LAW AND POLICE.
Wo have great pleasure in being able to state that the courts and constabulary have had little crime to deal with, aud the population, with one exception, have been most orderly. The Criminal Sitting's of the Supreme Court, presided over by Mr Justice Richmond, came to a conclusion on the 19th of May. There was only one case left to be tried on the publication of our last Summary, that of Patrick Morrissey aud Peter M'Grath, who were charged with having on the 19th of March last assaulted one Francis Johnsfcone at the Greenstone, with intent to do him grovious bodily harm. They were first tried on the 14th of May, when M'Grath was acquitted, and the jury could not agree about Morrissey, and were discharged without coming to a verdict. Morrissey was tried again on the 19th, and was then acquitted. In the civil jurisdiction there was uo business of importance, the only case set down for trial being that of " Colls v. Klein," and this ultimately resolved itself into an equity suit, the decision of the matters in dispute being' left to His Honor the Judge.
In the Resident Magistrate's Court, though there has been ample work in the civil jurisdiction, there . lias not been a criminal case of any importance, if we exempt. :m allowed assault on a womnn named M 'Bride, which is jiow
siib judiee, and that on the woman lloyle, at the Greenstone, elsewhere referred to. This satisfactory state of affairs is said to be attributed to the northern goldfields having attracted a lnrg-o proportion of the criminal class, a? the police in those parts are not by any means so assiduous in their attentions as those of Westlaud and other parts of the Middle Island. One very dastardly and atrocious act was committed, however, by some scoundrel on the night, of the 17th ult., whereby the steamer Yarra was nearly sunk, whilst lying along-side the wharf, when a portion of her crew- would have been drowned. ■ It seems that the villain, whoever it was, must have known the boat pretty well, and the uses of certain parts of tho machinery, for he turned on the sea cock that supplies the boiler, and in the morning it was found that the vessel had four feet of water iv her, had sunk to her sponsons, and must have gone down, altogether if the discovery had not been made when it was. .Fortunately too there was no cargo on board, and so tho damage done was only trifling. Though -suspicion re3ts on one man, there is not sufficient evidence to arrest him up to the present time, but it is to be hoped that he will not escapc3, and that justice may 'yet overtake him.
LAW AND POLICE.
West Coast Times, Issue 1160, 11 June 1869, Page 1 (Supplement)
No known copyright (New Zealand)
To the best of the National Library of New Zealand’s knowledge, under New Zealand law, there is no copyright in this item in New Zealand.
You can copy this item, share it, and post it on a blog or website. It can be modified, remixed and built upon. It can be used commercially. If reproducing this item, it is helpful to include the source.
For further information please refer to the Copyright guide.
Log in