SUPREME COURT.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16353, 16 February 1921, Page 8

SUPREME COURT.

CRIMINAL SITTINGS. A t The criminal sittings of the Supreme Court -were continued to-day before Mr “ Justice Herdman. Mr A. T. Donnelly conducted the f cases for the Crown. n CHARGE OF THEFT FROM THE PERSON- 11 Robert Henry Thomas was charged |? with the theft,'at Wellington, on De- “ cemher 1-5, 1920, from the person of ° William Rae Don of a purse contain- t: ing £'3o, the moneys, goods and chat- ** tels of the said Don. Mr Hunter ap- 1 neared for the accused, who pleaded not guilcy. {J Mr Donnelly, for the prosecution, said that the charge against Thomas 11 was one of the theft of a purse con- " taining £3O from Mr Don whilst a ” passenger by the Wahine from Wei- l! lington on December 15. Mr Don was P among a number of passengers leaning j 1 over the rail before the vessel left the P wharf, when lie felt some pressure £ behind him. He moved aside, and made way for a woman. Immediately " afterwards, he felt a very heavy pressure at the rear, and turned round to remonstrate, but the person who had pushed against him had moved away. P Don noticed that he wore a light over- ■ coat. A moment afterwards Don felt i the pressure again, and on turning saw j 1 the mail in the light overcoat zigzagging through r,he crowd. Don j £ noticed that his wallet was gone, and j followed accused through the crowd, {hiding him leaning over the rail ostensibly saying farewell to someone on the 1 wharf. Don accused the man of pick- ] ing his pocket, but he denied it. Don put his hand in accused's coat pocket £ and actually, he stated, felt the wallet. A moment later accused withdrew ins • hand from his coat pocket, and the wallet fell on -the deck. Don did not do anything in the matter at the time, J as he had recovered the wallet, beyond 1 threatening accused with a thrashing- j Next morning the purser asked Don to , 0 identify the man who had picked his j - pocket, and he identified him as the i * accused. Asked by Don as to why j he had committed the theft, accused j said that he did not know, but attributed the act to drink. ££ Any- * way,” accused had stated, “ you have j recovered your wallet, so it doesn’t 1 matter greatly.” Accused eluded the ship’B officers. and afterwards avoided 1 the police on the train. He after- 1 wards .made a, statement to the police f that he had taken too much drink, and J had .fallen to sudden temptation. Mr ? Donnelly asked the jury to consider i whether the facts that he had avoided tlie police and the ship’* officers, taken i with his statement to Mr Don and to i the police, and also a further statement J \ to the police that on account of his f \ penitence Don had undertaken not to ' take any further proceedings, did not J | indicate' a guilty knowledge on his 1 Part.. . t AYilliam Rae Don gave evidence on . 1 the lines of the Crown Prosecutor’s ad- j • dress. He had moved from the rail ! g ! to give place to a woman, and immedi- j I ately afterwards had had his pocket j 1 ! picked by the accused- He had found , the wallet in accused’s possession, and i had threatened him with a thrashing, j 1 The ship’s officers had taken the matter ' ] up and witness had identified accused. ; 1 That was on tlie following morning. J At that time a woman standing near 2 said that slie did not think accused • was the man who had picked witness’s ] j pocket, and indicated another man. ! Witness did not know' whether she was j the same woman to whom he had given j place at the rail. When arrested, acj eused had said, “ I wish to God you t had thrashed ine. and left it at that, j f have, a wife, and she should not bo . 1 made to suffer for my sins.” j To Mr Hunter: Witness did not j i j know how many passengers were on the j ■ vessel. The rails wero crowded . | thickly. Witness did not remember j ■ ! when he last used his purse, but he \ \ ■ knew that it was in his pocket pre- : i viously. It was a thick wallet, and ; I ho could feel it. Witness turned ; i round on each occasion he was pressed, J ; and saw the man’s build and clothes, j j although he did not see his face, j ' | When the purse fell on the deck wit- i = < ness was on the right of the accused, 1 a man named Powell, who had assisted 1 witness, was on the left, and holding ; accused’s left arm. Witness was sure ; ihat accused had spoken of his own ; sins—he had not, used the words “ My ; wife -should not suffer for another’s To Mr Donnelly: Witness did not \ j know Thomas personally, but there was ’ no possibility of doubt as to his having | stolen the wallet. 