District Court.-Oamaru.

Otago Witness, Issue 1585, 8 April 1882, Page 24

District Court. -Oamaru.

At a sitting of the District Court held in 1 Oamaru' on Friday, before Judge Ward, the 1 following "was 1 amongst' the -business trans-nnj-nn •— • ' ' ' Matthew M'Oready 1 was'charged withhayintr, af'Waitaki bridge,' attempted to commit suicide.— The prisoner' pleaded' 'guilty;— His Honor, in" pronouncing' sentence, said: '•Prisoner at the bar, it seems clear that you were led into the commission 1 of this act by thexmfdrturiate practice of drinking, which is ruining so ihahy men 'in this Colony. Ypu may think yourself 1 very ' fortunate 4 that' the' attempt failed:, or I ' you would havestoodat a far higher tribunal than mine : ' and met with a more -dreadful 'punishment."' The sentence was three'm'drithV 'hard labour. "■•'/- • Elizabeth M'Kenzie'was' charged with keep- 1 ing a disorderly house'.^-After ' argument, his Honor ruled that it was necessary to mention more than the town in the indictment. 1 • There were wards and streets in the town which' might be particularised, and directed the jury to return a verdict of Not guilty on the abovementioned grounds. •, • . i i. • Thomas' Wheeler was charged with having, on December 13tfy With intent to defraud certain creditors, made delivery of a cart, horse, and harness to one James Gibson.— He was found Not guilty, arid discharged. p An appeal was made against the .decision of Mr I. JN. Watt (late Resident, Magistrate), ordering the recognisances of George Greenfield arid arioth'erj'm the matter of G. 1 Warn'es,/! an absconding debtor, to be .estreated.— After j hearing argument 'by counsel, 1 his' Honor 'did | not see,' how 1 the .order -could I ' be upheld, and allowed 1 th : e appeal in'both 1 cases.' " •'.; '.' An appeal was 'also made' against 'the dcci- ■ sion of Mr H. 'W."R6biris6n, B,.Mf, in- the case of the Police v. George Wallace, for breach of tho 1 Licensing Act.— lt was argued that the' information ' stated '"that "the accu'seid 1 was 'charged with ' the offence "having been then 1 , an' innkeeper," which did not imply that he was an innkeeper 'at the time of the offence, but that he had been one formerly. — Hid Honor agreed that 'the grammar was bad, and ruled that on the grammatical point tho conviction must be quashed. ' •