DISTURBANCE ON A RACE TRAIN.

Upper Hutt Weekly Review, Volume II, Issue 16, 2 April 1937, Page 4

DISTURBANCE ON A RACE TRAIN.

Charged before Messrs. J. T. Benge and W. Greig, J.P.'s, on Easter Monday morning, Bernard Joseph Brophy, scrap metal worker, of "Wellington, pleaded guilty to being drunk and of using obscene language, also of committing wilful damage by breaking a pane of glass in the Featherston-Upper Hutt train on Saturday evening. Constable Stewart stated that he received a complaint from the department and met the train at Upper Hutt station. The accused was drunk, and the guard in charge of the train said that the language used by defendant -was very foul indeed, especially considering there were ladies in the same carriage. The pane of glass broken -was the property of the New Zealand Government and was valued at 12/6. Asked if he had anything to say, Brophy stated that he pleaded guilty to all charges, but could not remember much about it as he -was under the influence of liquor and attributed his conduct to that. Mr. Greig, in addressing the defendant, said that according to the report put in by the guard, the language -was very foul and that he should have known better than use it in the presence of ladies. Mr. Benge stated that they had decided to give accused another chance and would not send him to prison, although they could impose a term on him. They would convict and discharge him on the first charge. He -would be fined £3 for using obscene language, and for breaking the pane of glass he was fined £1 and ordered to pay the cost of the glass, together with witnesses' expenses of 9/6. He was allowed a fortnight in which to pay.