SUPREME COURT.-Criminal Sittings.

Auckland Star, Volume I, Issue 131, 10 June 1870, Page 2

SUPREME COURT.-Criminal Sittings.

THURSDAY, JUNE ?.

(Before1 His Honor Sir G. ; A. Axney, Knight, Chief Justice.) , y ~ . .... , . ' iibel. : '••' :;'

Thomas Sydney Coppock, of the late Morning Advertiser, was arraigned upon an indictment charging him with having unlawfully written and published, and: having caused to be written and published, a malicious, false, and defamatory libel upon George McCullagh Reed, of the* livening Star, with a view to vilify, prejudice, deprive of his good name and reputation, and scandalously to defame the said George McCullagh Reed, &c. The defendant surrendered to his bail. The libel was read by the Registrar. It has been many times published. The prisoner being challenged in the usual way by the Registrar—How say you, prisoner : are you guilty or not guilty ? Defendant: Guilty. Mr. Brookfield: After that plea by the defendant.' I tarn instructed by the prosecutor (Mr. Reed).-whose only object was to clear his own character, to state that he has no desire that any punishment should be inflicted on the defendant —but on certain terms. He believes that Mr. Coppock, al r tljibughJtbe real piibjishferlof the p|per_in wliich the libel appeared? at the t-irte ie- was printed, did not know anything about it having been written: that the libel was written by another person, and that defendant did not see it, nntil after it was published. The fault was ih-»Mr. Coppock not at the time lepudi;ating the statements made in the libel, and permitting it to remain uncontradicted. But in as much as he has now done what he could, andplead'ad guilty of the" charge of publishing a libel of that nature, if your Honor thinkß such a course can be adopted, Mr. Reed is willing to withdraw from any further prose,tion pf. this indictment; upon Mr; Coppock expressing his regret for such publication, publicly stating that the charges contained i iare ; unfounded ; and that Mr. Coppock shall be willing to enter into his own recognisance to come up aud receive judgment i.iWjaenlcbUebVmpon.v: i.; ■ • '•■■■, By Mr. Hesketh: I appear on behalf of Mr. Coppock, the defendant, and I may state that when he entered into Court this morning it was his intention to defend this action, oil the one ground, that although it was his paper "In which "this" libellous article appeared, yet that Mr. Coppock had nothing whatever to do with the writer of it, that he did not know anything about it, or by whom it was written, until it was inserted. However, after the hint thrown out by the prosecution, I have advised the defendant, he being legally responsible for publication, although hp >_k_»ew nothing of the libel or the writing of itj, Cfeoat the-Tjetter course would be to plead guilty, and ask the prosecution to grant the. indulgence which they have now proposed! Therefore, on behalf of Mr. Coppock, I tender Ito Mr. Reed a full and ample apology: and state that Mr. Coppock was not aware of this article being written, or of tho intention, on the part of anybody, to publish it: that if the j defendant h"ajf Iffiprfi lofjfslich/intention" |he ._wj_K__l not lfcveiallostid i__: t£u ijhl rlgifetit the article ever having been published, and that the statements contained in it are, so far as the defendant is aware, not true. j

His Honor: I concur in the view which tin prosecutor has taken of this case. It occurrec to me at the moment when I became ac wonted, m addition to the disclaimer tlmblmi been made, was that there should have beei an expression of regret that the libel evei appeared ; and the ourse so taker was not unnaturally that which should b< adopted. I am, therefore, fully prepared Ito smctiomthe jcoiirse |;hat is now suggested kn4/_j> ordj. r (tsa<\ tj-e vdjnenda_nj\ 4>e required to enter into his own recognisances for £10(j to come up for judgment when called upon, j

The defendant entered into his own recog nisances for £100, and was discharged.

FRIDAY, JUNE 10.

11 x_?* s ffon^£/I??K_L sea^ on ac enc^ a

SENTENCE-

William Lyne Gerrans, the youth whej pleaded guilty to four separate indictments,! charging him (1) with arson, (2) horse-stealing] (3) stealing a watch, value £13, (4) stealing al

saddle and bridle, was. brought up to receive «M <t . 8,1 H T. *The prisoner being asked in tbe usual way whether he had anything to say why sentence of the Court should not bo passed upon him,| answered " no." I.

His Honor in passing sentence, said, Q-er-ranß, this is a very sad case, and one too that isjTer^rgfflpting to the Judge whose duty it is to pass sentence on a lad like you, for a series of offences —at least for a combination of offences—of so serious a character. I have!

