CRIMINAL CASES.

Colonist, Volume LIII, Issue 13049, 8 March 1911, Page 6 (Supplement)

CRIMINAL CASES.

(From "The Colonist," Feb. 28.) : The "usual sessions of the iSupremc Oouit commenced yesterday, before his Honour Mr Justice Chapman. Grand jurors were cworn in as follows:—L. H. Graham, L. J. Frank, W. S. Hampson, W, York, M, P. Web-~ ster, J..-F. Hartby, H. M, Field, A. P. Lucas, S. Kirkpatrick, J. H. Finney E. Smallbouc, A. R. Griffin, F. 0. Hamilton, C. W. Brown, F. <i. Edwaids, I. Best, H. McNab, h. Li. Griffin, C- A. Green, J. Hair, It. Allan, J: C. Mercer, E. S. Cresewell. ivlr Kirkpatrick was chosen foreman. His Honour, in his address to the grand jury, said that his duties were fight, aiuHha duties of the. grand jury would ii.ct.b3 onerous: There were two -cases—one of breaching cargo and stealing certain articles. The amount involved was not great, but the offence was one. of a kind that had always to be, seriously considered. Any suggection that the. theft occurred during the vovap-e would bo negatived by. the cudeiice of. an eye, witness. rlhe other cas» was one in which a man was al-lc"-"d to have committed an unnatiual offence In conclusion, his Honour congratulated the grand jury on the practical immunity of the district iroiu serious crime. . After a short retirement the grami jury returned with a true bill against Lukellobnian, charged with the tne.lt of 21bs of ginger and apples, .valued at Is from the cargo of the Pateena at Nelson on Saturday, 18th inst. 'Lire accused, for whom Mr C. .1. Harlcy appeared, pleaded guilty to both charges. Tho accused also came up lor sentence on a charge of stealing a hat from the cargo of the Pateena o.n 21r.t instant. , hi answer to the querft:on whether he, had anything to say why E'.:ute.nce of the court should not be passed upon him, the accused pleaded for meiey. He had, he &aid, a wife nnd chikl iv keep, and imprisonment would break up his home That was the first time ho bad been inside a court. Mr Harley asked that accused have th<) benefit of the Probation Act, <;r that he be fined, rather than imprisoned. He was aware that the offence was a sca-ious one, but lie would point out that the accused's house bad been searched, and that nothing bi-d b:>en f-;und there that would indicate that be had been iv the habit of pilienr.g car"o He undca-stood that the report on the man was good The value ol the hat stolen was small, and as to_the ■vin"-or and apples taken o.u a previous date, they were eaten on the steamer and not taken away, and nothing was said about them until the hat was Etolen. This would indicate that the officer did not consider that the thett of the ginger and apples was a very serious matter. His Honour said that it was a very painful case for him to deal with— painful for him to deal with it r.s he would have to do. There was no other way of dealing with it than by imprisonment. From many parts ol the Dominion there bad bea.i complaints of the difficulty of repressing piliering of cargo by men working on ships ; and th^' Press had had a good dea to say in referei^e to the matter. It hnu been made known all through Now Zea'and tl^tthe Court would nnpriso.i in such cask; the Cou^t would not be •Joing its duty if it did not do so. Accused must have seen those n-foicrc :: in the pre&s, yet on two difterent <:cca.■ions he had pilfered. Had it been only n small quantity of fruit that wrs stolen, even that would have been a .rnnind for im|)rixonmont alter all tlir.t .had been caid; but the accused had dope lvoro tlian that. He had taken a h-t, intruding to use it. If the accused h'!:l ytrik-n lor proht he would lm-o rreeived a' lon'j; sentence but thor<. was iio «i:y of dealing with th.> present case excrrrt by imprisonment. 'Vbo BvntwK-e v.-c.xih] b;- n short, oi:r-:-nerlnDf. too choit c-im«istMit witli lv>? Honour's duty. He felt exceedingly -.oii-v, as the voting man appeared to ' lie respectable. The .sentence of the Court was that the accused be niipris;;<;ied for two mouths on each charge, the seiitencvs to be concurrent.