WEATHERBURN'S WOES.

NZ Truth, Issue 67, 29 September 1906, Page 4

WEATHERBURN'S WOES.

. ».... : Gregor Grunts on Losing His : Grinders. Rorty, Rowdy Ructions on Lambton Quay Last Saturday evening week there was a tough and trying time for a trap named Andrew Gregor on Lamb-ton-quay, which was re-fought at the Magistrate's Court on Monday morning last. - On that day a young Cockney of exceptional respectability, according to the defence, named Thomas Weatherburn, who is porter at the Arcadia Private Hotel, was charged with having assaulted Gregor whilst m the execution of his duty. He pleaded ! riot guilty 1 and was defended by Mr" T. Wilford. ! On the previous Monday, on which day, Weatberburn was first charged, the Magistrate was called upon to act as judge m a beauty show,.' The faces of both Weatherburn and Gregor, showed unmistakable signs ol , wear and tear, but Gregor certainly took the prize, as he had v lump like the side of a house on his jaw, which, when he smiled, which caused him an effort no doubt, gave him a ghastly appearance. Weatherburn was was not quite so dilapidated, though m addition to facial damage one of his wrists was a bit lacerated. On Monday last, most of the signs of bloody warfare had disappeared, though no doubt they were fresh m the mind of the "Beak,*' Gregor was the first to gee gome, with his tale, from which it. appeared that about 10.10 p.m. on tile Saturday m question he had been forced to arrest one Jimmy Cook, a cook by profession, also employed at the Arcadia, for being drunk and. disorderly. He was lumbering him to the Lambtqn-quay lock-up, when ho was caught m a sort" of human tornado, which struck him on the back ot the ear, then on the jaw and oh the face. One of "the busters was a man named Wells, who, for his share- m thD transaction, had '.since been fined a fiver. ■ Weatherburn was the other part of the tornado, and from Gregor 's gabble, he was the worst part' of it, ps his blows on the jaw and face has. displaced his false tuMvs, necessitating .the. attention of. a dsntist ami the expenditure of £s 7s 611. After Weatherburn had > welted the b.raw Caledonian laddie" be bolted. Wells had m the mean time T>ech ; captured by Constable Fra/er, who was m plain clothes'. Cook the i: caok was released and Gregor, with' the blood streaming from .his battered dial, started on I'he trail of the porter, whom . he overtook and eventually threw and hand-cuffed, '- ; m doing which the Cockney sustained the injuries to his wrist, at least, such was the police explanation. "11; -was m vain, however, that Mr Wilfora, attempted to rake Gregor fore and aft and drag from him the fact that hp had rushed, like a roaring bull, into a huge crowd, which, while. 'discussing the rights and wrongs of -the OtagoWellington football match, had crot a bii .unruly and that he had collared the first man he got his hands on and thus hoped. to quell the .disturbance : nor could' he be prevailed upon to admit that m the crowd he had launch-' ed out left and right regardless of consequences. He was positive that Weatherburn was the bloku wot 'it 'im. 'ard, and lie would not budge an inch from the stand he took, viz. : that there was. not the slightest possibility that a mistake had been made by him. Sub-Inspector O'Donovan gave .evidence, the purport of which was- that lie saw. Weatherburn several times, the day after his* arrest ; but he had .not complained to him of having been stoushed by Gregor. This statement. of course brought Mr Wiltord to hi<? feet, and almost into conflict with the Beak, when he*egan to ridicule the idea of a prisoner who had been biffed: by a bobby turning around to another bobby, or a bobby's boss, and complaining and seeking sympathy.' Anyhow, the upshot of the argument was that the Sub-Inspector admitted that he did not expect the prisoner to complain. Trouble between Bench and Bar next loomed on the hazy horizon when Mr Wilford reckoned that one of the hardest contracts. a lawyer ever took on was to defend a man Whose word was to be given against a policeman. Fifteen years ago a prisoner had been believed, and counsel still went on defending, hoping and trusting that- the • event oi 15 years ago would be repeated some day. Then he put it -to Mr- Riddel 1 whether m his long experience as a magistrate he knew of a case where a policeman said one thing and a citizen another, and that the -citizen was believed. There was a dangerous glint m the Beak's eye when he softly mentioned that he did recollect such a thing, and as Mr Wilford was not nrepared for such an answer he collapsed with the remark that he was pleased to hear it, and that there was still hope for a man. Weatherburn aitel Jimmy Cock gave evidence, but their stories, which evidently had not been pre-arranged , differed so materially that tlie fact that the Cockney would be convicted was early apparent. Both denied, of course, that an assault had been committed on the cop : Jimmy could advance no reason why Gregor should have pounced on him and proceeded to run him m, and when Giegor let him go h3 was either so da?,ed or delighted that be really. could not Ml what happened. Weatherburn, m his evidence, shaded grandly, but Jimmy Cook the cook did not help him at all. and, the result was that the defendant was fined £5, and ordered to pay witnesses' expenses and last, but po-ir least, £3 7s 6d for a new set of tats for grumpy Greg«r,