Magisterial.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 198, 31 December 1868, Page 3

Magisterial.

— *--♦■ CHRISTCHURCH. Taw Day. '; (Before C. C. Bowen, Esq., R.M., and R. Rhodes and R. J. S. Harman, Esqs.) Forgery.— Robert B. Needham and Emily Ann Needham were brought up on remand, ' charged with havjng forged and uttered five cheques for money. Mr Jo)nt appeared on their behalf, and Sergeant Pardy conducted the ca9e for the police. Harry Feast: lam a ! detective in the Chriatchureh police, and arrested the two prisoners at half-past three o'clock on the 2fith inst., at Sumner. I told them they were charge 1 with having forged ' and uttered five cheques, and cautioned them in the usual manner. The male prisoner, in ■ reply, denied any knowledge of the affair, and said I had mistaken his wife for another t woman, because she I. ad red flowers to her . bonnet He further said he knew " his wife had not done it, for she had k no occasion to do anything of the kind, - he having always kept her well supplied witli money. The female prisoner also said "Oh dear, no, I would not do any such thing. Sir,' The male prisoner subsequent to (his, asked me to let his wife go home to Christchurch before I arrested them, but I refused. After coming to Christchurch, I went with Sergt. Pardy and the two prisoners to their house in Worcester street. On searching it, I foun'l several articles, since identified as having been obtained from the shops where the female prisoner passed the forged cheques. I searched the mate prisoner and found £2 12s in cash upon him. In addition to the articles before mentioned, I found a passbook and £7 10s in prisoner's house, both of which he said belonged to the company in whose employment he had been. I also found a cheque book, which the male prisoner said waa his, some berliu wool, a Maori kit, and crotchet cotton work, all of which I produce The three latter items have since been identified by Mrs Atkinson as what she had sold to prisoner, and for which she had received the forged cheque produced in payment. By Mr Joynt : The reason prisoner gave for wanting his wife to go home before the arrest was that it was his duty as a husband to nee her there. He evidently appeared to think that I only intended to arrest him. I obtained the cheque produced a day or two after it had been passed. When Mrs Atkinson gave it to me, she described the lady who paid it very fully, and from that description I traced the female prisoner. Margaret Atkinson : I am the wife of John Atkinson, storekeeper, on the Papanui road. Abo::t the 29th of September, the female prisoner, of whose identity I have no doubt, came to the store for six dozen of Berlin wool, and she also purchased half-a-dozen of crotchet cotton, and a Maori kit. The whole came to 9s lid, and in payment she tendered me the cheque for £6 now produced, which she endorsed, C. J. White, High street. Christchurch. I hesitated at first to accept it, and said I could $' not spare all my loose money, but I : eventually gave her £4, and asked - her to come for the balance the day *• after. She then gave me back a pound and i said " you had better keep that also, for I r- am not particularly in want of money." 1 j^lid so, and accordingly kept a balance of £3,

which she was to call for oa the following morning, bat did not. ' After she had left, I gave the cheque to my daughter to take to the Bank of Australasia, where she got it cashed. Later in the same day, the cheque wa9 returned to me as a forgery, and I then gave it to Detective Fea9t. When I took the cheque I believed it to be a genuine one. The Berlin wool produced is of the same colour as that which I sold to the fenial<" prisoner, and the other articles are also likt those she obtained from me. She had previously been to my shop for goods with a cheque, but, being for £10, I did not change it. By Mr Joynt : I did not see the female prisoner after the day I took the cheque from her until Monday list, at the depot. I have in the interim repeatedly told people that I could not identify the person out of a number as the one who paid me the cheque, but I I never said that she wa9 a till person.-; She had a thick veil over her face when in the shop. It was Detective Feast who toll me to go to the depot to see if the person there in custody was the one who passed off the cheque. I could not have told that she was the person unless I had been told that she was the oae. I should not like to swear positively that the female prisoner is the person who came into my shop with the cheques, but I have no doubt on my own mind that she is the same. I cannot distinctly swear that the articles produced are those which I sold to the person tendering the cheque, but they are exactly like them. By Sergeant Pardy : When I saw the female prisoner at [ the depot, she was walking in the yard. She was not pointed out to me. There were no other females with her. J. T. Peacock .