SUPREME COURT,

Otago Witness, Issue 2205, 4 June 1896, Page 30

SUPREME COURT,

CRIMINAL SESSIONS. Monday, June 1. (Before his Honor Mr Justice Williams.) Hia Honor Mr Justics William* took his seat on the bench, and the criminal sessions commenced at 10 30 a.m. BILLS OF INDICTMENT. The Grand Jury threw out the bill against John j Anderson for breaking and entering, but found i true bills to all the indictments presented. All the bills having been answered and tha jurora having •no presentment to make, they were thanked for their services and diecharged. FORGERY AND FALSE PRETENCES. James Strachan Johnston was chaTgoJ with forging and uttering a cheque for £\ 18s on the Bank of New Zealand, the cheque purporting to 1 Designed by Frederick Stronach, and with using ! the valueless cheque to obtain £1 183 from Henry Walton Phillips. A second indictment charged accused with forging a cheque for £2 14s on the same bank at Oamaru, using the signature of William Shaw, and by means of the false cheque obtaining from Hugh Young Baird an overcoat and lfls 6d in money. Johnston pleaded Guilty, and said hifcage was 54 years. His statement to the court was as I follows : — I have to state that these offences were committed when I was suffering from the effects of heavy drinking. lam very sorry to be in my present position. I also beg to say very respectj fully that as soon as I learned my position I gave myself up to the authorities. I expect to very shortly be able to refund the money. I throw myself on 1 the- mercy of the court. The Ciown Prosecutor said that prisoner arrived in the ship Waimate from England 'in 1879, and had been convicted of false pretences at Timam in July 1884, at Temuka in September 1884, at lnvercargill in July 1893,' and at Dunedin in Maicb of the present year. He worked in the intervals between his sentences and was* all right until he took to drink.' He did not keep bad company. He went alone about the coinmissiou of thesu offences, and it was to- be supposed that he obtained the money for the purpose of getting drink. But when he did Btart out he committed his offences very deliberately. His Honor: Prisoner, the sum in respect to which you have pleaded guilty of forging these cheques is small, and there is no reason to inflict a severe sentence. At the same time, from what you yourself say, find from what has appeared in court an to your antecedents, it is desirable in your interests as well as in the interests of the public that you should be put out of reach of drink for such a-time that may, it ia to be hoped, wean you from the desire for drink. His Honor then passed sentence of 15 months' hard labour in respect to each indictment'; the sentences to run concurrently. DAMAGING! PROPERTY. I A r thin* Allen, charged with damaging properly to tl.e rxl^nt of £5 by breaking a window of tho | Ship Restaurant, pleaded Guilty. ' j Air D. D. Macdonald urged that Allen, when sobor, was industrious aud a good business man. It was only when under the influence of drink that he got into trouble, and it was ou these occasions that he became seized of the mania for smnsbit g windows. His Honor remarked that when prisoner was before the court for a similar offence h» wan gentenctid to* 1 * 12 months' imprisonment iv Ilia hope that he would' by that be weaned from driuk. James Couuor, restaurant keeper, corroborated learned counsel's statements. Witness was prepared to arrange to send the man to the Salvation Army's country place in Auckland, where he could probably get his living and bB away from the temptation to drink. Prisoner was a tiaveller, and a good salesman. If he went- to Auckland he would have to learn some manual oc'cup.U/ion. The Crown Prosecutor siid there vsere 16 previous conviotifms for drunkenneii and smnisbiog windows. He was never convicted of anything else. His Honor, ia passing sentence, said : There is no real reason why a heavy sentence should be inflicted unless it be for the public benefit or the benefit of the accused, and I do not think in- this c^se it would do any gpod. I think, the i'rsonor j should be given every chance ; h.e seams to lie a ! decent enough fellow when lie is not diinrk. II shall under the circumstances pass a sentence which is a light one, in the hope that when it has expired you will put yourself, in Mr Connor's banris and be enabled to turn over a new leaf. The tontence of the court is that you bo imprisoned in the common gaol for the term of three months and kept to hard labour. FALSE PRETENCES. Michael Cato (17) pleaded Guilty to charges 1 of having on the 28th April, obtained from Arfl'mr i John ohaw a gold ring valued, at £5 Bs and 1 a brooch valued at £2, and, on the 29th April, from Frederick John Townaend, three' goldringu valued at £10 15s. Mr Hanlon appeared for the ac used and said t>>y.t ho came to tha colony about December last. J-lj.s ftUiur was a stevedore at Liverpool, and B^hop Nevil), in giving bis evidence in the court below, said a brother of the acoiwed came to the colony two years ago with a letter of introduction from a clergyman at Birkenhead. In consequence of that introduction Bishop Nevill met the accused when he came out to his brother in the colony, but the accused did not seem to have been able to get anything to do, and this led him into bad habits. He appeared to have picked up with some of the young ladies beluuging to a burloeque. company, and in his anxiety to make them proseats he obtained the goods in question. It would seem from the evidence of the bishop that this young man evidently belonged to a respectable family at Home, and