RECENT COURT CASE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 8, Issue 7, 12 September 1944, Page 5

RECENT COURT CASE

Sir—ln supporting the letter of David Campbell in your last issue of the Beacon re recent sentence of two Maoris alleged to have, killed and stolen sheep from unoccupied area, and the one-sided verdict returned by the J.P&. to the general public and also to David Campbell, I would like to point out that in sentencing one. of the mean concerned the J.Ps. did not take into consi derat ion the record of Mansell and his first appearance in court. There was no attempt whatever on the, part of the two accused to hide the facts that they had brought the meat home after their dogs had worried the sheep which had resulted in their imprisonment. 11 the iAvo accused had not mentioned the' matter to several people it would never have come to the notice of the owner and the police. I am quite sure, had Mansell been given the opportunity of seeing Mr Rust f he would haive done so but I happen to know that at the time of the killing of the sheep, Mr Rust was away somewhere else.

Now I would like to have the op in ion of the general public f if the sentence passed on these two men did not warrant the lodging of an appeal in the Appeal Court against the harsh sentence imposed on the accused?

Ts this; the. liberty and freedom and fair play s for which the- English speaking people are fighting for? Mansell one of the accused when 9 » the call came ( answered that call of Mother England for the help of her sons in defending our beloved freedom. With one mind her sons, answ ered that call 4 regardless of colour, creed etc. black brown and white, they answered the- call for the fight of liberty and in. same mind, Manone of the first offered his life,, his all for the Mother land. Did not this warrant the term of probation pleaded for by his counsel. Either probation or a fine was ask' ed. The bench should take into con' sideration and-also the police should remember that r if it was not for the answering of that call in 1940 a call answered by black and white alike the bench and our police force may not have been there in court dealing out so-called justice and fair play of. which was the result, 3 months imprisonment. If this is what we Britishers call fair play and equally* well I can't say that I am proud of being a Britisher. As a discharged volunteer myself having served two years in, camp and in the Merchant Navy, my §3 T mpathy is for the accused in the term meted out by the court. Yours etc. "ANOTHER ONE FOR FAIR PLAY" (We have enquired into the facts with regard to the above subject, in view of the, continued public interest. We have ascertained that the case which came before the court was not an isolated instance s but the upshot of repeated losses by settlers in the area and numerous complaints lodged with the ppliee. Several farmers had we lost very substantially as a resul£"~of depredations by certain persons unknown and the. police have been doing their utmost to "put the practice down. It is stated that a firm warning had to be given and that only by this means could others (who may have been more guilty than those actually accused) be expected to take notice and cease their activities. We have noted also the clipping about the parallel case at Helensville where, the penalty was light but as no facts are disclosed it is hard to come to a I fair conclusion. Ed.)