1 Mr Hunter: That is for the jury to ! say. ! Constable Irwin said that he. saw the , I accused on tlie platform at Lyttelton, | when accused was wearing spectacles, j When witness found him in a carriage later, the spectacles had been removed. When charged with the theft accused replied that he knew nothing about it. i Accused denied running away from witness. Accused had a first-class ticket, and was travelling second class- 1 He stated that there was no room in the first class carriages, but on witness saying that the next carriage was half empty accused made no reply, j Constable Hod gen said that accused. 1 when in the cell, stated that he had j taken too much drink, and had fallen to sudden temptation. ‘‘ I cannot understand that gentlemen,” lie had remarked. “ He promised ia-e that if 1 were penitent I should hear no more about it.” The accused, Robert Henry Thomas, said that he was a second-hand dealer, with a business in Melbourne. He had bad a had record, but there were no ; convictions against him for eight years. He had •come to New Zealand upon j medical advice- He stayed at Wellingi ton on December 14. and booked a saloon passage to Lyttelton by the ! Wahine. Tn the booking office he met j two ineu, Williams and Young, or Youl- : den, who, unfortunately, were acquaint- | ed with him. They were crooks, and ho had met them in gaol. They suggested that, as they were also going south, witness should travel with them. Witness dined with them—a little better than he had dined for the past two months. After they went on the boat witness went up to the rail and Williams shortly afterwards came up and stood beside him. Williams, was a big man—well-built. Before witness had been there many minutes, a man came up to him and accused him of stealing his purse. The man. Don, grappled with witness and Williams ostensibly went to his (Don’s) assistance. The pair pulled one hand out of witness’s pocket, in which lie had a tobacco pouch. Williams then stooped to the deck and picked up a purse, which he handed to Don, with the remark, “ Hero’R your purse.” They let witness get up and witness went round to 1 die fore part of the ship. Witness had previously denied having possession of the purse. On account of his previous bad character witness realised that it was best not to make any trouble over the affair, and so he endeavoured to persuade Don not to go on with the case. Ho said to Don that, he would ] rather take a hiding and let, the matter i cud there. On returning to his cabin j he accused the two men, Williams and Voutden. of getting him “into a nice i mess,” and asked what they were going > do about it- Williams replied that he> had not known Don would 11 pick ” witness. “ Anyway,” he had stated, J • worked ’ him the purse back.” “ A. technical expression, your Honor,” interposed Mr Hunter- <£ It means to return the purse.V “ It was Williams’s expression, not mine,” said witness, as a smile went round the Court. Continuing, witness said that, . WiJ- ‘ }i;*m advised lrm to ’‘ring” hin»«elf. • Another technical expression,” said Mr Hunter smiling. ‘ It moans to re-

move the hair from the face—to disguise oneself, your Honor.” Witness said that, on Williams’s advice, he wore Williams’s coat and cap next morning, and went up and mixed with the passengers. The coat was tried on in the Court, Air Donnelly admitting that it was rather too large for Thomas. Witness said that he was accosted by the steward, to whom he said that he had not stolen the purse. “As a matter of fact, your Honor,” said witness, L could not steal a purse. Nervous troubles for The past three years have made it impossible.” “ In fact, your hand has lost its cunning.” said liis llonQr. Witness, continuing, said that he had been asked to wait until Don was fetched, and had waited until all were off the steamer. He went on to the train, and went into the compartment in which he was round by tho constable. The other compartment was full. Regarding the statements to the police, witness denied saying that he had fallen to temptation- The police had asked him to jrlcad guilty, and he would be dealt with in the Police Court, as there was no prosecutor. Witness had replied that he did not come to plead guilty, as he had not committed | the theft. When told