- The signature to the cheque produced is not mine. There is no one else of the same name as myself in the province. Henry William Francis: I am ledger-keeper at the Bank of Australasia. The cheque produced was presented for payment but refused as there was no account. Mr J. T. Peacock has an account there, but no one else of the same name. There is no other account in die bank to the name of J. S. or T. J. Peacock. This concluded the evidence on the first charge, and there being nothing against the male prisoner, he was discharged so far as that one was concerned. His Worship then cautioned the female prisoner in the usual manner, but she declined to make any statement, and was committed for trial at. the next session of the Supreme Court. The second charge was then gone into. Charlotte Boggis: I am stiopwoman at Mr Cuddon's, Tuam street. I know the female prisoner. In the month of November last she came to the shop and purchased goods to the amount of £1 93. In conversation she oaid she had walked from the Papanui road and had to go to the Ferry road. She said she was very hot and tired, and stopped some time to rest herself. The stockings and other articles produced are exactly similar to a portion of the goods I sold to her. In piyment for them she tendered a cheque for £9 10s, purporting to be signed by Mr K. H. Rhodes. I accepted if, and gave her £3 Is in change. The cheque produced is the one prisoner gave me. After giving her the change I gave it to Mr Cuddon. By Mr Joynt : I had never seen the female prisoner befor.she called at the shop, nor have I seen her since, until Monday last at the dejot. She was pointed out to me there by Sergeant Pardy, who asked me if she was the r--"-«n«i. who paid me the cheque. I replied i>. affirmative as soon as ever I saw her. In-, no doubt of her identity, nor have I now. I should have recognised her if I had seen her in the street. I have no doubt whatever on the point. I had previously described her to Detective Feast. She had a thick veil on when she came to the shop, but did not wear it over her face. It was thrown back. Ido not know anything further about the cheque after I gave it to Mr Cuddon. By Sergeant Pardy : I remember coming to the depot on Monday last. I was seate lin a room when I saw the female prisoner. You were not in the room with me. The female prisoner was walking up and down the yard. You d d not in any way -whatever call my attention to her. By the Bench : When I said Sergeant Pardy called my attention to her, I meant that he came out of a room with her. By Serjeant Pardy : The fennle prisoner's husband wa9 with her when I saw her in the yard, but he was not present when I asked you if that was the woman. It was after both prisoners had been removed that you came and asked me if that was the woman. By Mr Joynt : I identify the female prisoner by her features, of which lam quite positive. R. H. Rhodes : I reside on the Papanui road. The signature on the cheque produced is not in my handwriting. Ido not know of any other adult | person in Canterbury having the same initials as myself. No one has authority to sign cheques with my name. George Stead : I am ledger keeper at the Union Bank of Australia. The cheque produced was presented for payment, but returned, the signature b.ing unlike. Mr R. H. Rhodes, Papanui road, has an arcount at the bank, but no one else of the same name. Detective Feast : I found the Btockings and other articles produced in the house inhabited by the prisoners. I received the cheque produced from Mr Cuddon. As in the first case, the rtale prisoner was discharged, and the female prisoner was committed for trial. The third charge was next gone into. Henrietta Bowler: I keep a milliner's shop in High street. I know the female prisoner. On the 3rd of December she came to my shop and bought a pair of stays and a crinoline. After some consideration, she said she would send the man for them, and remarked that the carriage man was near at hand. She made reference to Mr Peacock in the conversation, and tendered a cheque for £8 10s, purporting to be signed by him in favour of Miss Morgan, as payment for the stays. The cheque produced is the same, and in change for it -I gave her £6 11s. She ultimately took the parcel away herself. I identify the articles produced as those which I sold to her, and hare no doubt whatever about them. By

Mr Joynt : I am quite sure as to the articles. They were made by myself and assistant. I did not see the female prisoner after her visit to my shop until I saw her at the depot. I recognised her immediately I saw her. In fact, I knew her voice before seeing her face. lam quite certain of her features. She was altogether about fifteen minutes in my shop. She had a veil on, but not over her face. It was down one side of her bonnet. I am confident I should have known her without being pointed out. . I took the cheque to Mrs Butler, whose shop is next door, to get change for it, and Mrs Butler advanced me the money until her husband went to the Bank with it. The cheque was not written out in my shop, nor did the feirale prisoner write anything upon it. Frederick Charles Hall : I am a clerk in the employment of Mr Wy nn Williams. I know the male prisoner, who, up to the time of his arrest, was employed