POLICE COURT.—Yesterday.

Thames Advertiser, Volume XIII, Issue 3637, 26 June 1880, Page 3

POLICE COURT.—Yesterday.

Before H. KeNRIOK, JBaq., K.M,

Collabless Dogs.—James Pecter Was charged with having allowed his:dog to wander at large without a registered collar.—He pleaded guilty, and asked the Court to allow him time to procure a collar, as he was in poor circumstances. —His Worship said he had no power to allow. time v but would only inflict a nominal penalty of Is without costs, —Patrick Carrol was similarly dealt with, —George Fisher was also charged, but did not appear.—Const. MoManus proved the service of (he summons and the ownership of the animal; and defendant was fined 10s and costs.—John Bafferty did not appear in answer to the summons.— Sergfc. Mulvill proved the case, and the Court fined the offender only 5s and costs, as tho animal had' since been registered, Safe.—Bogarding tho application of Mr Brassey that William Holman Curno w, committed for trial for rape, should be admitted to bail, his Worship said he had carefully considered the request, and had decided not to grant it. He did not think he would be justified in admitting the prisoner to bail, as the offence with which ho was charged was a very grave ono, and it would not be long before the Supreme Court oommenced its quarterly sitting,

Indhobnt Assault.-Patrick Lawlor, a bushman, was charged on remand with having committed an unnatural assault on Henry Forman, a youth, at.Tairua.— Mr Brassey appeared for the accused, and pleaded not guilty.—Henry Fornjan deposed that he was a sawyer living at Tairua, He lived with two other men in a small wooden house. Their names were Patrick Lawlor and —. Keefe. The building was the property of the Union Sash and Door Company, and was used by the men employed abopt the sawmill. They did not pay rent for it. There were a numbey, of similar houses about. When the manager of the mill put men in a house he did not appoint anyone to take charge of it, but the first ssm in it was acknowledged to b,e the boas. The boss had not thrower to turn any man out of h}B Witness's age was 20 last month. He was the boss of (jho. house in whi,oh they were living. He remembered the evening of friday, the 11-th. When, he turned in to bed, ]£eefe, was, fto only other" man, in the ]),la,c,o', JJe had ao idea wfyat accused \yas doing that night.. He went to oed about 10 o'clock, and woke some hours after through feeling some person catching hold of him. (Witness then described the assault.) He struggled with accused, and succeeded in freeing himself. Ho did not go to sleep any more Hint morning. Ho generally rose at twenty mmutes past 5 o'clock, when the second whistle was blown. He was quito sure bo did not go to sloop again,

Accused and Keefe got up when the first whistle blow at 5 o'clock. Witness put the light out. Ho did not hear anyone ooming in or out during the night/ He did not think accused was in his sleep when he committed the assault. Accused had lived in the hut for about a month. No (words passed between them at the time; the | assault was committed. Witness spoke to Lawlor afterwards, taxing him with the assault. All the single men had their meals at tho cook-house, Koefe, Lawlor, and witness amongst them. He went to work at six o'clock, and remained there about half an hour. At balf-paat sis o'clock he was sent out by Mr Harding, the manager of the mill, to search for the dead body of a'man named Wilson, who had been drowned in the harbour whilst assisting to tow a schooner out to sea. He remained at this work for twelve hours. On knocking off he at once went to his shanty, and saw prisoner sitting on his bunk. Witness asked him whether he intended to clear out or not ? Witness told him that if he did not he should speak to tho manager nbout the assault. Accused replied, " Yes, I'll cloar," after which he saw Mr Harding, and asked him to turn Lawlor out of the house. Mr Harding asked him what for, and witness explained. While' they were talking, prisoner entered, and tho manager took him outside, Lawlor did not return, and had not occupiedabunk intheshanty since. It was barely half a minute from the time the man vanished fromhis bed till hefound the match and struck it. He did not notice the matohes on the paok of cards when he went to bed. He did not know how they came there, When he struck tho. second: matoh he looked for the candle, but could not find it. Candlo and candlestick had both gone* .He had nothing to lose except his head, and he was not afraid of losing that. Keefe. could not have got to his bed and settled,.as witness saw him from the time he let go the man's hair till be struck the matoh. At first he kept hold of prisoner's head with one hand, and felt with the other for the matches. He first of all thought it was a dream when he felt the person in his bed. Ho did not think so now. He was not dreaming at the time. The door creaked if opened quickly, but not when opened slowly. He had suspicion that accused tried to get into his bed three days before. His suspicions were based upon the tact. that he woke up suddenly one night, and found the clothes all off him on one side, and heard somebody moving about. On the Monday the constable took down his statements in writing, and he signed it. It was not for fear of being summoned that he laid the information, but because accused carried things with a high hand. Although he had seen accused several times afterwards, he never directly taxed him with the assault, On Sunday, the same day when accused threatened to summons him, witness' was going down the road, when accused stopped him and asked him to say no more about. the assault, as he did not want to be shown up; but he (witness) could not recollect the exact words.—Matthew Keefe, em-, ployed in the Tairua mill, and a roommale of the last witness, also gave evidence, but no new faots were elicited.— Constable Joyce deposed tbat.ha was in the charge of the Tairua police station. He remembered Sunday, the 13th inst. 1 The.youth Forman complained to him' that an indecent assault had been committed upon him, and he arrested the accused in consequence of the information he received.—This closed the case for the prosecution,—Mr Brassey,-fou the defence, asked the Court whether it considered a prima facie case had been made out P He contended that the Court would not bo justified in sending the prisoner for trial in the face of the evidence adduced, The prosecutor's evidence was not altogether satisfactory, and it had not been corroborated by any witness.—His Worship said either the acoused had committed a grave crime, or the proseoutor had committed.perjury. He held that a prima facio cise had been made out, and would commit the prisoner for trialPrisoner reserved his defence, and was committed to take his trial at the next criminal session of the Supreme Court, '