ALLEGED SHEEP-STEALING.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 14283, 27 April 1917, Page 6

ALLEGED SHEEP-STEALING.

At the Police Court this afternoon the hearing was continued of the charges against Robert Little and his son, Robert Alexander Little, of alleged sheep stealing. Wilfred B. o>rr was giving evidence.

To Mr Burnard : Witness was ten minutes or quarter of an hour looking through. the sheep. There was a fourth that witness saw at the yard which he said might be Jiis ; it had three or four earmarks on; but he was satisfied he could not maintain, a claim, to it against the accused. The sheep were pub m witness' yard for the purpose of al/owinjf him to look through them. Accused (junior) had sent word to witness that he would be passing with sheep. It^was possible for sheep to be picked up on the road when a mob was being driven along. Witness' two sheep found at the railway, yard might have been so picked up ; but, of course, they were raddled. It was possible they were found by .someone amongst other sheep, and raddled to distinguish them. Mistakes could be made m drafting. It was a wet morning when -the sheep passed Ithrough witness's place. Tlie sheep had been splashed with mud, and, ■this might account for strange sheep being passed unnoticed. It was possible to kill a neighbor's sheep by mistake — .witness had done that-— but it , was not a usual occurrence.

,To Detective M'cLeod : Accused had to pass tltrough witness' property to get his sheep oat, and it was usual under such circumstances to give notice when sheep were passing through. This was the notice witness received — that sheep were coming down the road, and he had better look through them. They wero all fat sheep. The four of witness' sheep tha,t were raddled were fats, and the one not raddled was not fat. He did nat. think the four' had been raddled by him. If accused had picked • them up he should say they must have been) raddled by them. I

Edwai'd Fitzgerald, fat stock picker far the Gisborne Sheepfarmers' F.MLCo., said he picked fat sheep at accused's place on March 25. About 1000 : to 1200 had been brought, into the yard, and witness went through them arid marked the fats with blue raddle on top of the shoulder. Accused, junior, was m the pen with witness> and as soon as the raddling tvas finished accused, junior, drafted them ; excepting one small pen which witness drafted. While witness was going through the sheep, accused junioiy would ocasionally say: ."Don't raddle that one, it's a stranger." This I happened m all the pens. He selected 385—— a mixed line of lambs, eweg and wethers. When witness left the sheep were still m the yards. > ■■ To Mr Burnard : Ifc a very wet day and half the ya/rds were under water, and there was a lot of mud about. They were bad .yards to work sheep m, and there were bigger chances -of making mistakes on the day m question, than, on ordinary occasions. * It .was possible some "strangers" were missed when witness did some drafting m accused's absence, but the raddling had* been done under the eye of accused, junior. The "check" gate consisted of two rails and a boy; when the boy was away the sheep wandered where they liked. This might have caused a mistake. — To Detective MoLeod: It was not iimisual to have eight strange sheep amongst a< line of 380. considering the state of the yard. They had- "bustled" to get through, owing' to the rain. / . (Proceeding.)