BROTHER AND SISTER.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 12377, 10 February 1911, Page 5

BROTHER AND SISTER.

•» AN EXTRAORDINARY CASE. (Per Press Association.) AUCKLAND, this day. Some rather extraordinary disclosure. 8 were made by counsel appearing for r. prisoner brought before Mr Justice Edwards at the Auckland Supreme Court. The, accused had pleaded' guilty at Waihi to a charge of committing arson. The prisoner, John Wiliam Butler, a middle aged man, has, according to the state ment made by Mr Reed, lived in Waihi district all his life, and for some yearsresided with his sister, a spinster, till recently. (He had built the cottage on which they lived, but had made it over to his sister. For some time the sister was keeping company with a man, but the engagement was broken off. The man told prisoner some infamous story about his sister's conduct, as the result of which, in a maddened state, accused rushed across the road to their cottage and frantically smashed the furniture to smithereens, and set fire to the dwelling. Mr Reed stated that accused bore an excellent character as a quiet, inoffensive, sober, hard-working man, and lived on excellent terms with his sister 1 and neighbors, and nothing could explain his conduct on the occasion in question, but the fact that he had been maddened by drugged drink, and by shamefully cruel and malicious stories* about his sister. . ' His Honor : If he is a decent man he must explain why he listened to a man whom^ he distrusted, instead of thrashing him. Mr Reed : It seems incredible that such a quiet man would commit an act of the kind. His Honor : It seems incredible that he listened to the story about his sister. That is what I can't understand. A letter was read from the sister, acknowledging that her brother had always been good to her, and generally bore out what counsel had said on behalf of prisoner. His Honor : He has burned his furniture, and. he must make good in the long run what he has destroyed. Prisoner stated that he was earning 9s 6d a day, and had been employed by the Waihi Company for the last 12 months without any broken time. The house was insured for £150, ' and the furniture for £50, .the sister estimating her loss at £347 10s. His Honor said that he did not want to send prisoner to gaol, but he would have to make some proposal to satisfy the claim of the insurance company, and the loss suiffered by the sister. He did not think the offence was exactly a probation matter, but he could order prisoner to come up for sentence when called upon. Sentence Avas deferred for a fortnight, and accused was released to give him an opportunity of making arrangements with the insurance company and his sister.