OBSCENE LANGUAGE

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LII, Issue 17158, 7 October 1926, Page 12

OBSCENE LANGUAGE

I USED TO YOUNG GIRLS i WAIROA PROSECUTION (Special ki the Herald.) WAI'H'.A. this day. , Charged with having used obscene ! language in McLean street, dames FilzI gerald appeared before Mr. K. C. Lev j vey, S.M.. in Iho Magistrate's Court i yesterday. Mr. F. Jones appeared for tin' accused, who elected In he dealt with summarily, and pleaded not guilty. On the application of Sergeant Wade the Court was cleared, as young children Here to give evidence, .and the language might not be lit to hear, lie also in(licagid that there had been some friction between the accused ami the mother of ona. of the witnesses. Evidence was given by a. yonng gfrl to the elicit that on September 24 .she saw the accused in .McLean street, there being two other girls with her. Accused was on a bicycle, and used certain words lo them as lie passed, and he had ! threatened her several times. She told her mother, who said she would see the police. ffwo other little girls gave corroborative evidence. Mr. Junes suggested that the case was a result of a family spite against his client. It was quite impossible that for no particular reason the accused should have used such an awful volume of language. They only had his word against the Crown witnesses, and they were not agreed as to the exact words. The accused did not, as a matter of fact, ever use much words, even among his mates. He was a hard worker, sober. and honest. ; The accused stated that he was going home from his work and passed the girls. One girl had a bike and she pushed it across the road in front of him, though there was still room for him to pass. As the girl pushed out the bike he said: "You dirty wretch, ij you do that again I'll screw your neck." He never used the' two last words named in the information at arty tunc. , A. IT. Davis, who had employed accused since 1915, said lie Avas one of the finest men he knew, and never used strong language, J. 11. Dixon gave similar evidence. His Worship said he was satisfied thai some objectionable words were used, though, perhaps, not as bad as at first stated. The case was not a trivial one, and he would advise accused to move away quickly from where he was living as there was a possibility of again forgetting himself*. He could not ignore I he evidence of the children, and would order aec&sed lo pay the Court costs.