MAGISTRATE'S COURT.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 10587, 17 October 1910, Page 4

MAGISTRATE'S COURT.

-.;-; THIS DAY. (Before Mr T. Hutchison, S.M.) ■'.'A VARIETY OF CHARGES.

•Three informations were laid agains three, men —Charles Moreton, Join Ward', and Win. Wantlas Higgins. Tin charges were as follow: (1) That accusei oh~ October 9 did use obscene languagi iri," the hearing of ' passers-by in Exi street; (2) that on the same date thej did break and enter the premises o Beatrice Shore and steal therefrom on< leg"of mutton valued at 3s, tlie pro perty of Beatrice Shore: (3) that on th< same date they did do wilful damage tt panes of glass valued at £1 ss, th< property of Beatrice Shore. •The second charge was dealt witl first, Mr Lee appearing for defendant Ward and Mr Ongley for Higgins anc Moreton. - -Sergeant Stagpoole, who appeared ioi the prosebutiou, briefly outlined thi • facts of the case and proceeded to cal evidence. John Miller, resident in Exc street said that about 8.30 on Sunday - nigh: ho . noticed a disturbance at Mr; Shore's house on" the corner .of Ex< and Humbcr streets.- -On.' account o. that he and James Jones, who was witl him, went down the street and' heart a woman s voice calling out something about thieves and .1 leg of mutton The\ did not set the peisons to whop the words weie addiessed, .but * thej heard voices which seemed to come frbn Mrs Shore's house, and a woman's voice speaking apparentlj to someoni either in tho j ard or the house. Whei witness came out of the jard when he .was on>to the,stre(st he saw thre( or tour men fighting in Mrs Shore' varjd—■Beatrice Shore said that she left he liouseiabout half-past ten on the morn nig- of Sundays October 9, taking he] child-wrfch hei and securing the doon and .windows bcfoie l leaving. 'On thi kitchen table she left a leg of ( muttoi cooked, and some, buns, biead, etc She returned about 6.30 in the evening, anc entering bv the fiont- wont mto th< bedroom and then into the kitchen. Sh< noticect then that-the kitchen vyindov was broken in one pane, tho top par being down. In the vard outside soim men„wcre fighting and using vorj bac language. One of thein w horn she ideii tified as the accused Ward took tin clothes-line'prop and aftei endcavonnj to" smash the door in un round tin house breaking the wfndo.vs Two men 6ne>'of'w]iom was Higgins, tried to sto] "War,d. -AVhen she noticed that the lej ofrOjuttori; and the butter were rmssmj from'the" table she called the men "dirt; thieves," and said she would go and m form the police. There weie thiee mei outsider—Waid and Jrliggins pud a mai with moustache She loekee tlresdodr and flic swearing outside stil ■went - ; on, »Waid sa>mg with obsccnt lang>iago that he would smash the dooi in; -'Witness «as frightened and re mained - inside for a couple of houn before the, police came. Cross-examined bv Mi Lee , witness stated that she was out all dav She would not sav where she was Why did Jib want to know? ' Mr Lee I want -to know because by-and-bye I am going to ask vou what state you vou came hack. ■"" —iTwas perfectly sobei Mr Lee Well whore weie vou, I am asking jou now 9 —And I m not going to-vtelL jou Why should I tell iou wheie "I spent the dav 0 You are not my confessor'__ Will,you tell me where you srteirfc Simdav ° tMr Lee (to Magistiate) The witto answer the question I am not obliged to, youi "Worship, am 1° His Worshfp Ido not see that it is relevant-

Mr - JLee (to witness) Were 'j ou drttn-k -that- ckn ° —l was not Gontimung. witness stated that MoretoA was-the'only man that she knew, ns *he'had been in her house twice He was there -on Saturday, and left about 645 on Saturda-v evening He did not give witness the monej to get the leg -ot mutton, for she had' got it and was cooking it when Moreton came from Glena\\ with three bottles >if wluskej. On .Sunday morning she did not pass tlnough Davis' stable on her way put, nor was she in the stable or the dwelling., attached thereto. Moreton was- not in the- house on Sunday morning, nor were any others of the accused. She did not:see Moreton when the row was going on. Ward was the onh man using bad language. To Mr Ongley- .Witness .bought the leg of mutton from Mr Bissett himself on Satuida\. It was perfectly true that she was out from ten o'clock till after sex on Sunday, and it was altogether untrue that she remained in the .house all da-y. She refused to say where she was or who she.saw. Mr Ongloy Won't you , say something tor substantiate yonr statement? —No, will you.:tell.me where you.were on Sunda\ i Mr Ongley:: Certainly, I've not. the least objection ° —Well, I won't tell you wheie I w.iss I've.told the sergeant; that's quite sufficient'. , I'm not going to tell jou> , *- Mi Oimle\ Will you tell the MagistiateV , . , • His Worship Oh, I don't want to know. -