by Mr C. R. Blakiston in the same buildings as myself. He was in the habit of coming into my office. He came on one occasion for some bank cheques which I gave him. He did not say what they were for. The cheques in the book from which I took those I gave to him were numbered. The cheque produced is like one of the blank forms I gave to prisoner. I produce the book from which it was taken. I cannot swear that it came out of the book, but it is numbered the same. The counter-foils in the book are not numbered but only the cheques. The prisoner had in all about four or five cheques from the book. I do not recollect supplying anyone else with blank cheques out of the book The cheques are on the Bank of Australasia, where I knew the prisoner had an account. By Mr Joynt: The cheque-book was kept in an open drawer, and any of the clerks — four in number — had access to it. I may have given as many as three cheques to Mr Needham at once. I think I did do so about six months ago. None of the clerks were to my knowledge in the habit of supplying blank cheques to other people. H. W. Francis : — I am ledger-keeper at the Bank of Australasia. A book of blank cheques, containing a corresponding number to the one produced, was supplied to Mr Wynn Williams. A book with the same number would not be supplied to any one else. All the cheques in the book bore the same number. No person of the name of J. T. Peacock, with which the cheques produced is signed, has an account at the Bank, nor was there ever one of that name o i the books. By Mr Joynt : The mala prisoner has drawn two cheques bearing the same number as the one produced. Bmh were on the 26th of September. The forged cheque is dated the 28th of November. By the Bench: I think the male prisoner had not a cheque-book of his own at the time he drew the two cheques on the 26th September. By Mr Joynt : I know that the male prisoner had a credit balance at the bank on the 28th November. J. T. Peacock : The'signnture on the cheques produced is not in my handwriting, nor do I know anyone bearing the same name. Detective Feast : I found the crinoline and stays produced in the bedroom of the female prisoner. Both the prisoners were present. This concluded the evidence, and Mr Joynt addressed the Bench, at length, on behalf of the mule prisoner. The Bench, however, considered the complicity proved, and com- . jnitted both for trial. The fourth case was oaen taken. Sarah Butler: lam the wife of Thos. Butler, and carry on business as a milliner and dressmaker in High street. I know the prisoner. She came to my shop about noon, on the 26th September. I have no doubt as to her identity. I saw her looking in the shop window, about ten minutes before she came, into the shop. She purchased some white blonde, some narrow blue ribbon, and other articles. The whole of them amounted to 14s, and, in payment, she gave me a cheque for £5 ss. I cashed it, and gave her the change. The cheque purported to be signed by W. B. Jones, but I could not say in whose favour. The cheque produced is the same. It was too late when I received it to take it to the Bank, anJ in the evening I gave it to my husband. The pattern fall and blonde produced are those I sold to the prisoner. By Mr Joynt : lam certain as to the identity of the articles. I can speak positively to the pattern because I have one like it in the shop, and I know that there is not another like it in the town. I have not the slightest doubt as to the identity of the prisoner. W. B. Jones : I am a Custom House asfent, and carry on business in Lyttelton. I know the prisoners, and originally resided next door to them. I have no recollection of the male prisoner having seen my signature, but he has seen my handwriting. The signature on the cheque produced is not in my handwriting, but it is a good imitation. I have not an account at the bank now, but had originally. H. W. Francis gave evidence of the cheque having been presented for payment but refused, there being no account. Detective Feast proved to having found the blond and pattern in the home inhabited by the prisoners, and to the female prisoner wearing the veil when arrested. The cheque produced filled one of the counterfoils in the cheque book also found in the house. As in the previous cases, both prisoners declined to make any statement, and the female prisoner was again committed for trial, but the bench considered there was nothing to implicate the male prisoner, and he was dismissed on this as on the two first charges. The fifth case was for passing a forged cheque to Mr Urquhart, of Colombo street, and the identity of the female prisoner beingsatisfactorily proved, she was committed for trial, but there was nothing to implicate the male prisoner, and he was discharged. In reply to Mr Joynt, the Bench said bail would be accepted in two sureties, of £250 each, for the female prisoner, and two of £100 each for the male prisoner. Mr C. R. Blakiston, by leave of the Bench, denied the truth of the statement i made by the male prisoner to Detective , Feast respecting the pass-book. It did not belong to the company.