CRIMINAL SITTINGS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 637, 8 June 1870, Page 3

CRIMINAL SITTINGS.

This Dat. (Before Mr Justice Gresson and Common Juries.) His Honor opened the quarterly sittings of the Circuit Court for the despatch of criminal business at eleven o'clock this morning. The Registrar read the Order in Council with regard to the division of the colony into judicial districts, and the alteration in the time of sitting of the Court in all districts. In the Canterbury District, the Circuit Court of the Supreme Court for the despatch of civil and criminal business, will be holden at Christchurch on the first Monday in each of the months of March, June, September, and December in each and every year. S^^ GBJLND JOBT. The following gentlemen were sworn as the Grand Jury:— Messrs Wm. Reeves (foreman), Geo. Gould, J. G.-Jtfawkes, John Anderson, E. M. Templar, Wm. Kennaway, W. F. Moore, F. A. Bishop, Thos. Cass, J. N. Tosswill, F. W. Delamain, W. J. Crispe, George Hart, J. J. Fletcher, E. C. Minchin, L. E. Nathan, J. Strangman, H. B. Huddleston. THE JUDGE'S CHABGE. His Honor charged the Grand Jury as folows: — Mr Reeves, and Gentlemen of the Grand Jury, — The cases in the calendar are more numerous than usual, and some of them contain charges of a very serious nature, but they almost all belong to classes of crime with which your experience makes you familiar. There is one caie, and only one, upon which I deem it necessary to trouble you with any special observations. The " Malicious Injuries to Property Act, 1867," section 3, enacts that " whosoever shall unlawfully and maliciously set fire to any house, &c, with indent thereby to injure or defraud any person, shall be guilty of felony;" and section 54 enacts, "that whosoever shall make or manufacture, or knowingly have in his possession, any gunpowder, &c, with intent thereby, or by means thereof to commit, or for the purpose of enabling any other persen to commit, any of the felonies in this Act mentioned shall be guilty of a misdemeanour." It will probably be proved before you that the prisoner, under the influence of excitement and resentment against bis son at the prospect of being turned out of the house in which he had been living, knowingly possessed himself of a case of gunpowder, and desired .a person in the house to put it on the fire, threatening at the same time to blow the place up, to prevent his son from having it. It will be for you to determine, under the circumstances, whether the prisoner possessed himself of the powder with the intention of maliciously setting fire to the house, and thereby injuring his son, or whether the threats used were the result merely of passion, and were uttered by him without any serious intention of carying them into effect. If you should entertain serious doubt upon this point, I think you may ignore the bill. Gentlemen, — I will not detain you longer from your duties, and hall be happy to discharge you a3 soon ase you shall have disposed of the cases befors you.

