MAGISTRATE'S COURT.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 256, 16 February 1877, Page 2

MAGISTRATE'S COURT.

T'TIS HAY. w. T"';ivkvr. I?*--.., rt.r-r. 1 r::f.t '■ :>v." ;■:!.:, :>:;:. A!ic • I/:.vim\ <-! i :vm-uj.l. was charge-! - l:'>.'i day of February, :.-. K-:!;:i:..:ii, f. != *:':.-: 1 from tho t|«-..-?!lr-.-r «»f ..;ie V."i:ii:'.ui \V,..!ker£il in :•■••;•:• ". c>::-u r: Hj of i> v ' .t':-nole.:. and .►::.> . r ;I-■.:.'•. . lit-- pr'-perly of Ja-.r.e.s Su--Jit-r-cc:-r ?>«-Cl!::;::..'y asl.vd for a ..:;!;;,;':!. rs he w.i.; :i<>t p:v ; .:-r.d I" go <-: i in-dy ;i'*j>Fi.ir:'.c.i i.lii Tm -::. v; / ;:.::<i. As-i'.ri/r. .7.-un-\< (Jraut w.:s charged wli.li having a~.-aut. ,-d i;.-nja-.:i;i IV ivy, landlord of the Sw.-m ii.jtuK Th::m-.;.-:-.sireoi, on the lor, r ut. IK-nja:.Jn IVrry d-poscd : I am land-h-i-t--f the S>'a:i 11--.'.-!. Ah:>:--t hv.-niy iHinu-i i.» iv.vlvo !::■■!- night prisoner; Jaimei CiV.i't. in c->m;>:tiy wirii I'.VO other tr.« n, i-"ii- iv.f •• the b.;v. A:-; in- passed in through the d>>wr I':- sUi/nv,!, which .-•howed he wa> und;.r i'u. i:;'hience of l?..tu.i-. fL;-d!,d for drink, but I told mm r i->u!d Not si-rw him. as heevidenily had ;:■■: much as wax good for liini. He tlivn 11 Ft- «1 up the leaf of flio counter, •;n'i-«l r..r!:*r.«t iT-c bar. er.rl ::trui-.k mo oil the n>>■:.*. I gr.:pp'ed with him, and suc-ced-d in v.p-cthie: kir.i from the bar, whui ho :itroVi: t-r rri:! in again, but eventually went oidside the counter, and as I was l-.rsssfjif; aiom-, ho grasped "ia 1.-}- the throat, and tries-! t■> strr.tr/li.- m-.-, which lie would have flour; but f'-r the assistance f>f two men who came to my relief. Tiic men who came in with him, instead of giving u\a help, or taking him off me, seemed to enj= V the- assault. J Mover saw the man before in n>y life, and lie never drank ;i drop in my house, nor did I give him any p;')Vos,-at'r>.!i further than refusing to supply him with drink. Sub-Inspector M'Ciuskt-y call upon one of the inatvs of the prisoner, who was in Court, to give evidence, hut he refused, until ordered to do so \>y the Bench. IJts/h Cunningham deposed: I am a lahoivr residin-/in Oamuru. I remember bt-tii;' in the h:*.r of the Swan Hotel last nii;ht about ten minutes to twelve o'clock. The landlord was behind the counter, and iher.; were two ...r throe men standing <>Tit*idv <>>" it. Fii.v'ner w.vs one of them. I heard him a: !. : t:g tho landlord for drir.!;. ll'-i vefurfed i<> servo him, and said, " You liavo g-.-t finite enough, young man." I'risoner then went behind Ilia bar, and struck Mr. Perry somewhere on the fae--. They struggled togellic-r for fiotae time, and trie landlord put him outside the bar. Accused afterwards caught hold of Mr. Perry from outside the counter, but I dki not see him go inside it a second time. Two men went to the assistance of the landlord, and the accused

was held until given into custody. He ■was very much, under the influence of drink. Mr. Perry did not give Mm the slightest provocation, further than refusing to serve him with drink. Constable Grant, deposed : I was on duty in Thames-street, when I was summoned by a message from Mr. Perry to go the Swan Hotel. On my arrival there I saw Mr. Perry and two other men holding prisoner down on the floor. He was then given into custody, charged with assault. He refused to leave the house, and I had to force him outside. When lie got outside he put himself into fighting attitude ; he gave me a shove and ran away. I overtook him before he had gone twenty yards, and with the assistance of Constable Donovan and two other men, I brought him to the lock-up. This was all the evidence. The Magistrate said prosecutor was entitled to great credit for refusing to supply li'iuor to a person whom it was likely to injure. Had he done so he would have left himself liable to a penalty, and why should he incur the risk to gratify a craving for drink. A fine of £5 would be inflicted, or thirty-five days' imprisonment for the assault on Mr. Perry; and 505., or fourteen days, for resisting the constable. HORSE-STEALING. James Forsyth, a boy about fourteen years of age, was charged that he did on the Ist day of February, at the Maori Kaik, near Otago Heads, feloniously steal a '_'rey mare, also saddle and bridle—the value of £25, the property of George Robertson. Sub - Inspector McLuskey stated that the Crime Report stated that a robbery of a horse and bridle had been committed at the Maori Kaik, and the description of the oifender tallied with that of the accused. In addition to which a telegram had been received from Inspector Mallard, of Dunedin. stilting that the perpetrator of the robbery arrived in Oamaru, by the Waitaici. on the Gch, and lie was living with his father at the residence of the Hon. Matthew Holmes. He gave the telegram to C'-r.st-.ble Donovan. Michael Donovan deposed : I am a poiicj constable stationed at Oamaru. Fr«.m information received I yesterday i;VLiiing, between eight and nine o'clock, ;ivresb.d the prisoner, James Forsyth, on the charge of horse-stealing on the Ist i-isiunt. The boy answered the descripuf the boy in the Crime Report, charged v.'i'h i,oyse-.sce;;!h;g at the Maori Kaik, (U.y.'o Heads. Lust evening I received the iok grain produced from Sub-Inspector McLuskey, which says:—"The offender was living with his father, gardener at the Hon. Mr. Holmes's." It further stated that the accused loft Dunedin by the Wai(aki on tiie Gth instant, and that a warrant had been issued for his arrest. The father of the boy who was in Court drew attention to the fact that the description in the Crime Report was totally dissimilar to that of his son. The report said tiie suspected boy left Danedin dress ed in a suit of light tweed, whereas his boy was dressed in dark ; that the offender was but thirteen, while the accused was past fourteen ; and that the boy wanted had blue eyes, while the one before the Court had dark brown eyes. Hi.-; Worship admitted it was a hard ca.ic. bat no other course lay open to him but to remand the accused to Dunedin to appear at the Police Court on Thursday next. The Magistrate further said that if his father could accompany the boy he would take his bail for the appearance of accursed when called for.