POLICE OFFENCES

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1732, 5 January 1888, Page 2

POLICE OFFENCES

Through the kindness of Fergeant Fellon we have seen • return of the offanoes dealt with m the R.M, Court daring the past year. It appears that. ' including the Rskafa and Methven statiooa whioh are within the jurisdiction of the officer m oharge' of tfte Ashburton sub-district, there weire a total number of 636 offences report«d, 362 persons were apprehended «nd 240 summoned ; four perBODB oommltted for trial; 504 inclnding 17 females, were summarily convicted; and 95, Including 10 females, discharged. The numbers of offences reported, persons apprehended, summoned and oonvioted ■how an increase oyer tf»e previous year 1886. Ja that year 672 offences were reported, 345 persons were apprehended and 195 aummonod, 421 were summarily convioted, five were committed for trial, and Jl4 discharged. Of oourse the number of oases grouped u^dex the head of drunkenness— ln which class three distinctions are made, viz., " drunk and disorderly," " drunk while In charge of horee»," and, " dcnnh mi n a railway carriage »— hr »nd away exceeds the total la any other olass. In the year jusfc past 180 persons were charged with thlaoffenoe, 176 men and 2 women were convoked' and two men wrre djs horged. In the previous jear l { /8 persons were chargedi lbf males *nd threo females were conviewed, and 18 men were discharged. In 1887 there were 12 charges of larceny dealt with, a den ease of 15 on the previous year, and 10 conviction* were recorded, Of fourteen persons charged with failing to provide, six were convicted; thero were no charges of thia nature m the precodlng year. Thirteen charges under the Licensing Act were dealt with, an increase of 10 on the number for 1886 ; m olght ( i tljpße there were oonvlotlons* Out of 19 charges of common aeo-mlt. thero were peven convictions. The number of charges and convictions under this head shofr a alight deoreaae on the previous year. Twenty-eight cases of o&Ule trespass were hcqrd and m all thege t^ere wers convictions. Sevenfoen persons wore oonvioted of breaches of the Dog Registration Act and seven were diamtased j m 1886 40 were oonvioted and 5 diemissed, Sixteen persons, lnoluding ono female, were con* vloted of obscene and profane language, this number being the same aB that of the preceding year. Nine prohibition orders wero applied for, of which seven were granted. Two persons were convicted of rescuing from a pound and six were discharged. Seven convictions nnder the Sheep Aot were recorded, aa against five ] m 1886. Two persona were oharged with sheep stealing, ope qf whom was oonvioted. : here were seven bonviotlons for vagrancy as against }2 m 1886, There wero a ' gieett many other otaeses of cases dealt ' with, but m no one of these was the , nnnqber of persons oharged very great, )