that in consequence of his having been unable to get anything to do he fell into this mistake. The accused was committed for trial on the sth May, and shortly afterwards he waa brought up and sentenced to seven days' imprisonment for a theft. That theft was committed about the same time ai tlic other offences, but it was not traced to him uutil after he had been committed for trial on the other charges. He (Mr Hanlon) had sent for the brother of the accused to see whether, if hi* Honor extended his clemency to him, anything could! be done to get him sent Horn*. His Honor : How old is the brother ? Mr Hanlon : About 23. His Honor : What does he do? Mr Haulon said that he, too, had had a. difficulty in getting work to do. -His Honor >aid the reason he asked was that n the coluuin "Trade" in the calendar, the accused was put down as " clerical." Mr Hanlon said that that did not mean that he had anything to do with the church, though that might be supposed fiom the fact of his having an introduction to Bishop Nevill— it meant that he was a clerk. The police had made application to the young ladies to whom thtso goods were given, and they were recoveied. The Crown Prosecutor (Mr B. 0. Hsggitt) remarked that it did not follow that nobody had lost anything. The accused bad only been a short time in the colony. He arrived from Liverpool at the end of 1895, and had a bad character. On the 18th May 185)6 he was sentence.! to seven days' hard labour for the theft in Dime.'in of a tobacco pipe and cigarette-holder and case. His Iloior, in pausing sentence, said: Had it not been for the theft from a shop, it is possible the accused might have been dealt with as a firstoffender, but for the circumstance that the conviction takes him, in fact as well as in' law; out of the scope of the Probation Act. Looking, however, at the age of the accused, there is no reaion for inflicting a long sentence. What I hope is that at the expiration of the sentence arrangements may be made by which you-may be sent to thts country from whence you came. The sentence of the c^urt ia that you be imprisoned in the common gaol" at Dunedia for a te>m of three months, and be kept to hard labour. ROBBERY FROM THE PERSON. - John Home (31) pleaded Guilty to an indictment charging him with stealing £h in money and a metal chain from the person of William J. Arlow. #• The accused, .being called on, said he was the worse for drink at the time, and did not know anything about the matter beyond what he had heard' in the Police Court. The Crown Prosecutor said the accused arrived in the colony in 1873, and associated- with thieves o*4 freowentcd. brothela., Ojl. tbe lßfe Aaril.lßß9

he was sentenced to 12 months' hard labour for theft from the person. The Accused protested against the statement that he was an associate of thieves. He had only been in town about twice since h& served hla pr«. vious sentence. When he wan arrested he waa oa his road to shearing; at Waitaki. His Honor understood the police reported that the accused had not, been about Dunedin Bines his last sentence, and yet they said he was an associate of thieves- and prostitutes. The Crowtj-Proseeutor: Whenever he comes to town, that is. TWA^cmad said' he had only been in town about three days when be was' arrested, and his Bwag was not out of the railway station. His Honor remarked that <he acc»s«d did not Ecojn to havo been loug about town. The Ci own Prosecutor : He has been very littla in town sines his last conviction. He is generally away in the country, and' so' far as the polico know it generally at work when in the country. The Accused added that thongh he was charged with having, stolen £4 the monsy had 1 not been found. The chain was- found in the bed where bs was arrested.; and if he had had the money it would have been found where the chain. \va» found. His Honor, in pissing sentence, said : You seem to have been, in trouble in the same way seven years ago ; but in considering tha sentence: I place no stress upon that, and I am qnite 1 willing to give you credit for, as a role, earning your living honestly up. the country. Whether, howovor, what the police say is correct or not, that when you do come. to town you associate with prosli* tutes and thieved— whether that is so or not does not seem to ma very 1 much to affect the case, r form my judgment of the case simply on the evidence disclosed on the depositions, and the deport* tions show that, whether you weraunder tbe in> fluence of liquor or not, you schemed to pick this man's pocket and picked" it. The sentenced of the court is that you bo< imprisoned in the common gaol at Dunedin for 18 months, and kept to hard labour. BREAKING AMI TCNTRIMNG. Willbm Watt (lflV &ud Gi-urge" Buuny, (1?) pleaded GuiKy to a charge of breaking and entering the dwelling housb of Joseph Allan, at Bait Taieri, on the 27th of March, and stealing therefrom three tunics, two busbies, and two sets of bu&by lines, the property of Joseph, James, and Henry Allan; ' The Crown Prosecutor said • that Watt had arrived in Ihef colony wheu-1* child, and' was the a-doeiateof convicted thieve* and prostitutes. On the ilth of July 1893, lie \vm liu«d 5s for breach, of the peace ; on the 16th of MWy 1895, he received one; month's imprisonment on throe charges of theft ; s<nd on the 19th of Decoinbey he was fined 10a ff* breach' of 'the peace. George Bunny, alias Ben Johnson, arrived in the colony iv the ship 'Ei'ireka from Sydney on- the 30th of January 1896, " and had been the associate of reputed thieves sinre his iwrivul. On the 30th of March ho was si'ntfl'vM-d to iSho