Supreme Court.—Criminal

Taranaki Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 11340, 5 October 1898, Page 2

Supreme Court.— Criminal

." ITTINGS. THIS DAY Wednesday, October 5. — Before His Honor Justice E. T. Conolly. The half-yearly Criminal Sessions of the Supreme Court were commenced at 11 o'clock, when Hia Honor took his seat. Gkand Jurt, The following Grand Jury was empanelled :— A. Ambury, D. Arrowsmith, J. Avery, W. F. Brooking, 8. A. B. Capel, W. Courtney, H. B. Curtis, G. Falkner, J. W. Foote,T. Furlong, jan.,H. Gilmour, J S. Glynea, A. Gray, F. W. Hall, N. King, A. V. Kirkby, W. C. Lawrence, ■N. K. MacOiarmid, J S. McKellar, J. W. iviori-head, 0. Oxenham, A. Raynes, and T. K. Skinner. Mr King was chosen as foreman. His Hokok'B Charge. In addressing the Grand Jury, His Honor said the number of indictments to be presented to them on this occassion was larger than usual, but he was happy to say there were do very grave charges amongst them — none ac all events Involving the loss of life, and he did not think any of them would cause the jury much trouble. There might, however, be one or two such cases, upon which he would make a few comments. There were two charges of horae stealing, in both of which there seemed to be some pretended claim of right. The taking of the horses did not seem to be disputed, and he thought the jury would find the evidence of each horse owner sufficient to send the case for trial. There were three cases of obtaining money or goods by passing or attempting to pas* valueless cheques. He had over and over again remarked' upon the extreme carelessness which appears to be shown in taking cheques from persons unknown and with signatures with which people are not acquainted. The anxiety to do trade appeared to operate to prevent that caution which should be observed in business matters. Those cases required no comment. There is a case of breaking and entering a shop with intent to steal, the circumstances in whi h were somewhat peculiar. A. man was found at three o'clock in the morning in a part of the chop in which the goods were. Bis explanation would appear to be that he did not know what he was about ; that ha had been drinking and had wandered into the place. But the jury would see there is some evidence of the man having entered by means of a key. It was, however, for the jury to consider wheiher the man was there with any dishonest intention or whether he was there without such intention The other case of breaking and entering also presented some very peculiar features. A man carrying on business in this town was found to be in possession of articles of clothing which had been made up by different tailors. These articles oi clothing corresponded apparently in size and same piece of cloth which had been stolen from a Bhop in New Plymouth rather more . than a year ago That the shop was broken into and robbed in August, 1897, there is no doubt what" ever ; also that a number of pieces oi cloth were taken. The prisoner's defen.i wa* that he bought the good* from a hawker, but he is not able to say whc the man was or give information which would enable him to be traced. Ihe cast differed from many. Where a man it found immediately in possession of stoles goods there is a strong inference that he is the party who stole them. Here, however, the goods -if they are the samewere Dot seen for twelve months. Therefore it is not a recent possession, and ii there had been only one piece fouud under the same circumstances there would be an extremely weak case to pre> sent to the jury, but there were two or three articles of clothing made up of different cloths, which were apparently the same as those stolen. The jury would probably consider the case ought to be tried. He had no need to refer to the indecent assault case ; it was very simple and very clear. There are two cases oi robbery -that is theft accompanied by violence. One was a case in which a Ohinaman living in the west end of the town alleged he was attacked by two men whom he knew, and who knocked him down and robbed him of 6s. It was for the jury to consider very carefully whether, if the case is sent for trial, there is a reasonable probability of a conviction. Several witnesses were called, but, singu larly enough, as far as could be gleaned from the depositions, none of them supported the story of the Chinaman. Some of them, in fact — interested witnesses to a certain extent — gave an entirely different version, but it would be for the Grand Jury to care fully consider the whole evidence and decide accordingly. The other case of robbery is a more serious one. The prosecutor resided at Te Koti, and went to Hawera For two days he was there, going apparently from hotel to hotel, drinking and playing billiards, and while so engaged he appears to have made the acquaintance of one person— four . men are charged in the matter — named S. Cooper. They went about together, and on a Saturday everiing his friend— His Honour supposed he must call him such — tripped him up and put the cape of his overcoat over his face. Some others came up, and among them the man was robbed of a£s note and 12s. As stated before, four person! "are charged, but the, prosecutor can only swear to one. Three were charged in one indictment, and the other singly. The reason of that was the one charged singly admitted his guilt and would give evidence against the others. It was only right to warn the gentlemen of the jury that though in law it was strictly permissible to find a bill on the evidence of an accomplice, and even to convict a prisoner on euch unsupported evidence, it was the duty of Judges to warn jurymen that the evidence of an accomplice should always be substantiated. His Honor then briefly directed the jury as to their duties, and the gentlemen retired. TRUE BILLS were returned in the following cases : — J. H. Ellerm, horse stealing ; Moaho, forgery and uttering ; W. A. Hansen, robbery. NO BILL. The jary threw out the bill against G. Dobbie, breaking and entering. TIIEFT OF A HOBSE. A youth named James Henry Ellern was charged with stealing a gelding at Te Nganni, near Manaii, on 3 1st January,* the property of Thomas Goldup. He pleaded guilty. Mr Weston appeared for ihe prisoner and spoke in mitigation of the offence. Be stated that the Minister for Education ■had asked htm to obtain some particulars concerning the 'boy, who had been an inmate of the Industrial School. He had made enquiries and found the bo>'» life had not been a happy one. For some, reason he had not pulled well with his father, and home relations had been far from pleasant. It was true the boy had two previous convictions against him, but ihat could prob&bly be attributed to his unhappy surroundings, as he ( Mr Weston) understood the report of the gaoler as to the boy's conduct while in gaol was favourable. Mr O'Brien, gaoler, was called and deposed that the boy had behaved excellently well in gaol. His Honor remarked that people generally Behaved well while in gaol; they were obliged to, and he would like to mow something about the lad when he was not in custody. >Mr Goldup was called and stated that the boy was a good working lad, but aad been badly brought up. THis Honor said in view of the previous convictions he could not deal with the case as asked by Counsel. The prisoner he sentenced to six months' imprison* meet with hard labour i , FORQEBIFG AND UTTEEIXO. ! Moaho, a native, pleaded guilty to a chwge of forging aud uttering a cheque forjjl lOsj, purporting to b« sigm-d by Krtki. Mr Weatou appealed for the prisoner. Sentence will be passed to-morrow moraing.