On the jury panel being called over, the name •£ "Hugh Bennetts, publican," was amongst the number of jurymen summoned to attend. Mr Bennetts said he objected to being described as a "publican." He kept the Temperance Hotel. He trusted his Honor would hare the description altered. His Honor said he would have it altered for the future. The meaning of a publican was a person who sold victuals of any kind ; but according to the popular acceptation of the word, a publican was taken to be a person who sold fermented liquors. Mr Bennetts: And that is what I particularly object to, your Honor. LARCENY AND PREVIOUS CONVICTION. Charles Payne was indicted for stealing certain money belonging to M. Jones, on the 20th January last. The prisoner pleaded guilty to botli charges. He hoped his Honor would take into consideration the length of time he had been out of gaol, namely two years. His Honor : Charles Payne, you have pleaded guilty to the charge of larceny of money ; also to a charge of being twice convicted of felony in this Court. You were guilty of larceny under rather worse than ordinary circumstances. You were entrusted with the care of a letter containing money which belonged to a member of the family of the master with whom you had been serving for some time, and it was therefore more in the nature of embezzlement ; it was rather more aggravated than an ordinary case of simple larceny. But, independently of that, you have, as I stated, been twice convicted previously, and although young in years, it is evident that you are, to a certain extent, hardened in crime. I make it a rule always, where a person appears before me a second time, to pass a severer sentence than I would if it was the first offence. You are now appearing here for the third time. The sentence of the Court is, that you be imprisoned in the common gaol at Lyttelton for 18 callendar months, computed from this day, and that you be kept at hard labour. WOUNDING, AND INFLICTING GRIEVOUS BODILT HARM. Edwin Bennett was placed at the bar on a charge of wounding and inflicting grievous bodily harm on his wife, Eliza Bennett, on the 14th of May last. The prisoner pleaded " Not Guilty." Mr Hugk Bennetts was chosen foreman of the jury. Mr Duncan briefly stated the case for the Crown, and called the following witnesses in support of the indictment :— Kohert M'Knight : lam tergeant of police, stationed in Christchurch. I remember Saturday, the Uth of May last. From information I received, I went to the prisoner's house on that day. I saw Eliza Bennett lying on a bed ; her head was between the ends of two pillows. There was a large clot of blool about her head— more upon the right side than the left— and blood was oozing out from the back part of the head. She appeared to be very weak. The floor of the front room was covered with water and blood, and lumps of clotted blood were lying on the floor, and some floating on the water. For four feet high the walls of the front room were bespattered with bloO'l. There was blood on the front door, the fire-place, and the window. His Honor asked the Registrar to show him the indictment. (Bead.) Mr Duncan had indicted the prisoner under a section which treated the offence as a misdemeanour, whereas he had inserted the word "feloniously " in the indictment. He would let the case go on, however, and if there should be a conviction, he would probably take the opinion of the Judges on the point. Examination resumed: I found a quantity of woman's wearing apparel at the back of the house outside. They were saturated with blood. All the furniture in the front room was covered with blood. I took possession of a broken broom-handle, which I found in the front room. (Broom-handle produced.) It was broken in three pieces, as now. I also found a cleaver in the front room. With the assistance of some neighbours I got Mrs Bennett to the hospital. She said she had been struck on the head with a broom-handle. She was so weak that I had to put my ear down close to her to hear what she said. By Prisoner : There was no fire in the house. Eliza Bennett, who sobbed bitterly, was next called. She deposed: I am wife of Edwin Bennett. I remember the 14th of May last. My husband left the house about four o'clock on the Wednesday afternoon prior to the 14th. He returned on the Uth, between three and four o'clock. When he returned I was making some currant cakes ; I had just got them in the tin to bake them when he came in. When he returned, I said — " Ob, papa, you have come back sooner than I expected you." He made some answer, but I didn't hear what it was. He took up the broom-handlo, and commenced beating me with it. He gare me several blows on the head with the broom-handle produced. It was whole then. It was while he was striking me with it that the broomhandle broke. He struck me first on the side of the head. I felt speechless after the first blow. He struck me many times on the head. He struck me two or three blows ; I put up my hand and said " That is enough," and then I fell on the floor. He continued beating me for about three minutes. I bled profusely. After he ceased beating me, I got up and Eat on a chair for about an hour and a-balf. Ultimately, Mrs Lusk came to me, also Mrs Papprili. They assisted me to put clean clothes on. Sergeant MeKnight afterwards came, and I was taken to the hospital. I suffered very much from the beating I received By Prisoner : I did not come to the door when you returned on Saturday. The children were not outside the house crying for bread when I went home. I had given|the I children their d'n ler a short time before. I

am not aware that you brought the children down to buy them some cakes. There was a fire under the oven when you came home. The oven is close to the fire. I didn't see a saddle with you. I was not sitting asleep in a chair when you came in; I was standing alongside a table, making the cakes. I did not lift a stool to throw at you. I had no time to do anything, as you gave me a blow the moment you came in. I had no liquor that day. I am quite sure that I had taken neither beer, wine, nor spirits that day. I didn't go into Smith's, of the Crown, that day, and change £1, and take away a quart of beer. I signed the pledge about twelve months ago, and kept it until you insisted on my drinking a glass of beer with you in February last. You brought beer home many times in your pocket after you had taken the pledge. You had never to wait until Sunday morning to get a clean shirt. [Lef c Sittinr.]