thought much and anxiously "Jwhj^might be the lowest sentence I cohid pafpapon^.you, ecnnsistantly with the djffljffnds of pußljgMu'st'ice. 51 have ctmsnlt^kithrafue exceheht^yemor :'of thla gafif 'wliß|paysAhat if3fP^r^|S n''ell^^ |to penal||servij|de, JijOu woltd )be,^socia^ §with p^onsgrbinjl^whoni you' Juff«> djnTO /greati|a'oral cintgniihatidn, aiid^'come^^th from prison a young inanrhhjt.ed for/hjßp3But BL&el i(i imperative upon me>jfe«vii^jHpfra to the^haractat/of the ,offences of -which you have pleaded guutyy>|a,,*.aas upon you any other thaVi.verv.>f of imp'ril6hmeii.t,', 7 lt:.iS1 1;rW-thjat all your*' offences were-committed! at one and the- same time. (It)'. may be said{thSt^__a otii> -theyyoon^tu^-but' one crime^and do not-show a nn^d^liMdicted;. -to the co&infssiqn of/sutjh acts, or!tha_Vpf a; Jouhg man*.n the habit of practising crime1, tut there is'this feature, about^your comiuct," that when you set' fire tol^fe"dwelling of tbisgentleman, you must have acted under one or tW itates* of iniiid.' vAEither "ydu-must 'hay done it to conceal various robberies which you wore .committing, reckless whose property you were taking, or else you burnt it to carry out a-" design - you-had formed r-from a feeling of spite for some supposed indignity that may have beeh pat upon y'oh/' But'whatever way the Judge may look at it, it is imponsible to regard the burning of this house as indicating anything else ■ than a'bad mind. For 'the twd principal offences,the! Court will pass sentence upon you, for it is. not necessary to deal with each separately, and, your sentencs will be limited to the arson and the horsestealing. The governor of the gaol tells me he will be able to let fou have a cell to your-j self, and so keep you apart as. much as possible from the other prisoners. The sentence, of the Court, therefore,. upon, you is', that'for burning this" dwelling you be im-. prisdned-and'.l_cpt;to hard labor.for two years, and that for the horse-steahng you-be further imprisoned and kept to hard labor for.onfc year, the term,to commence at the expiration of the first. '% The prisoner was removed. BOBBEBY AT -GBAHAMSTOWN'. -■ I James Foster^ Thomas Sfeen^ and Daniel Sutherland were arraigned upon ah indictment charging them with breaking into and .entering the-" dwelling-house of* John WarmoU, draper, Grahamstown; and stealing therefrom drapery; hosiery, clothing, &c, to the value of £250. ' ' '■ ArK '"' ! ■ Mri Brookfield prosecuted on behalf of the Crown, and Mr. Beveridge defended the prisoners.' '•' '' •'■ • '' ' ] ~'"Jbhir ~ Warnfoll 'examined, described the situation of tbe building upon a plan. On the ;4th'of May the shop part of-'the premises!wer« in charge of David Harry and Robert Jennings,' shopmen Oa the night of that day Jennings brought witness the key of the shop, about ten o'clock at night. I went to see that everything was secure ; everything appeared secure. The top sash could be drawn down, leaving an"' opening of sbine three or four feet. On the sth of May, about 8 a.m., .Jennings came to witness for the key. , He went away and came bask, and told witness the.place ; had been broken open. Witness went to the shop. Everything Svas" in confusion. The window in the hat-room looking into: Davy-street was open. The sill appeared as if some persons had been standing there. Sent Jennings for the.police. I /foatjdVthat goods to thevalue of between £250 and £300 were missing, comisting of ilB- tweed suits, 12 black cloth sac coats, 6 Paget coats, 10 trousers and vests, 20 pairs of Bedford cord trousers, •10 pairs of tweei "and ! doe 'trousers; 3 best Crimean shirts, 10 tweed Crimean shirts, 1_ dozen colored wool'mufnt*., Iwhite honeycomb muffler, 8 under-flannels, 2 heavy pilot jackets, 1 blue whitney overcoat, 1 black bearer overcoat, 1 blue diagonal coat, 1 drab box cloth ed_t, s.blue quilted.,jackets, 1 blue pilot jacket, 8 pairs of black cloth trousers, a lot ot;silk and cotton pocket-handkerchiefs, 6 pairs of blue blankets, sundry lots of woollen socks, 12 pairs of moleskin trousers, 1 railway rug (with tiger or leopard on a mauve ground), 6 black Oxford hats^ All those articles were taken between the night of the 4th ahd the triorning of .the sth of May. Witness identified several tweed shirts and several of the Crimean shirts by the material and pattern of the tweed which witness, said he bought* afcj Wellington, and got made^ np -rfor his 'establishment. The pattern wus not frequently seen, and less frequently1 was' the material iuad'e up in shirts. They were taken into stock as shirts only two days before the r ibbery.' jHad not sold any shirt of tho same pattern and material before the robbery. (Witness, identified several of the articles produced by 'the police as being similar to those stolen from-the shop). Witr "nes's'had' been' in the habit of tying up bfrwodfeij'iof .clothes with " red window cord," such 2»Ml?rfl*WP&-.,:.■;■•. Hj.r-.__J '4$ \*vAA-mA\ In cross-examination by Mr. Beveridge, the witness described the manner in which he made, uo the list; pf the missing goods by saying th&VthV 1 Spaces'1 inl'the sho^ were;filied with goods of the same size, and wheu he came to i*tdar»atfgß thetgbo&'s.i Ire-found what waswanting in the spaces. By comparing this defi-cienoySlw-tH. _fi_OfooEi Usbld, l-ha I ascertained exactly what was stolen. The witness could not state wheTKer there was not the town, or Bnortliind. Could not say now many pattern shirts of the same kind, bu; had a list in his pocket-book. Bought the material of< Messrs, Turnb,ull, Reeves. &_Co. Bought all tbey-eMb'i-ei^fo.' sWeX -Other nterchanta .might have goods , of, the „ same .nrntenali pattern shirts fpoiUj^n/emory. The witness said he knew the* trousers by the " axe branddirect from .Home-' He cffuid speak.,genpratly to the quantity of the severa^ Jy.nds.qi gpods missing, but could not particularise tne exact number of each. . ,tßas tsr gW ft'yfcjaa, jja w I