MYSTERY OF HANSOM CAB.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVI, Issue 35, 10 February 1905, Page 3

MYSTERY OF HANSOM CAB.

3LCCK SOT GUILTY. GUILTY. SENTENCE DEFERRED. * Justice Edwards was occupied at tll f Supreme Court: uutfl n«riy 6 Ick yesterday evening, heariug eviod for the defence m the case in z ett ' r** Miu - k - ---w <vdney i.au«r a on. were fJFSSi robbing w, h vioienc-e in cab ax Sewmarket. s hansom aopeared for the *E Z i r A Lundon for the defence. Cl Xte went to press yesterday Mack one of the accused dea fireman. Three years P°f J e b sß w Tickery at Wellington. He iS ° \tv him in Auckland on the rt" night before the alleged rob7 fle again Yiehery next j S7" with Barrett, whom witness gnoTthe* know.' They wr-nt in a S Anderson being the clriv-r He had .r =een \nderson before tljat day. AHte Wain Cook Hotel. Yickery :l out and Barrett went with him. j I ibv he-saw Barrel md \ iekery ! 3 ! t a hr Carlton Hotel. They drove on i Jd went into the Carlton lor a drink. a E a arre tt dine and called them out. Ev m> then inside the cab. Bar2f3d S the cubby. -IWdW oak .nor him.- Barrett and \ ieicery ea ch gave half-crown to the driver. They drove to the Junction und had drinks round. Vickery stayed m the cabttot time. When witness came out „{ the Junction. Vickery was talking | to the cabman. Vickery asked the cab- j man to come inside with him and seem. , ed pretty friendly. Vickery said he had j betD a eabiiian himself. The cabman alked Barrett if he couid drive, and he said no! Witness drove the party. j the way the eabtnan jumped out. Con- ; stable Raiasay then arrived and asked j witness hid name. Witness replied, i "Barrett." giving the wrong name, j Yickery then jumped out of the cab, and i said lie SOI " :e mcne . v 1 - 0 !!- Afterwards the Barrett, who first handed over 15/8. No icore mon?y was found on Barrett. Witness handed over ■-! . which was t , 11 he had. Witne-w c>^ h \ not tell the cabmnn'3 name, bar, Barf.'ti f.uL;'.L r f-.it-' : 'i jroing to the stable to him. Ail er that they both uken into custody. Cross examined by Mr Toie v."itr.p.s said Vickery waa paving fey thf» drinks. Witness and only been in the colony for : a few muniiis. Asked why Le a drunken man. witness sari there was no shepherding at all. It '~as j. cu-rtoin amongst Haman io get through all their par in a dar or two. often in or.c nighr. He considered Anderson as "saikery,"' end that itßj w'jy witness drove the cab. His Honor: I want to know what j "skikery" means. Witness: Well, when a man gets a little elevated like. Just ready for a krk. but not drunk. His Honor: Not drunk from a fireman's point of view, but I suppose drank from a police pcint of view. , " Witness: "A firpman can drink a good deal. I had 10 or 17 drinks that day.' , Mark O'C'onnell, labourer, deposed to bowing Vickery. Mc was with him en the Tuesday before the supposed robbery, and saw him on th? ■Wednesday. Near the Union Company's office they saw a man. and Vickery said, "Here's Ned Barrett," and shook hands with him. They went to the United Service Hotel, and Vickery asked for a cab. Barrett said he must first go hime and shift bis clothes. Viefcery asked witness to go to Oneiumg-a with him, but he did not go. Witness knew nothing about the cab or the iabman. By Mr Tok: Witness saw Vickerv order four drinks at one hotel, two at another, and two at another. Vickery also gave one man 5/ and another 3/. victory gave him 2/6 the night before. Witness did not have ad the" drinks offered. Anderson, another of tbe accused, deposed he was a licensed cab-driver. | vl day '" lueiitiljnl ueiitilj n " man named j Alack whom he had never seen before, \ ailed him. They drove to the Fitaroy. ! Mere Barrett and Vickery came out! nth Mack. Barrett a?l:ed" the charge I to go to Onehunga.. Wknes.s replied,! oaif-a-sovereign." The three were ' P"ting into the cab _ but witneS3 sald I "c could not carry three. Vickery. ™^ M "-ra pay expenses, drive up the! road. riioy stopped at the Caledonan and the Captain Cook. There vritJ*i uked for Ids faro. Vickery reF'.ert. Ive got nothing; you can't set nothing from mc." VTitr.'ess threatenwto summons him. They vest went w> the Carlton Club where wit- ; ness in. When l> e ( ;ame out Vio«ry was sitting in the cab and Ban-ets! holQing the horse. Both of them i P*e witness half-a-crovra towards the n ' P romisin S the rest al Onehunga. th,?ix rOVe t0 th " • Il ' r -'tion. After Jto the cab. On the war to Onegga Constable Hasiacy met them. a!™ 6 *' iwnpeJ out. ard'walked do%vn W -101I 01 into : ' tr * ni - went to Ear ar at the stables 'T.^Jn 1- t, ,T ' l ' en is:<e 'J l»}' a detective, burnt Earrett rob the man?" Wit*YM cd ,' "- NT °-" The 4«ectWe said, J«teU the tW ith, and youil get out did nt M , ltness again said Barrett not rob \ iekery. The detective' ™ qufisuoniflff until witness saidi tec ios iu j iif y him - That was writ- : Best;™ i waa tlle detective's suirSL lUa i made h . im The •emeXJ ™ aid : ■■ U '^ T, ' t there; Plied »Tn» tI ° U y an(i - vitncss re " : tiiat vt. t) detective su.crgeated hiahMi- auay mm;, ' witness lost rannu?' Jl f mped ou: °r thp cab. and 1 Bo mrfT^V.. Wlta «M addod. "Tliere was! eve,- ►„ , ' ,' v '}' '"S statement read. *t¥" L^ re - uil signed ?-Xo.i T °y How' Y lm saw h] m at the Fitz-| W a fmi - ltUeis ' >oui ' i S! ' e he had ■ f arinks - m t«« and VieCook K-l get a drink a - Captain and \v a , .f him se!f was not sober, I hali. on aS S?* drunk - "Shickerv" meant al I riffht e .,f tate m«nt he signed was l^frSrSl\ the y. eSceptio,i of l Stabl e <yf- Sto the robbery. Conaay. f™ c that into his head to c room 616 as not a soul came i nto st ateme n t rf" he vvas makin = the °% » ln f i he unstable did say he fie Ci c f d K Witness to tell the truth, Shin y making- the statement B^Hono r W °vl d have ?°* bail, to ,j env '" r: « v hen did it occur to you Witne- statement? ia fhJ 3 ?" 1 he did not et into the PudiatJ th 6r Court - '~ He first re " C °Drt. statement in the Supreme »t the L?° r: Had y° u Sot discharged ti&i in^ eT Cour t would you have cto that statement?