ira imprisonment for fahse preand ou the 11th of to two mouths' hrird labour for theft, which sentencq he was now serving. His Honor sentenced both, prisoners to two years' imprisonment with hard labour. James B\nt(23) pleaded Guilty to an indictment charging him with having- on the* 19th of March last- broken in' o and entered the shop of Mary,. Eobertson, in High street, Roslyii, and with stealing therefiom five tins lollies, two boxes toffy, one Hox chorohitc, eight tins cocoa, and two tins salmon, the property of Mavy Robertson. The Crown Piosecutor, in reply to his Honor, said that the prisoner ai rived from Scotland in the ship l£angitiki in 1884, and appeared to be a very bad character. On the lift or June "lßß4 he war sentenced to one month's hard labour for larceny at Dunedin ; on the 3fd of December 1891, on'tlfree charges of housebreaking he received 18 mouths' hani labour; and on the 24th of April 189S, he got six weeka' 'hard-l.tbour for theft from a shop. There would - have been another charge against him at the present sessions but the prose* cutnr had died. His Honoreentenced'the prisoner totwo 1 years* impTUonmenfr with hard labour. Thomas M'Namara- (17) plodded Guilty to a charge of breaking and entering the warehouse ■of "the Drapery and General Importing Company at Balclutha aud stculing tlieiefroiu three pairs of ladies' kid gloves and a large nunii er of articles of drapeiy. . Mr D. D. Blacdonald urged that prisoner was quite a boy when previously punished for stealing rabbitskins ; that others, who were posnibly his leaders, were associated with him in the present offence ; 'and that when charged he confessed and aided the police. The Grown Prosecutor sail that there were two previous CouvhiHons, and that the police gave prisoner- ii very h.ul character. Mr M& donttl i »> ski he understood the- second offence was coinnrUed about" the same time as the one now- eluded ; also that the accused's real ' age was 17, not 19 yoara. His Honor passed sentence of 12 months' hard labour. TH VI ,'J.OM THE PERSON. James Giay, chaise i with the theft ofa watcb belonging to l'Vancit. (.'.vhill, pleaded Not guilty. ' and was defended by Mr Hanlon, ou whose appll" cation witnesses wore ordeied out of court. Mr Haggitt said the facts were very short, Francis Cahill, accountant, was on the evening of the 31st March at the High street end of tha Arcade, when prisoner, h perfect stranger to him, came up aDd asked him for a match. Cahill gave him one, and prisoner instead of lighting it stood talking for a bit, when presently Uahill felt something like a pull at his watch chain, and prisoner started to run away. Cahill did not stop to find whether he had lost anything, but ran after pri« soner through the Arcade, and was gaining on him, when a constable came along from the other find of the Arcade, and prisoner slackening speed, Cahill overtook him. Directly he did so prisoner banded Cahill a> watch, which the latter took, discovering then for the first time that hia watch had been taken. He thought when he ran that his locket was gone. Prisoner at first denied having taken anything, bat the constable had see a him hand something' to the prosecutor, and on the way to tho station prisoner volunteered the remark that he did not take the man's watch, but the man had given it to him. It would be for the jury to judge as to the truth of the story of a man giving a watch to a stranger and then chasing him through the Arcade to get it back. The witne.s-fs f-ir the Crown were Frank Tahill and Oouctalilc Wild. Mr Hanlon addrtsaed tho jury on belulf of tha accused, and commented at come length on the evidence, arguing that there was reasonable-doubt as to the guilt of the prisoner. The prosecutor had told them that he had lost his watch by a tug on the chain, but a few moments afterwards-tha alleged stolen property waa found, not in the possession of the prisoner, but in the possession of the prosecutor. That was a new phase.in. criminal cases. It was said that the prisoner had left the chain in the pucket and the watch was taken. This was something, which it was. very difficult to understand, and it should not be forgotten that the locket the prosecutor believed' was taken certainly was not. stolen. The. learned counsel did not say that if there was any shadow of doubt in the matter the accused should be acquitted, for such was not the case, but if there was any serious doubt, any reasonable doubt, the accuned ■ was entitled to the benefit of it. There mußt bs the strongest doubts when all the circumstances were considered, and if reasonable doubt existed in the minds of the jury, the verdict should fag for acquittal. ' Hia Honor, in summing up the case, said that if the prosecutor's story wan to be accepted there was no doubt the accused was an expert pick* pocket. One gentleman on the jury had suggested that it was unreasonable to suppose that so clever a pickpocket should have been imported into the colony. Tli\t might bo so, but that was not the question the juiy trad to consider. It was, however, to be houed there wera-not iu»ny such gentry here.- Unfortunately there were persona who were expert in these matters, and if they wanted to play the three-card frick or to ascertain under which thimble the pea- was there wer« people who could be found willing to accommo* date them. . The jury, retired. to consider their verdict at 3.45 p.m. At 10 minutes past 9 the jury returned with, a verdict of " Guilty," and sentence waa deferred until Wednesday inorninsr. Thecourt adjourned at 10.12 until hall Daet 10 this.dusbday) morning,