later that the ! prosecnor had been found- witness had said that he could not understand why he should take proceedings in view of what had been said. Air Donnelly examined witness in the matter of his previous convictions, which were chiefly those of being a suspected person, under the Australian statutes. The last conviction mentioned bv Air Donnelly was dated in 1912. “ After which,” said witness. “I | j got married.” ! “'Then, that’s your last offence!” J ! said his Honor. “ Well, I don’t know about that,” j replied witness. “ She was my sal- j vation, generally speaking. I cabled gaol.” Referring to the scene on the boat, j Mr Donnelly asked witness what he I had said when he saw Williams. “I didn’t say anything,” replied witness. “ I was in too much trouble.” | “ Didn’t you suspect him of baring , a desire to operate professionally- upon j you?” queried Air Donnelly. Air Donj nelly also asked witness if he did not j connect AYilliams with the theft at the ! time. j “ The first time I heard of it was | when Air Don charged me with it,” ' replied witness. “ I wish to God I ' had AVilliams here now.” ; “If T were to drop dead this minute I didn’t wear a light overcoat that night,” witness burst out, after further questioning regarding the scene on the deck. “On that night I wore a brown cloth coat. Don chased tho light overcoat, and as I was standing near lie grabbed me instead.” “ Rather an extraordinary mistake?” queried Air Donnelly. “When you’re excited you make mistakes,” said witness. Witness stated that it was clumsiness on AVilliams’s part which made liim drop it. to the deck instead of into Don’s pocket. “Dicl you see Williams after the theft?” asked his Honor. “ What hap- ; pened to him after that?” i Witness replied that’ Wililams had j gone off with his - witness’s) luggage, i “ Did you see him afterwards?” said | his Honor. , On witness stating that lie saw Williams standing near the train, his ; Honor asked why it waif he did not ' point him out to tl e police as the man i who bad committed the theft, j “ I’d rather take a sentence now, your Honor, than do a thing like that.” said witness. “ I’ve suffered enough in the last eight years. I come from a place, where they shoot on sight for that.” “It must be a pretty hot place,” said Air Donnelly. “ Where is it?” “ Fitzroy.” replied witness. “ That’s where the football referees wear armour, isn’t it?” asked Air Do ni nellv, amid a general titter, i Air Donnelly then stated that he I had sent, for n special witness. There I was a man named Powell, employed ;at the Islington meat works, and lie | would like to have his evidence on the I incideut. He had been hurriedly sumj moned on account of the- line taken by i the defence, and it was important that ! his evidence should bo heard, i Frederick William Powell, foreman at I Islington Aleut AVorks, stated that he i went to the assistance of Don, whom he | f-aw struggling with a man on the deck l of tho Wahine. Tn the struggle witness pulled accused’s band out of his pocket, and the purse dropped from the hand to the deck- AVitness pocketed the purse, saying to Don. “Your purse is all right—-go and get your man.” Fie afterwards restored the purse to Don. To Air Hunter: He did not recognise, accused, nor could he swear to the coat produced. His Honor, summing up, said that the case was an exceedingly simple one. It was not necessary to trouble about the accused’s past—there was his own statement, which went a long way in corroborating Mr Ron’s story, and there was also the disinterested evidence of Air Powell. 1 The jury. afte>- a short retirement, brought in a verdict of guilty. Air Hunter said that it had beew shown that the accused had nob committed an offence against the law duri Ing the past eight years. Counsel produced a letter from a member of the Melbourne detective force to testify to his good behaviour cine#* T 912. His Honor said it was a great, pitv accused had come to New Zealand. It was perfectly clear that lie had stolen i the purse, and matters Trad been made [ worse by accused’s untruths in the witness -box. It. was plain he was a clever pickpocket. His Honor, however, would take into consideration his good record j since 1912, and would sentence him to a. period of twelve months’ imprisonment with hard labour. “In this country you are liable to fourteen years’ j imprisonment tor this kind of thing,” said his Honor. “ I hope it will be a lesson to you.”