ONE MONTH IN GAOL

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 64, Issue 4559, 13 April 1942, Page 4

ONE MONTH IN GAOL

YOUNG MAORI SENTENCED SEQUEL TO AN ASSAULT Messrs W. Jeffery and H. C. Rainey, Justices of the Peace, presided at a sitting of the Police Court, held in Te Aw_amutu on Saturday morning, when a young Maori named Whareturere Heke was charged with assaulting one John Wright at Paterangi that morning. Sergeant S. G. Clist, who prosecuted, stated that the previous evening Wright had accused Heke’s younger brother of stealing cigarette papers. The allegation had then been denied, but its truth was subsequently admitted. Next morning, when the parties were at breakfast, Heke, without provocation, assaulted Wright, and had it not been for the intervention of Mr S. G. B. Macky, on whose farm at Paterangi the parties were employed, the consequences might have been very serious- He stressed the fact that the Maoris must be taught a severe lesson—that they must not take the law into their own hands. The accused, in a statement to the police, admitted the offence, but alleged that he had hit Wright merely with his open hand. In reply the Sergeant called Wright, whose face bore the marks of severe abrasions. The Sergeant observed that these injuries could not have been caused by smacks from the open hand, and Wright would be lucky if he did not have two black eyes a few hours later. In reply to the Bench, accused said he had nothing to say. The Sergeant said that the accused’s father and mother and 10-year-old brother and Heke and his wife and child were all living in the one place; it was most unsatisfactory. Accused, who was of a very quarrelsome nature, had been in trouble before. Accused was sentenced to one month’s imprisonment with hard labour. Remarks by the Bench concerning the unruly conduct of Maoris are reported in another part of the present issue.