SUPREME COURT.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4441, 22 August 1901, Page 2

SUPREME COURT.

CRIMINAL SITTINGS. • The criminal sittings of the Supremo Court were continued yesterday, before the Chief Justice. HORSE-STEALING. A charge c.f horStoccalUig preferred against Charles Cockery was called on. hue accused anowexeU to bail, and pleaded not guilty. Mr jlyors prosecuted for the Crown, and Mr iiiilord appeared to defend. Mr F. J. iuchci was foreman of the. juryThe indictment charged the accused with stealing a marc, uj3 goods and chattels oi i.eopoid Henry Culliuson, at Palmerston -North, on tlis tilth February. and also with receiving the animal, knowing it to have been stolen. Mr M ilford objected to tho charge being heard before another against the accused which appeared on the calendar. His Honor said the Crown had a right to take the charges in the order winch it considered mere conducive to the administration of justice. Mr Wiiford said he had been told that t.ha other charge would bo taken first. He had bad only ten minutes’ notice of new evidence which was to be adduced lathe Crown in the charge now called on. Mr Myers said ho imormod Mr Wiiford of the new evidence as soon a.s posable. His Honor said that Mr Wiiford should have been ready to go on at any time after the true bill was found. Counsel saw his Honor in Chambers, after which the Court adjourned for half-an-hour. On resuming, Mr Wiiford asked leave, on behalf of the secured, to withdraw the plea of not guilty, and. institute one of guilty. Ill:, Honor: Does (he accused do so? The accused : I withdraw my plea, and plead guilty. The jury, by direction of his Honor, formally found a verdict of guilty, ac■ cording to the substituted pica. ills Honor; What about tho other case ? Mr Myers : I ask your Hnnqr lo let that stand over till to-raorroy morning. The accused was remanded till the following morning, to enable the Probation Officer to furnish a report. The accused was allowed bail, so that he might get witnesses on his own behalf as to efiaraettr. ASSAULT AND ROBBERY. Mr Wiiford asked 'his Honor to fix a time for the hearing of an application lo bo made under section 4.1 6 of (be Criminal Code Act, with roleronce to a jmscncr named Albert Watkins, who had been convicted at the current .sessions of assault and robbery at Palmerston North. Counsel asked whether evidence by affidavit would be accented in the matter. . His Honcr: Yos. But 1 don’t know how evidence by affidavit can help you. Mr Vvilfcnl said there would ba an application for leave to apply to the Court of Appeal for a now trial on the ground that the verdict was against the weight of evidence. His IlonoT said thsf so far as lie could se=, subject to anything that mm lit bo said by counsel, tho verdict was not against the weight of evidence. It war, the s ame ’verdict that he would have found himself. Ho had only to say whether he considered the case was one for argument. Mr Wiiford said the application was to be made on behalf of friends of the prisoner at Palmerston North. His Honor said lie would take the application on Monday. A KIT OF TOOLS.

Two young men named Edward Burrows and Thomas Ramsay were charged with being rogues and vagabonds. The accused pleaded nut guilty, and were defended by Mr Milford. Mr J. A. Ailander was foreman of the juryMr Myers said thus was Ihe first case of the kind, so far as he knew, that had come before the Supreme Court. Prior to 1900 cases of this description were invariably tried and disposed of in the Magistrate’s Court. But by ab Act of last session of Parliament it was provided that in any case where a person was liible on summary jurisdiction in the Magistrate’s Court to more than three months’ imprisonment he should have the right tp elect to be tried by a jury in the Supreme Court. The accused here elected to be tried by a jury. They were charged under the Police Offences Act. House-breaking implements were found in the possession of Ramsay, one of the accused. It was said that they were companions, and that the possession of one of them was t}ie possession of both. Counsel gave a description of a large collection of tools, instruments, utensils, a blow-pipe, fish-ing-lines, oil-cans, cloths, an ’ *e!ectirc lamp, etc., which were laid out on the bar table. He said it was possible that they were things that might be used in an honest way by a tradesman, but the Crown said that the accused did not have them for honest purposes.

