BURNHAM BOY BOOBED.

NZ Truth, Issue 283, 26 November 1910, Page 5

BURNHAM BOY BOOBED.

On Friday, November 18, John Griiftths, an ex-Burnham boy, was Indicted on a charge of breaking and entering by day the premises of James Bennett, cycle mechanic, at 38 Fill ice-avenue, Wellington, and stealing therefrom the sum of £-1 12a, on September 1, and stood tads trial at the criminal sittings of the Supreme Court at Wellington, before his Honor the Chief Justice (Sir Robert Stout) and a jury.

Mr G. H. Fell appeared for the accused.

It will be remembered, by readers of "Truth" of September 24, m which the proceedings m the lower court were fully reported, that Mrs Bennett had left her bouse about 2.50 .p.m. on the day m question, having previously written a memo. for the baker, asking him to leave a

certain quantity of bread, and having left the memo, and a receptacle tor the bread outside the back door, and, on her return a -little afte^- 5 p.m., she discovered that the ' im-plied-notice to all and singular that the house was empty had been availed of by some .

PICKER-DP OF UNCONSIDERED TRIFLES

who, after effecting an unauthorised entrance, had departed with ooftish to .the extent of £1 12s m his possession. Suspicion lighted upon Griffiths, but .the evidence called against him ; failed to convince a Jury, which, without hearing any evidence for the defence, acquitted him of the charge.

This, however, did not secure the freedom of Griffiths, for, on the following day, Snturriay,' November 19, he ' was indicted and tried on a further charge of breaking and entering by day the premises of Julia Bry&nt. naarried woman, at 50 Han-key-street, Wellington, and stealing therefrom the sum of £10 m money andr. a box valued at one shilling, the '^property of Julia Bryant, and | £3 m money, the property of John Wordfen. a boarder m the house, on August 19, a further charge being added of receiving stolen property, knowing it to have been stolen. itis" Honor the Chief Justice (Sir Robert . Stout) again presided, a.. fre__b jury was empanelled, and the aaxoe counsel appeared as m the former case. The facts of this case, as they came out at the court below, were alsb- fully, reported m "Truth" of September 24-, and were reiterated at the trial on Saturday last. It will be recollected that suspicion turned upon Griffiths by reason of the discovery of a farthing upon him which Mrs Bryant identified as ■ berß, by the discovery of the STOLEN BOX IN A RUBBISH HEAP of Griffiths' aunt, and by Griffiths' extraordinary . purchases at tbe time of a guitar, an accordeon, and a phonograpn. i Mr Fell called no evidence tor the defence, but merely addressed the My. Bis Honor 'summarised the moneys proved to have been earned by the accused, and tbe amounts proved to have been spent by him, and he asked the jury to consider whether the excess had been honestly come by. The jury, after a brief retirement, returned a verdict of guilty, and the prisoner . was remanded until Monday when he was called up for . sentence. His Honor said that the accused had not : had a fair chance ih life. His mother was a woman of good character, BUT HIS FATHER WAS NOT., (This was another case of the sins of the father, etc. Although a. jury> had acquitted him on ithe first charge, his -Honor's opinion was that he was equally guilty of that offence. Apparently accused's only chance of reformation lay m Inver-

cargill, as various attempts to reform him had failed. He was sentenced to twelve months' imprisonment with hard labor at Invercargill prison.