opposite the Sunreirie'Court, the money, which was in’- the' inside ''breast pocket ©f his coat, haying 5 disappeared. MiGray said the Crown was now in a position to. absolutely dishrdvq that story, far from .heihgfui’We.llihgtoriV being rObhed about midnight,.-and endeavouring to -find -the ’money on-rthe 'Sunday morning, it could be proved that, Cathro returned to the • eburitry hv the 1.20 p.m, train on Saturday—the day on which begot the 'money.- - ’.He was back in Palmerston’Norllr On' .the’' Saturday .evening;-'- and. rims' met-hy; Ills' own trap and driven Qri the wav he gave a, lift..to,a Air Reid, another,, solicitor; . who Wind . been, umpiripg in a. ciTeket.,-match,.und who could .sWear Positively to,this;fact.: Tt would thus' ' he• , seen -that -Cathrc’s-storv wiis Wuifb .untrue. Wlmt/'he .did yyith the' iriopey. the Crowd did.'notj’ -know,. but they knew that he dispatched m telegram in his qvvn .handwriting,.from.'Feilding at 10,30 on the, Monday >morning, before tjie train-in which; ho;.says die travelled, had reached there.-

Seyeral fresh witnesses were examined by the Crown.; 1 a' 1 ' - - . ! J. H. ;Afartin ; . postmaster at Feilding, denosed that-. Cathro.had ■ presented -atelegram at Feilding at 10.30 a.m. on Alondav, 6th February. r j L. Woolcott, of the' “Evening Post” literary staff, produced his report 'of Cathro’s statement-in-The- previous trial, when the accused 'described how he was robbed in /Wellington: on .-therynight - ofSaturday, the Hh Fobruary.' ~ ■ ’ L. E-. ’Reade, - Solicitor'3 rdf 5 Feilding, stated that on Saturday," the’4th February.- be was, mnpiririg'in a cricket’match at Palmerston. Qn It is’way homo a settler , named Power...haying given him a ride for portion; of,,the‘journey); when about- three milesvfrom Feilding'; he was overtaken by, a trap.- He recognised tlie trap, and colled out Is ’ that you, Cathro ?” ‘ arid the reply ' came. “ Yes who is it?”’ To Air Wilford: He admitted that Cathro wasva : .cleypr -man:,. Ho denied that he had-iever;sanl)th(£fc:thtrq, was one, thing about the "case, “it woiiid’ put Cathro out of the road.”

John Power, settler, corroborated the statement made by the pre'-vs wtness as to the cricket mutch, and giving him a " lift ” on the Fei'ding road

Counsel having addressed -he ;urv, his Honor summed up. He said iramdy he was at a loss to know wh..‘ Ho defence was. It was the duty of Ihe :0.--ii-fu to satisfy them as to what he had done with the money, and, so far as he bis Honor) could ascertain, he had not mauc tne slightest attempt to account for it. The only way in which he had attempted to account for it was by what had practically been admitted to be a deliberate lie anil a perjury. There were cases in winch it was the duty of the Judge to spoilt out plainly, and this was- cue of them. Absolutely no defence had been put before the jury. The jury retired at 4.30 p.m. - • '

• On returning into Court at 8.30, the -.foreman, announced that the fury had failed to agree, and that there was not the slightest possibility of them doing so. His Honor; I really don’t fee' justified in discharging you,, for it seems to m ! e that the circumstances' of this- case 'aie such as deserve full -inquiry at vour bands. Ido not know whether in me comparatively slicrfc time you have adjourned in a ease of this value, you have been able to give it fulH'consideratinn, and perhaps a still further retirement will lead to prospects of an agreement. The Foreman: There is no probability that this jury will arrive at a verdict at all. ' ' His Honor: You are aware, gentlemen. that it is competent to me, -in a case where he jury have acted under an impression that they can by giving comparatively short attention dispose of a case, to keep you together for a longer tfrm. In view of possible potenliiilities in this- case I don’t .care to say any more than I have said already. However (after a pause), in view of- the very strong expression of opinion by the foreman,'!’don’t see that the country'would gain by 'further detention. There is another charge, I believe, Mr Gray? ■Mr Gray ; Yes, your Honor. I would ask that an order lie made for a new trial to take place at a later date, when a fresh panel will be made. Mr Wllford asked that the trial should take place as soon as possible, and suggested that, the Court mi°-ht In* adjourned till the 17th, instead of keeping ithe prisoner until next sittings at the end of August. , His Honor did not see any reason why a-special sitting cf the Court should he held in order to try the prisoner. After discussion, however, he undertook «.o consult with the Chief Justice and Mr Justice Edwards as to whether it was necessary to hold a special sitting. ' The matter Will" he mentioned again on the-17th inst. • Thejnrvwere accord - ingly discharged from attendance m criminal cases.