n *° y°* **** ** ™* me°t? fZ tell . kes - to false stateJ^taSsi* cause men to * se - igtLLri ansa, nave c> ;r,e arything to keep oat. lius statement was read over to you the following morning. Did you then say it was false? I did not say it was right. They might have thought I said something His Honor: Well, you had better be careful now. Was that statement you mace correct. V> ell. 1 may have said it was, your Honor, but I don't remember. \et it was read ever to you? i am not certain whetner I said anything when the statement was read over; I hung down my head. Will you say no- whether or not you said the statement was correct when it was read over to you? I will say "Yes" Mr Tole: 1 suppose you will say at some future time you said this to please His Honor? Witness: No. 1 have learned sinee 1 £ Jiave been ia gaol that it is no good T ('iiin!i lies to gtt other men in to save myself. in answer to Mr Tote, witness said j he left the cab because he did not want ; Ramsay to s?<? three in a cab, driven by a man without a license. j His Honor: Was your cab niimbtjr-' " J Ye3! I Do you mean to tell the jirry that [ you ran away and left your cab" merely to save being caught for a breach of the by-laws? I did not think he knew the driver. [ Did you not think he could not find out all about it within a few hours? He misrht. Do yon really mean to tell the jury that? Witness: I thought he might End. mc a.gain. You ran away and Jeft your cab in tho care of tv,-o total s-traugers some distance from town ? I knew Mack co-uld drive. Cut you told ua you did not know him? He said he could drive. By Mr Lundon: Constable Shine told mc not to give evidence iv the Police Court. Constable Shine, re-called for the Crown, denied the last witness' assertion about him practically pestering luni into mai<ing a liaise statement. When he said to Anderson he w-as telling lies, and tore up the lirst statement, he took his hat and said, "Co:ne on," then Anderson said. "I'll tell the truth," and he made that statement. The sratempiu witness tore up was ;"iQT. aompleted or signed. Detectives were in the room part of the time when "he statement mas m.ade. Witn(_•>.- ripver held out any inducement to the raa.n by telling him, '"To-ull get out of it." Witness did not advise Anderson not to give any evidence in the Lower Court. When the statement was read over to Anderson the follow- : ing morning, there was no hanging down his head. Anderson said it was. correct. Mr Lundon: Therp was no need for Mack to challenge it, because he was, not mentioned in it. ] Mr Lundon then asked: Is it usual to take prisoners out to talk to them j and giv-e them cigarettes? Witness: If a prisoner wants to talk I give him a chan-ce. This concluded the evidence. Mr Lurukm intimated that he did not in- ■ tend to address the jury, and under; these circumstances Mr Tole decided also not to address. : His Honor, in summing up, said this was one of those lamentable cases where men came to town and spent their hard-earned money in a few hours in drunken debauchery. The jury could hardly depend upon evidence given by a man in such a condition, nor would Anderson's statement, which he signed and now denied, have had rouflh weight, but for the fact that when it was read over in the presence of Barrett. Barrett did not dsny its truth. ;) 3 to Anderson's evidence in the hex, he considered it absolutely worthless either as regards himself or anybody el^e. Mr Lundon: You have not mentioned Ma-ck. your Honor. FTi3 Honor said Mack seerced to have told a straightforward story in the witnp.-is-box, and :is> he was driving at the time the robbery was said to have taken place, he would advise the jury to acquit him. Of course. Mack was present, and if the jury thought he was a party to a robbery it was quite competent for them to convict him, but he felt justified in advising them not to convict Mack on such evidence. The jury retired shortly after five o'clock, and returned into Court just before six o'r-lock with a verdict of not guilty in the case of Mack, and sruilty ip :;'<> enses of Barrett and Anderson. :'-nor deferred sentence.