BOTH OF NEW ZEALAND.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 750, 24 February 1910, Page 7

BOTH OF NEW ZEALAND.

STOEY .OF THE CRIME AND TEJAL. . , Constable (gate's, to. the cables .-grams sent in April, is a jNew Zealander; S P: .fj**.*?. the burglar, at .anyrate so .'far :as .having a.■ Wellington :criminal record concerned.- The' b.urglar's name is Johft.l'redetick .Crook,'.and in April'last ho gave his■ age as 22J years,., ' '.;'-■ ;"■' Crook,, who :is a seaman,: commenced ?n?; ""f 61 ?, f .?*«"»? in. Nw' Zejtfand'.in IJQ4,Mvhen he' was sentenced >to nine months imprisonment, on each of" tW'o' charges of ■ and. . entering- the drapery premises of Messrs. Warnockand Adkin and stealing goods' valued at i7O. In. December, fte . was sentenced'to 12 months ■ imprisonment on each of three .charges .of .theft, amd, in the'.- following month, he, was sentenced, to six months' imprisonment for. escaping" from • custody. ■ of the.-North Sydney crime was thus tpld in iVcablegram of.' April l: \Tlussfll Sinclair, a resident of/North Sydney, disturbed' an intruder in his house.. -:A . desperate ': struggle {pßoiccd. 1 lie robber, who was armed with-a/r&i ■vqlver, fired 'tifiwi, andVsoriqusly.'wounded Sinclair-in the groin. . , 'Thq robber was; arrested after an, exciting chas?, during y,-bich he fired several shots at his pursuers, and' inflicted nasty .injuries on the head of Constable Gates (a Now :Zealander) by battering it nith the butt of the revolver. Gates re--ceived 'immediato• promotion ; as a:reward for his bravery." '' Crook was charged with having feioniously wounded Russell Sinclair .ivith ~tqnt to murder hipi. The jury returned a verdict of guilty, a majority' of the jiiry recommending mercy an 'account, of prisoner's youth. : ' ' - -■. '' i, In his statement in opurt Crook said: "In the struggle 'in the house Mf; Sinclair, hit the revolver, and it went off. I had no intention of killing Mr. Sinclair. He knbpked the revolver again, and once, more" it went off.. There was .no intentionof killing him. I havq never before had any serious charge, brought. against mo. I am very young, only 22} years of age. I had no intention to use the'revolver at all. It was a silly mistake, to carry it at all." 1 Acting-Justice Rogers sentenced Crook to death.'- Ahwt three weeks afterwords the. sentence was commuted to imprison-: ment for life.