. James Jones gave evidence mainly corroJbor,ative of Miller's. ~ - . : Constable that on Sunday, night; in . company .-with Constable :Creelman, he -went to Mrs Shore's house-on the corner of Exe and Hura- . ber -street. On arrival'.at the house they--found accused' Ward 'hammering ■:it-tlie' r door. When 'he saw the constables -he ran .away and they chased hinr'.into -the stable. Witness could near' other men- talking inside the stabler '*» They then "examined the house," which-was-in darkness. They noticed .panes of glass broken and the back; window open. Next, witness,' witlr Constables* -M'Gregor and Creelman, went to the* stables and knocked at the'door, but received no answer. When they had moved away Ward came out, making use of obscene language, and, then going back to the stable. 1 -The inmates of the place still refusing to-'open the door, the constables got in through a window. Inside they found four men —the three accused and a 'man named Thomas Park, all under the influence of liquor. On being questioned as to why they had been causing. the disturbance and what they had done with the leg of mutton, Moreton said that he took the >mutton and handed it to Ward, who was-at the window. Moreton also said, that he bought the mutton; had been in the house all da}, and was m there when Ward came to the window. Ward said that he took the mutton from Moreton at the window, and took it over to the "bach."' Witness and the other constables then saw" Mrs Shore again, and afterwards returned and ar- ' Tested' the accused. ■To Mr Ongley: When they went into the "stable Higgins was lying down in bed*. He said that he had been there since six o'clock, and the two others said he had-nothing to do with the taking of the leg of mutton. ' Constables Creebnan and M'Gregor gave corroborative evjdence. The latter stated that on the Monday following Ward said: "I broke" the window "and" cut my hand in, doing it. The otfierrinen. had nothing to do with .t. Wneri'-'-tbey 5 saw Mrs Shore-she was quite sober. - " -To Mr Lee: She" was a woman or drinking habits. . This concluded the case for the prosecution." Accused, when charged, all -stated that they wished to give evidence. „ , , , "Charles Moreton, the first to give evidence, said that on Saturday, Oeto--ter.Bth, he was at Mrs Shore's place ,about'3:3s p.m. and later in the evening-... Ho "gave details of the conversation, that passed between them, and saidthat he gave her the money to Inutile leg of mutton, which was purchased by her in the evening. 'His Worship at this stage asked why accused was giving evidence on oath instead of merely making a statement. The evidence given was quite immaterial.

""Mr Origley stated that lie. wished to show that Moreton was in the place on Saturday, night and also on Sunday, so tKat there was no breaking and entering. '..Accused, continuing his statement, said that he stayed in the house on Saturday .night and was there practically !.all day Sunday. Ho looked after the house. He went out for a little while in.;the morning, and when he returned MrsShor" was sitting in a'chair drunk. He" took her to the bedroom and left her... Then he "cooked the leg of muttijn and started hia dinner about +Tfclvft. A man, whom Mr? Shore called - Dark, came in a little after twelve,

and witness showed him Mrs Shore lying | drunk. She got up about three in the afternoon, and witness went to bed in the kitchen about eight'. Later Ward [ came, tapped at. the window, and lowered the ton put of it. He asked for something to cat,: and witness gave him out the mutton. Ward was the worse foi Junior, and when Mis Shore came into tlie kitchen he boo-hooed at her through tlio iimdoii. Thereupon ] she went out to the stable arid shouted at the men. When she came back she ordered-him to go away,-which' lie did, ( and he could not have been' out of the liouse 20 minutes when the police came. The only fighting done was when Ward was rowd\ and witness caught hold of ] him and told him to bo quiet:- - - % To Sergt. Stagpoole: Mrs Shore was the worso for liquor in the box to-day, but show as a little worse on Sunday. ! Mr Lee lntimaled that he did not propose to call. Ward. ; Mr Ongley submitted that thcro was no evidence against Higgms, and .said he did not propose to call Mm. Tlie three men were committed to the Supreme Court, Dunedin, for trial, Higgins and Ward reserving their de- ; Bail was allowed ill-one' surety of £25 The charge of wilfully damaging five panes of glass valued at £1 5s was then preferred against the three men. Mr Lee, on behalf of Ward, entered a plea of guilty, Mr Ongley pleading not guilty oh behalf .of the other two. " Sergt. Stagpoole withdrew the charge against the latter two. Ward was fined £1 and ordered to pay for damage. * \ Ward also pleaded guilty to-the charge of using-obscene language. Hignns and TMoreton pleaded not guilty, and elected to be dealt with, summarily. Alter hearing evidence, liis Worship dismissed the charges against Higgles and Moreton and fined Ward £2, < m default 14 days' imprisonment. ALLEGED BREAKING AND ENTER- • '• . , ING". Amy Hamilton was charged that on September 30 she did break and enter tlie hoarding-house of George Tomkins, Till street, and steal therefrom five onepound notes, the property of George Tomkins. Mr Ongley appeared for,defendant. Sergeant Stagpoole intimated, that the evidence presented to-day would be of a circumstantial character. I Jane Tomkins, wire of George Tomkins, said that accused was her neighbor. On Fi iday, September 30, she was paying a tradesman at tlie back door ; and had her purse, containing five one- ' pound Bank of New -Zealand notes, 18s m silvei, and two leceipts-^(produced). WJiile she was talking to .the tradesman accused came to the fence and I I witness went over to her. '