TAURANGA R.M. COURT.

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume IV, Issue 329, 3 November 1875, Page 3

TAURANGA R.M. COURT.

Saturday, October 31, 1875. (Before Major Roberts, E.M.) Kolfe v. Rolfe; Charles Rolfe was brought up on a warrant charged with assaulting his wife Mary Kolfe. Prisoner pleaded not guilty. Mary Eolfe deposed; 1 was in bed at about half-past eight on the night of Tuesday last, when the prisoner came to my house; he knocked at the door, and my eldest boy got up off the sofa and opened it; ho came in and sat at the side of the bed in a chair; he had a bottle of beer with him, and was the worse for liquor; he sat quietly, and wanted me to take part of the beer with him; I refused to take it; he was angry because I would not take beer with him; I asked him to go quietly homo and not come making a row; I cannot repeat the language he used to me, it was so bad; I told him not to come frightening the children, and to go away; I tried to persuade him to go home quietly before I got up, as I was afraid of the stick he had in his hand; I got up at last and partially dressed myself, and told him to go away; he said he would like to see who would put him out; he was using had language and making a noise all the time ; I tried then to put him out of the door, and he struck me in the face twice, and as he continued'to strike me I had to defend myself as well as I could; my eldest son ran out and went up to Mr Clarke’s I believe; he (the prisoner) then got hold of me by the hair of the head ; of course I hit him myself as much as I could when he struck me ; I tried to drag him to the door and get him out; I got him as far. as the door hut could not move him further; then Mr Clarke came and took him away,. By the Court: My husband does not support me; he stopped doing so long

ago; the assault took-place about halfpast eight on Tuesday evening last. Mr Samuel Clarke deposed: On Tuesday evening last, about nine

o’clock, my children, who had just gone to bed, were alarmed by cries of distress from one of Mrs Kollo’s halfcaste children; the child said her mother was being murdered by Poife; I immediately picked up my walking cane, ran to the spot, and saw Poife with one hand in his wife’s hair and the other holding her throat: I called out to him as loud as I could several times to let go.; he did not appear to take any notice of what 1 said ; I took him by the back of the neck and gave him two or three hard cracks before he would let go; as soon as he let go of Mrs Polfe’s throat she called out my name, and he then appeared to be aware of my presence for the first time, and quietly walked off with me in the direction of the Gate Pah: I could hardly say that he was drunk, as ho was able to talk very sensibly; I took him up the road some distance, and ho walked quietly of! home. By the prisoner : Mrs Polfe is quite a stranger to me, I know her children only. By the Court: I consider the plaintiff’s life was in danger. The prisoner, who presented a rather dilapidated appearance, having his head bandaged and his arm in a sling, stated in his defence that he had no intention to injure his wife when he went to her house, and only defended himself'when attacked by her. She did not show any marks of having suffered injury, hut he was a great deal the worse, and was severely hurt. He further stated that the complainant had taken away his furniture, and refused to give it up again. If she gave up the property she would be at liberty to live by herself. The prisoner was sentenced to one month’s hard labour in Tauranga Gaol.