Wednesday, September 2nd. FORGING AND UTTERING A CHEQUE.

Otago Witness, Issue 875, 5 September 1868, Page 7

Wednesday, September 2nd. FORGING AND UTTERING A CHEQUE.

Edwin, Lovell was indicted for having^ at Tokomairiro, forged and uttered & cheque for L 25, with intent to defraud. The Crown Prosecutor (Mr B. C. Haggitt) conducted the case j the prisoner nofe being defended. Edward Stewart, draper, Tokomairiro : About four o'clock on the afternoon ©£ the 29th July, the prisoner came into mjr shop. He purchased goods to the amount of L 2 13s 6d, aud tendered to me a cheque for L 25 in payment. This is the cheque, now shown to me. It is dated July 27th> 1868 ; is on the Bank of New Zealand, Dnnedin ["Tokomairiro" being erased, and "Dunedin" written in], and ia drawn by John Sinclair, in favor of ArthurMontgomery. I asked him if he knew thet parties, and he distinctly said he did ; that the cheque was a .genuine one ; that he got it from Sinclair, at Switzers ; and that he knew Sinclair had an account at tha Bank of New Zealand. I asked him to endorse the cheque, and he wrote on it^ "Edwin Lovell, dealer, Switzera." I allowed him to have the goods, and X gave him in change my cheque on tha Bank of New Zealand, Tokomairiro, forL 22 6s 6d. Two' hours afterwards, I went to look for the prisoner, and X found him at Macfarlane'3 Commercial Hotel. I again asked Mm where he had. got" the cheque ; and he said he got it front his friend, Montgomery. I said "You had. batter collect it yourself. Give me my cheque, and yo\i can pay me for the goods as you comeback." He said, " But, I've cashed your cheque ;" and I said, " The money will do as well." He said that he had spent some of the money in refreshments, and that he required some to take him to Waipori, where he was going to i buy cattle. Just afterwards, he said he did not need all he had got in change j and he gave me LlO, saying, " You cam keep the cheque, aud. pay m« the difference as I come through again." On the same evening, I gave the cheque to James Carmichael, the driver ©£ Chaplin's Dunedin coach, telling him. tocollect it at the Bank. He brought it back to me, marked "No account, 3*3 * and I then gave information to the police. Thomas Lewis, landlord of the Royal Oak, two miles on the Dunedin side o£ Milton : The prisoner came to my house on the evening of Sunday, July 26th. On the 29th, I heard him ask my wife for a blank cheque, and I saw her give him my cheque book. I bank with the Bank: of New Zealand, Tokomairiro. The prisoner went into another room, and in a» few minutes he brought back the book; On the 30th, r the prisoner left by Chaplin's coach, he asked me what the fare to Dunedin was, but said that he was onlygoing as far 1 as the Taieri. H. Pirn, accountant, Tokomairiro : ■ Oa. the 29th July, at the Royal Oak, the prisoner asked me what time the Bank. opened at Tokomairiro, as he wanted tox go and get a little ready money.

James Carmichael, coach driver : The prisoner came to town with me, from the Royal Oak, on the 30th July. John Golder, detective constable : About half-past ten on the night of the 30th July, I. arrested the prisoner, in George street, Dunedin. When I first apoke to him, I asked whether he did not come from Tokomauirio — whether I had not seen him there that day. He said, " No, I've come down from Oamaru, today." I told him I was a detective, and I arrested Mm. He refused to give me his name, at first ; but at the office, he said it was Edwin Lovell, and he asked what was the amount of the cheque mentioned in the telegram. I said, L 25 ; and he said he had passed a cheque, but not for so much as that. Subsequently he said that he had left LlO in the hands of the prosecutor ; that he had also left a dog and a monkey jacket at Tokomairiro ; and that he had intended to return there. - Alexander Douglas, ledgerkeeper, Bank of New Zealand, Dunedin, proved that no personj,named John Slnelair had an account there. The prisoner declined to say anything in his defence. He was found Guilty on both counts ; : and he was sentenced to — Two years' imprisonment, with hard labor.

BESTIALITY.

George Ennis was charged with having, at West Taieri, committed a bestial crime. The jury found him Guilty ; but recommended him to the merciful consideration of the Court. The Judge : Upon what ground ? The Foreman's reply could not be heard at the reporter's desk. The Prisoner, on being challenged, besought leniency, for the sake of his family. The Judge : It is too frequently the case, when heavy punishment has to be inflicted, that the prisoner's family suffer very greatly. Twelve months ago, I must have caused sentence of death to be recorded against yon. That sentence, however, has, for some years past, not been carried out ; the punishment substituted being imprisonment for life. But the law has recently been altered ; and the sentence for such a crime as that of •which you have been convicted, may be penal servitude for life — cannot be less than penal servitude for ten years. The jury have recommended you to mercy, on the ground of their common sympathy ■with the infirmities of human nature ; but ' there should be some specific ground stated, when such a recommendation is made. I will net, however, pass upon you the highest sentence of the law, for 1 •will hope that you may be brought to repent of this disgusting crime. The sentence of the Court is, that you be kept to penal servitude for 10 years — which, I repeat, is the lowest sentence I can pass for such a crime.

STEALING MONEY.

