SUPREME COURT.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 581, 9 August 1909, Page 9

SUPREME COURT.

CASES FOR BENTENGE. Sitting in criminal jurisdiction 'on Saturday mornihg his Honour Mr. Justice Cooper passed sontenco on three prisoners-who had pleaded guilty' when charged in the Magistrate's Court. IGNORANCE OF MARRIAGE LAWS. William M'Lean-was brought up for.scn- . ■■■ tericoon a eharge of : bigamy dt: Welling-, " "ton;-.-: %■•■' , •. ■ His Honour said that; ho had received mforiiation from ths.prbbatioii offlcer sinco the prisoner had i.been before the; Court .prev- ■ lollsly. Ho was ,ah illiterate, ignorant man, and in 1887 liowas ri»rriod;to his first wife . at.vtho Registrar's office, Wellington. Some ■years later his wife and ho separated; and she, had apparently gono through .the form - - ofiimarriage with anothor person in 1894. . Th<j : prisoner before going through"" tlio; form .'. 'of'marriage with the second woman'in 1903 . : had">explamed;the ; position to her, and the# both'beliored that', after the sccorid marriage V of the wife, lio was free; to; marry agaih. "Under these circumstances, the case rwa's'not of the ordinary bigamy class, and ho (his Honour) Would grant probation, which .. . he :had never before allowed, in a-case, of, i" bigamy.- The term of probation would be • twelVo months,. ff'nd prisoner would be required to pay the costs of prosecution, £5, . within two months'. ../■ '" ■ . ■' . SALUTARY- PUNISHMENT. In passing | sentence on' Andrew Amos, who had pleaded guilty to a charge of criniinal "■ assault at Blenheim, his Honour remarked thit the, case was dno of the most serious that: had ever come before him. Acousedwould be given a flogging of, 15 lashes, and sentenced to four years' imprisonment', with hard labour. . > ■ TO PROTECT ANOTHER. /'lt was not fqr any gain to myself;" said Percy James Reynolds, when, set forward for ! sentence on an act of perjury., His Honour'.rotnafked that prisoner had stated on oath that ho was the husband ,of a certain yoiing woman,: and that statement, was untrue. ; HoWever; the', perjury lia'd.not been : committed by»the prisoner.with any. intention to,benefit himself, or to do harm to any She else:-', The .-statement had been madett>. protect a. girl's character:. Ordinary cases of ,'perjur.y could not he treated under the .-'."•First. Oihendors' Probation -Act, b'ut the ••• special circumstances attached _to this case . justified him: in granting probation for twelve months, I'ho prisoner would bo called upon to-pay ,two guineas, costs of the prosecution. DEFRAUDING A DAIRY COMPANY. ■Mr. A. L. Hcrdman :nsked that leniency ■" should bo extended to .Frederick Cyril Ross, who had pleaded guilty to .eight charges of theft nt Feiltling., Prisoner, he said, ■ was a ' married man with two children, .arid the V thefts had been committed for the purpose of . adding to the comfort of his family. He received only £137 10s; per annum, arid, , wßen he first entered the.employ of tho dairy-company-five years ago lie earning only . '£60.per ycaT. One of his relations hf.« paid a large sum 'to the company iri part ; refund of the moneys taken. • ■ ' , .1 . His Honour remarked 'on the, ingenious methods adopted by the prisoner in defrauding 1 the company. He had! paid his own salary twice over, and several accounts, had been ■ /passed for payment twice/ . prisoner. ■ keeping the'second cheque. The gross total of his defalcations, extending over five years,. - was , nearly ,£IOOO. Ho would be sentenced to two years' imprisonment, with hard lab--' our, on each charge, the sentences to be concurrent. ..;' '. '' .' : -~ "A petition that George Morris, milk von-' dor, shoilld- bo adjudicated'bankrupt, was heard by r his Honour Mr. • Justices Chapinaii . on l Saturday; morning: Mr., A; do B.\ Bran-r ;i dorij'junvi'-appeared for the petitioning creditor, r tho-Fresh Food arid Ice Company, and 1 . P. 'Levi for the debtor., The:-potition . wis . opposed on tli^., ground .that there was , not- an existing' debt of £80 owing to the cotapanyj': debtor having "paid' 'into the' ' Magistrate's-Court,: in part satisfactiori of the judgment", "an "amount which reduced the debt considerably.' His Honour held: that' ' the . creditor was not . bound to _ accept this sum; and issued the order of adjudication."