Chief-Detective McGrath said the accused were arrested on the 6th of June. They had bank drafts and money in their possession. In Burrows’s bag was found a lamp, an electric battery, and a couple of dice. In the room occupied by Ramsay witness picked up a. hag of tools. _ Ramsay said they were his, and that he was an electrician. Witness said, “I see you have got a master-bit here. Ramsay made no reply. The tools now in Court were in Ramsay’s bag. Witness bad been twenty-four years in the police force. The master-bit produced was like others which he had seen. Its purpose was to open a lock when the key was on the other side. The rimer was used for enlarging holes, either in wood or in iron. The thread on the screw which passed through the master-bit corresponded with one of the dies on the die-plate. There were sufficient tools in the bag to hav 0 made one' of the instruments produced out of an ordinary pliers. It was evidently an ordinary pliers at first. There' were different saws, which would cut iron' or could be used for fret_work. There.- was a vice and also a pliers. By Mr Wilford: Witness would be surprised if he did not mention in the Magistrate’s Court his remark, “ I ,see you have got a master-hit here,” which he made to Ramsay. It was in his report on the case. In his note.book there was a record o| remark. That re-

cord was written after he got back to the police office. His Honor; That i.s bow it should be done. Witness paid the accused had been charged with a burglary at Lyttelton. The charge was dropped, because sufficient evidence could not b c got against them. The accused had been in gaol for over two months awaiting trial. During that time there bad been burglaries. There wore always imitators. Alfred S. Cederholin. electrician, said the tools produced, with the exception of (he ordinary pliers, did not form part of an electrician's hit. He had never before seen a tool like the one called a master-bit. The lamp could be used in connection with the storage battery. It would concentrate light on a particular spot, like a bull's-eye lantern. Its power was one and a half candle-power, but the reflector would make the light appear .stronger. t>y Mr Wilford : It would take about sis hours to charge the battery. He thought that with the instrument which Detective McGrath called n master-bit r, sufficient grip to turn a key could bo sreurod. It would be easier and handier to use an ordinary pliers to hold m etal for a blow-pipe. The tools could be U-ed by an electrical engineer. Constable Abbott said that when (he accused were arrested, Detective Mo.i Gralh said to one of them that it was’ peculiar that whenever they were in a town safe-robberies took place there. A reply was made that there was a robbery in Wellington at a time when they were not here. By Mr Wilfn-d : Witness was not called to give evidence in the Magistrate's

Mr Myers: It was not necessary. Thomas Tolley, locksmith, !o‘’kin<r sit the instrument called a master bit. said lie would call it a locksmith’s pliers. It was a dangerous instrument to have in one’s possession. The one produced bad taken a lot of trouble tn make. ll;e saws produced would cut the steel produced. The steel ends of the pliers seemed to have been made out of the pieces of steel that were cut off. A person who owned the tools produced could have made the pliers with them. By Mr Wiifurd : The instrument called a master-bit would readily open bedroom doom w,liioh were locked from the inside, by turning the keys from the outside. It showed signs of having been strained. Witness bad made rough instruments like it for use in life trade. The instrument would not bo used in connection with a blow-pipe for brazing. He had never heard it called a master bit. * By Mr Myers: Witness would not attach a r-crew to such an instrument. He used his locksmith's pliers when a door was blown to. It was admitted that the accused Lad been in Wellington before June, and on one occasion with a man who said he was Burrows’s brother. This was the case for the Crown. Burrows said his name was Edmondson. His step-father's name was Burrows. Witness was oorn in Norfolk in England. He met Kamsay on (he steamer Damascus, when coming from South Africa to New Zealand. Wit' ness had been to the four centres m this colony, not working, but attending races and doing a little hotting. His brother left Kamsay and himself in Auckland about four weeks before the arrest.

By his Honor: Witness had not been in America.