Thomas Edwards was indicted for having, on the 25th July, stolen L 7 from John Bailey. — The prisoner conducted his own defence. The case for the prosecution was this :—: — Bailey is a brickmaker at the East Taieri. He came to town on the 25th July, and at the Farmers' Arms, he met the prisoner, with whom he was acquainted. Several public houses were visi+ed by the two ; and from the London Tavern, Walker street, the prisoner took Bailey to a disreputable house off Walker street. At this time, Bailey had in one of the outside pockets of his coat, seven cr eight LI notes; and in his trousers pocket he had two LlO notes and some silver. Bailey treated the women to some porter, and he got drowsy, though (as he said), he thought he knew what was passing in the room. He did not, however, know or suspect that he had lost his LI notes, until Mary Hawkes told him he had been robbed. At this time, being, according' to his own account, " pretty well tipsy," > Bailey was leaving the house, to look for the prisoner, who had gone out a few minutes before, promising to return ; but Bailey soon found himself in custody for being drunk. Mary Ann Anderson, as well as Hrtwkes, seemed to have seen the .robbery; and their statement was that, while sitting on a sofa beside Bailey, the prisoner held a glass in his left hand, and stole the notes with his right hand. When Bailey had been taken away by the constable, Hawkes went to the London Tavern, and finding the prisoner there, she charged him with robbing Bailey. The prisoner eaid that it was all right — that Bailey was his mate— and that he would return the I money as soon as Bailey was sober. Hawkes demanded that, at least, the notes should be counted by the barman, so that it might be known how many had been taken from Bailey ; and the prisoner produced a roll, which he counted and showed to contain seven notes. He changed one of those notes, in payment for a bottle of porter ; and after less than half an hour's absence he returned and "told the barman that the women had lobbed him of the six notes. He told the

same story when he was arrested by Detective Farrell ; but, when he complied with an order to pull off his coat, that he might j be searched, a roll of six LI notes fell from inside the sleeve of his shirt. One of the six was identified by Bailey as having been stolen from him. He said that on the evening of the robbery he changed a LlO note at the Gridiron Hotel. As the barman was giving him change, he (Bailey) noticed that one of them had a torn corner, and he wrapped up the piece in the middle of the note. Farrell found a small corner piece wrapped in a note which was in the roll of six. The prisoner pointedly crosg-examined each witness. Bailey denied positiyely that he had ever been a mate of the prisoner ; and he said that he never gave authority to the prisoner to take money from his (Bailey's) pocket. The jury, after a short absence, returned a verdict of Guilty. — Sentence was deferred until to-day (Thursday).

OBTAINING GOODS BY FALSE PRETENCES.

Benjamin Henry Bartlett and Paul Brown were indicted for that, on the 15th May, at Switzers, they did, by means of certain false pretences, obtain certain goods from George Skeene, trading with Otto Paast, as storekeepers, under the firm of Skeene, Haast, and Co. The prisoners were not defended by Coimßel. The case for the prosecution was to this effect:— The Government are having a road constructed from Tuapeka to Switzers. It is the practice to pay the men by vouchers, made out by Mr Andrew, the Government overseer ; and store- | keepers in the neighborhood are in the habit of allowing men to have goods in advance, on signing a transfer of the vouchers as security. On the 15th May, the prisoner went to Skene, Haast, and Co.'s store. They represented — Bartlett being generally the spokesman — that they had been, and were, employed on the road ; that they wanted goods ; and that they had worked part of a month. Mr Skeene said they could have goods, if they would sisn over the partly-worked for vouchers. The storeman, William Williams, wrote a form, addressed to MiAndrew, and which stated, " We hereby authorise you to receive our vouchers from the Inspector of the above road, and to hand the same over to Messrs Skeene, Haast, and Co. merchants, Switzers." Groceries, &c. were supplied to the prisoners jointly, to the amount of LI Is 9d (the subject of the present indictment) ; and each obtained blankets or clothing — Bartlett to the value of L 3 13s 6d, and Brown to the value of L 2 15s. Instead of being still employed on the 15th June, the prisoners had on that day been discharged, each receiving two vouchers — one for the month ending the 9th May, and the other for ho days, the 12th and the 13th. The reason for the discharge was, according to the evidence of Mr D. Andrew, the overseer, that they aya v sented themselves on the 14th. Skeene stated that he supplied the goods relying on the representations that the men had money due to them from the Government, were still employed on the road, <iiid"and meant to return to work on the following day. — In reply to Bartlett, Skeene said "that he of hi 3 free will laid an information before the Magistrate ; he was not influenced so to do by Sergeant Bullen. Mr Archer, storekeeper, and his foreman, gave evidence showing that on the I afternoon of the 14th May, the prisoners went to Archer's store to receive the balance due to them. Each had two vouchers, which had been received by Mr Archer, and each had a small balance to receive. The Prisoners briefly addressed the jury. Barlett urged that it was a very common thing for men on such works to stop away for a day or two ; that be and Bartlett never heard anything of being discharged, until they heard a rumor on the evening of the 15th ; and that next day they resolved to go down to the river (Molyneux) which was low, and work there, so as to be able to pay Skeene. The Judge, in summing up, said he was of opinion that if the order to receive the vouchers had been delivered to Mr Skeene without a word beiny spoken, and if the prisoners knew that they were not entitled to any vouchers, it would have been a false pretence, though not a word had been spoken. A false pretence might be acted. But the present case did not stop with the delivery of the order ; and the only question for the jury was whether ihe prisoners believed that they were still employed on the road works. The jury were out of Court about threequarters of an hour. They found the prisoners Guilty; but added a recommen"dation to mercy, "on the ground that the jurors unanimously believe that the men intended eventually to pay for the goods." The Judge : That is often the case. I dare say these men did so intend. I will attend to your recommendation, gentlemen.