REGAN STREET INCIDENT

Stratford Evening Post, Issue 82, 12 August 1929, Page 6

REGAN STREET INCIDENT

IWO CHARGES OF ALLEGED ... ASSAULT. i ” QONSTABLE AND YOUNG MAN, ' v 'CASE AGAINST OFFICER DlSgj. MISSED. ;Jv. .Leonard G. Collins, M,r- Moss appeared, pleaded not gpilty at the Stratford Court this morning to charges of using insulting language and assaulting Constable HUghes. Collins charged Htighes with assault, Mr Coleman sfiteririg a plea of not : guilty on behalf of Hughes. On a charge of. usng indecent language, Collins ejected to be dealt with by the Supreme Court. jsjn evidence, Hughes stated that aibput 2.15 |).m., on July 24th he was ■ proceeding up Regan Street West, ill' uniform, when accused came to-, wjards him, his attitude being hostile. As Collins passed witness he bumped into witness’ side. Witness did not stop, but Collins said: “Oh, you’re, only a gi'easer.” Witness said he did not want language of the sort in the main street, and Cbllins retorted with an indecent remark. witness was carrying a correspondence tile and made a note

of the remarks on it. Collins would have been arrested except for his youth and the fact that he worked for a reputable firm. sir akin g iris head; To Mr Moss: As Collins approached he was shaking his head, suggesting that he had some deliberate intention. Mr Moss: I suggest that you have some feeling against Collins. Witness: I have not. Mr Moss: It seems queer that previous to you coming here, Collins had never been convicted. Mr Moss; Collins, says that as you met him you put your shoulder into him and said: Take that for your cheek. ~ ! ■/ Witness: I repudiate that. Mr Moss: It wouldn’t he the first time you assaulted a Stratford r c- ■ sident without cause. Witness: I suppose you refer to Aitken. He said I assaulted him. Mr Moss: Didn’t you go to Aitken and ask him to get charges withdrawn, as otherwise you would get into trouble. Witness: I did not d 0 that, I went to Aitken, under instructions, to ask him to call at the Police Station. Mr Moss: You can give no reason why Collins should act as he did? Witness: It would be strange if I assaulted Collins. In Aitken’s case I had grounds. Mr Moss: After Collins was pre-

viously in Court, didn’t you say: I’ll fix you! ‘ Witness: No. NO WITNESSES. To Mr Coleman: On no previous occasion had witness met Collins on the street when nobody else was present. Witness reported the matter immediately on his return to the Police Station. When Collins was previously before the Court he expressed animosity towards witness. Constable Gill gave evidence of serving summonses on Co his. Thi s closed the case for the prosecution. THE CASE FOR COLLINS. In evidence, Collins said he had been employed by Messrs Masters, Ltd., for the past five years. As he approached Hughes he gave him a hard look, and Hughes gave him a hard look back. As they came abreast Hughes gave witness a s harp knock with his shoulder, saying; “Take that for your cheek.” Hughes looked round, -grinning like a big schoolboy. Witness was naturally excited. He thought he said: “You’re only a blasted (greaser.j” Witness had the impression that Hughes was hounding him and tlTat [ lie would have liked to have charged him before Jhat. 1 Mr Coleman: Wasn’t Hughes taking a risk to bump into an unoffending citizen. Witness: He had me alone and that’s why he did it. Continuing, witness said, he had not made his charge against Hughes at once. Mr Tate, S.M.: I' wonder why, when Constable Gill saw yon, you did not deny any assault. Witness: You can’t tell the police too much. I went to see my solicitor. Mr Tate: The charge against the constable is a very serious matter. If you were assaulted the proper thing to do was to complain at once to the Sergeant, who could not treat it a s a joke. AITKEN’S EVIDENCE. Mr Moss said he intended to call Aitken. i Mr Coleman objected. Mr Moss said the reliability of the evidence of the constable was very important. Aitken would be called to disprove statements made in the witness-box by Hughes. Mr Coleman objected to the evidence being given, holding it was 'irrelevant. Mr Moss s aid all he could do was to state that reputable citizens said the constable had made untrue statements in the witness-box. Summing up, M r Tate, S.M., said bo had to weight the probabilities of the case, and candidly, he could not believe Collins’ evidence, There seemed to he no doubt that Collins had jostled the constable. Collins should get it out of his head that the constable had him “set.” Collins would be convicted and fined 40s with costs 12s on one charge and 20s with costs 12s on the other. The charge against the constable would be dismissed. The police were given permission to withdraw the charge of using md v onl language.