By Mr Myers: Ha was a miner by

occupation. Ho had spent Ilia greater part of his life in Australia. Ho was mining for years at Lambing Flat, near Yeung. Ho was iu South Afi'ca ju-c before he came to New Zealand. JB" had not been in England since be was a baby. He went from Australia to Capetown in the steamer Surrey about a year ago. He was in South Africa for about twelve weeks. Ho was about a month in Sydney before coming to Now Zealand. He came hero in the steamer Msraroa. Ho brought about £GO in gold here. He won and lost at different race meetings in this colony. When arrested ho had a draft for £6O and about £22 in casli in his possession. He had sent a draft for £25 to Australia. He attended races at the Hutt in March. At Christchurch he attendedtwo, trotting meetings. His net winnings at racas would bo about £6O. His expenditure in the colony for board and lodging would bo about £36. Mr Myers said there were races at the Hutt in April. Witness said those were the racoo which be attended. Ho did not know why Ramsay and himself oath had a draft for £OO obtained in the same place at different banks on the same day. Witness got the draft in the name of Edmondson so that there would be no trouble in Australia, where he went under the name of Edmondson. He d’ii ict know why Ramsay called himself lender. His name was Phillips. Witness saw the tools produced on his first visit to Wellington. The lamp was given to him by Ramsay. He saw the battery charged when he was iu Wol lington the first time. Ho believed it was charged in Sydney, where Ramsay got it. Witness had had an idea of engaging in mining or dredging in New Zealand.

Ramsay deposed that his proper name was Thoinas Phillips. Ho was born in New York, and went from there to Capetown. He was an electrician. Thwas apprenticed, and afterwards followed the trade. He had ten years’ experience at it in Capetown and other parts of South Africa. Ho left there because everything was at a standstill -n account of the war. The tools produced belonged to> witness. He got the instrument caller a master-bit from ana other electrician in Capetown. The steel was used for making magnets. He could use all the tools in his ordinary business. The reason of his changes of name was that there was a woman in the question. The lamp was useless, because the plates of the battery had j buckled, and they consequently leaked j By Mr Myers : He sent the draft in : the name of Phillips because he heard the woman had gone away from Sydney. His Honor; Then why did you change your name hero? .Witness said he was known in Sydney by the name °f Phillips. He had not done anv work since he was in Capetown. ' Ho made plenty of magnets there. He cut the steel produced for that purpose. The pliers which the police called a master-bit were used when bits and taps wore hems tempered by means of a blow-pipe, A rimer was sometimes used with a brace, hut mostly in a lathe. Mr Mvers : Did you lose a hraoe in Dunedin ? Witness; Not that I am aware of. He had not lost a brace in New Zealand. He came to this colony with the object of starting in business if he saw an opening. He decided to go hack to South Africa, and took out drafts for Sydney, where he would gat a steamer for Capetown. He brought, £IOO in gold to New Zealand. He was not compelled to send it by draft. He got drafts on Sydney because he preferred’ to do so —because it was safer. He sold part of his electrician’s kit before he left South Africa. It would need a current of the strength of about twenty-five volts to charge the battery. A stronger current would buckle the plates.

By Mr Wilford: Ho disagreed with Mr Ccdcrholm when he said the battery could bo charged from a Leclange baiHtw. By bis Honor: He did not think be got the hammer produced in South. Africa. Ho thought ho bought it in Sydney. There might be one or two other tilings in the kit that ho did not bring from South Africa. He collected the forty throe-penny bits which were found in bis possession when he was arrested. Ko was going away in the steamer Westralia. and bo wanted to play threepenny nap on the voyage. H 0 got the coins in different places -in Wellington and Christchurch, but not in Dunedin. Ills Honor, in summing up. said the police bad only done their duty in Uu> matter. After a retirement of half an hour’s duration, the jury returned a verdict of guilty. His Honor said he did not think the jury couid have come to any other conclusion. Ho was afraid, from the prisoners’ own explanations, that they had been engaged in burglaries in this col= ony. He could .not understand how tlioy got possession of seme of the money of which they admitted they had possession unless it was dishonestly oh. tained by them. He presumed that the Crown had not thought it had sulli'cient evidence to prove intent to com. ivit crime. He thought the case proved against the prisoners was one for the maximum penalty. The prisoners were each sentenced to cno year’s imprisonment. The Court adjourned till this morn, hig.