NEIGHBOURS' QUARREL

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24737, 14 October 1941, Page 10

NEIGHBOURS' QUARREL

DISTURBANCE AT PORTOBELLO

HUSBAND AND WIFE IN COURT

As the result of a disturbance at Portobello on October 4, in which a man received a broken nose and had to go to hospital, Clifford Blackwell. a labourer, aged 60, and his wife, Lillian Blackwell, appeared before Mr H. W. Bundle, S.M., in the City Police Court yesterday on a charge of assaulting James Thomas Blaney. The' defendants were represented, by Mr A. G. Neill. The two 1 " defendants. Senior Sergeant Black said, lived next door to a, Mrs Wallace, at Portobello, and for some years there had been friction between the neighbours. The complainant, a man named Blaney, went to Jive with his sister, Mrs Wallace, about a fortnight ago. He was told of the troubles between the neighbours, and on the evening of October 2 he went to the Blackwell's house to try to make peace between them. The result was an assault by Mrs Blackwell and a blow with a piece of wood. He held Mrs Blackwell to protect himself, and in the scuffle she fell and tore a stocking. The incident was reported to the police, and it was decided to take no action beyond warning Blaney to keep away from the Blackwells. On the morning of October 4, Blaney was walking past the house whenBlackwell attacked him and punched him. A little further along the road Mrs Blackwell attacked him with a piece of rope. Blaney suffered a broken nose and other injuries to the face, and had to go into hospital. Elizabeth Brown, an acting house surgeon at the Dunedin Hospital, said that Blaney was admitted to the Hospital on October 4 with a broken nose, contusions to the left eye, and abrasions. He was in hospital for three daysComplainant's Account

The complainant, James Thomas Blaney, a miner, aged 51, described his visit to the Blackwells' house and the attack on him two days later. On that occasion, he said, Mrs Blackwell threw a piece of rope round his neck' and Blackwell punched him. After the first punch, he was on the ground and unable to defend himself. At the end of this attack Mrs Blackwell demanded that he should pay for the pair of stockings that had been damaged. To Mr Neill, Blaney said he had had three or four drinks at the hotel on the afternoon of October 2. He was perfectly . sober, and denied that he struck Mrs Blackwell and that he did anything other than defend himself aaginst her. He knew nothing about an injury to Blackwell's hand.

Constable Brown described an interview with Mrs Blackwell, in which she said she had hit Blaney with a rope and kicked him and that she would " kill him next time." She made a statement in which she admitted pulling Blaney down- with a rope and kicking him. Blackwell admitted striking Blaney, and said: " I'll teach him to interfere with my missus." He said that Blaney kicked him and broke one of his fingers. To Mr Neill. the witness said he received a complaint from the Blackwells on the evening of October 2 about Blaney's behaviour to Mrs Blackwell. He saw Blaney. who was under the influence of liquor. Statement for the Defence Mr Neill said that Blaney was under the influence of liquor when he went to the Blackwell's house and asked insultingly for Blackwell. He then hit Mrs Blackwell under the jaw. and when she attempted to pick up a piece of wood he caught her and they both fell. The Blackwells complained to the police that night. The second incident began when Blackwell asked Blaney why he had assaulted Mrs Blackwell. Blaney immediately kicked him and broke a finger, and Blackwell punched Blaney twice. Blaney fell, but got up and ran down the road, where- Mrs Blackwell asked him about her stockings. He said he was sorry they were damaged and that he would replace them. Evidence in this strain was given by Blackwell and by Mrs Blackwell. The latter said that on the Saturday morning she pulled Blaney over, hit him across the face with a rope, and kicked him. The magistrate said that the facts as adduced in evidence were not very edifying. There had obviously been bad feeling between neighbours over a trivial matter which time had magnified, but it was a stupid act of Blaney's on October 2, and this had rankled with the Blackwells, who apparently waited for an opportunity to get even. Considering all the circumstances, and Blaney's stupid behaviour, the magistrate continued, he did not propose convicting the female defendant of assault. She would be discharged. The male defendant, however, would be convicted and bound over to keep the peace for 12 months. He would also be ordered to pay witness's expenses (£1 lis).