ROBBERY. William A. Hansen, a youth, was arraigned on au indictment, charging him with having, on 6th August, at Hawera, robbed one John Milner of a £5 note and 12". Prisoner pleaded guilty. His Honor stated that he would not deal with the case until the other cases were finished. (Left Sitting.) THE CENTRAL SCHOOL. The Committee of the Central School are pleased to note the steady improvement in the attendance. Although there has been a considerable amount of sickness among the pupils during the past three months, no fewer than 113 children have been present every time the school was open during the quarter, while many others, have been absent only once or twice. The habit of regularity has a beneficial effect not only on the character of each individual child but on the whole school. This is evidenced in the recent report on the school by the Inspector, which was before the Committee at thtir last meeting, where Mr Spencer says :— "The order and discipline were excellent and the pupils were attentive and well mannered". "The cleanliness and general condition of the premises and grounds were very satisfactory. "The general clerical work was very satisfactory and on the whole steady progress had been made in all subjects". The following is the list of the names of tho3e who have made full attendance : - Standard Vl.— Ethel Blanchett, Ada Bleasdale, Ethel Nash, Lizzie Preston, Nina Rundle, Gordon Aickin, Arthur Edgecombe, Harry Marfell, Robert Reed, Niel Mclsaao, Willie Thompson, Hupurt White, Edgar Usborne. Standard- V.- Albert Bleasdale, Tom Beals, Russell Baker, Harold Richards, Gertrude O'Brien, Blanche Rampton. Standard IV. — Reggie Aiuken, Louis Blanchett, Cyril (Jl&rk, Sydney Deacon, William Hoskin, James Laing, Charles Pearce, Ronald Paul, Lionel Rogers, Maud Buchanan, Nellia Collis, LiUiam Ovenden, Olive Warland, Florrie Shearer, Emma Loveridge, Lulu Tunbridge, Mabel Stamp. Standard lll.— Charles Evans, Willie Harvey, Hugh Hislop, Alfred Pearce, Leslie Richards, Sydney Routley, Fred Jull, Hubert Stagpoole, Irene Aicken, Lily Brookes, Amy Crawford, Charlotte Jeffrey, Nora Dempsey, Eva Elder, Effie Mclndoe, Isabel Mace. Standard ll.— Gladys Colson, Florrie Corbett, Ivy Bleasdale, Maud Dowling, Olive O'Leary, Susy Parry, Bessie Rampton, Clara Hawk'ns, Onslomr West, Cam. Buchanan, Edward Aicken, Robert Smith, Sydney Avery, Louis Clow, Harry Clark, George Pearce, Hersey Stemp. Standard I —George Brown, William Christian, Louis Crann, Charlie Coleman, Ronald Davidson, Charlie Harvey, Lewis Neal, Arnold White, Clifford Youngman, Guy Marey, Ivy Arnold, El'a Aioken, Jlive Bullot, Winnie Eider, Ruby Hurle, Nellie Jenkins, Mildred Mace, Muriel Stemp, Hetty Savage, Iria O'Leary. Infanta Class.- George Allen, Harold Blyth, Gordon Doile, Laslie Hardgrave, Arthur Osborne, Albert Richards, Percy Tuabridge, Horace White,, Alfred Walton, Cyril Youngman, Arthur Lealaud, Leslie bole, Sydney Shirley, Royce Pepperell, Mary Dowling, Sophia blsie Harle, Alice Tanner, Gladys Biggens, Mabel Claasen, May Harvey, Lottie Claasen, Cbarlie Crann, Cyril Lealand. The following children at the West Infants' School have also made fall attendances for the quarter ending Sept. 30th:- y Standard lll.— Bertie Stohr, Isabel Hooker, Blanche Edgecombe, May Dutton. Standard 11. — Jack Stohr, Keith Mclsaac, Sydney Praaer, Lucy Preston, May Edgecombe, Nellie Hooker, Pearl Bullock, MadoJine Rogers. Standard I — Herbert Thompson. Infants.— Carville Evetts, Cyril Ward, Leslie Dutton, Walter .- turmey, George Robinson, James Uielly, JUlsie Russell, Olive Sturmey, Annie Trigger.