SEDITIOUS STATEMENT.
YOUNG PRIEST FINED AT
AUCKLAND
(Per Press Association.)
AUCKLAND, last night. At the Polioo Court to-day a young Catholic priest, Father John Arthur Roche, was charged with making a seditious utterance to wit : "The Germansare a "better civilised nation than the British. You are fools to go to the war."
Defendant pleaded guilty. Chief Detective MoMahon stated that on Monday evening a soldier was m conversation with a friend m an hotel com. mercial room when defendant came m and. was drawn into conversation on Irish politics, conscription, and the recent Australian referendum. Defendant had said he was a,n Australian, and was ignorant that it was an offence against the laws, as* it was no offence m Australia. He had no disloyal intent. Father Holbrook, m reply to the Bench, said he knew defendant regretted using the words-, and was desirous of returning to Australia. The Magistrate said it was not a case for imprisonment, as the words were not used m a public place, and the circumstances did not show serious intention of wrong-doing. A fine of £5 and oosts was imposed.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/PBH19170228.2.59
Bibliographic details
Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 14234, 28 February 1917, Page 7
Word Count
185SEDITIOUS STATEMENT. Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 14234, 28 February 1917, Page 7
Using This Item
The Gisborne Herald Company is the copyright owner for the Poverty Bay Herald. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of the Gisborne Herald Company. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Log in