YOUNG MAN FINED AT GORE

Southland Times, Issue 25668, 10 May 1945, Page 8

YOUNG MAN FINED AT GORE

Obscene Language Charge Gerald Francis Bourke, a soldier at Burnham military camp, was convicted and fined £5 on a charge of using obscene language in the Heriot Public I Hall on the night of February 21, when Ihe appeared before Messrs H. A. Price and N. C. Yeoman, Justices of the Peace, at a sitting of the court at Gore yesterday. He was also convicted and fined £2 on a charge of using threatening behaviour and ordered to pay 10/costs. The fines will be paid at the rate of £1 a fortnight. The charges were originally heard at a sitting of the» Magistrate’s Court at Tapanui and adjourned to Gore for hearing last Tuesday, as there was no appearance of the defendant He was again absent when the case was reopened and the Magistrate (Mr R. C. Abernethy) said he would issue an order for the apprehension of the defendant to appear at the nearest court to Burnham. It was explained yesterday by his counsel (Mr G. M. Salmond) that Bourke had failed to understand that the case would be heard on Tuesday. A plea of guilty was entered. Senior-Sergeant J. H. S. Hogg said a dance was being held in the Heriot hall on the night of February 21. The defendant had picked on one man and used vile language. He had challenged him to fight and the disturbance was broken up with great difficulty. He was not long out of the hall when trouble broke out again. The argument continued with others, and it was only the presence of mind of some other persons that prevented a fight taking place. The evidence was that there was no provocation, and there was a pleasant atmosphere at the function until the disgusting language was used by the defendant and the other man who had been previously charged. Mr Salmond said the trouble was not just as tlie police had stated. A man named McKenzie had accused the de-

fendant of cutting the spark plug cables of his car. This had rankled in his mind, and the defendant demanded an apology. The language was not used in the presence of women. He offered to have it out in a manly fashion outside. The reason of his action was a deep sense of injustice about a wrongful accusation. Bourke was only 20 years of age and had served in the Mercantile Marine. He was contributing 5/- a day to a widowed mother and was dependant on army pay of 8/6 a day. The seriousness of the offence was emphasized by Mr Price, and the defendant was warned by Mr Yeoman that he had made a bad start and to be more careful. A man’s expressions., he said, were the evidence of what was in his mind.