MAGISTRATE'S COURT.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 787, 9 April 1910, Page 15

MAGISTRATE'S COURT.

(Before the Bench of Justices.) ; Captain Hennah and Mr. Edwin Arnold, Justices of tho Peace, conducted the business of the Magistrate's Court yesterday morning, Mr. Haselden, S.M., haying to preside at a sitting of the Railway Appeal Board. ' His Worship occupied the Bench at the afternoon Bitting of tho- Court. THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT. After hearing a considerable, quantity of {'evidence of a .conflicting, nature,', the Bench extended the benefit of tho doubt to' James ■Graham,' who was charged with having stolen a bicycle belonging to Henry Walter Biddle,.and dismissed the case. Chief-Detective Broberg, on behalf of the police, stated that both the accused and the owner of the bicycle were members of the Wellington Navals. :The machinelha§.. ; been_loft;atj>thevcNavals!Boat Station., by its owner,""'and 'from there had boon taken away by. the accused, who had ridden it about town, re-nickeled the handle-bar and seat-post, fitted on a second hand brake, and placed a now tyre' on the hind wheel. When interrogated by a detective as to his possession of the bicycle', tho accused said that ho had got it' in Melbourne, but later admitted that it belonged to Biddle. ■' . •

Mr- Herdman, for tho defence, submitted that his client .''had-taken, the bicycle under 'a misapprehension. A man;.-named- Maguire, who had regularly left his.bicycle at the.shed, had- gone unexpectedly to the West Coast.-'Seeing that all and .sundry .'were - using .tho machine, i;, and' knocking 7 if about',' Graham had taken charge of it, used it himself,- and spent some-money'on it's' upkeep. Being a praotical man, ho had re-nickled the handle-bar 'and seatpost for himself.'. Counsel also called evidence as to character; and submitted that his client, had been for the' last five years in a position of trust, and had handled his firm's money with conspicuous honesty.. : The Bench agreed that. there was a conflict of evidence, and that a "doubt had been.created." It was hoped that the affair would be a'warning to the accused.

, . CRUELTY TO AHORSE. 'Two men, Ernest and Samuel Bray, appeared on separate charges, of having worked a horse which was : at the,time in an. unsound condition. 1 • -Each . was convicted and .fined £2, with costs.7s.," the option being 14 days' imprisonment. A further charge- of using indecent language to tho constable who was investigating the condition of the horse was preferred'against Ernest Bray, who was convicted and fined £1, with costs 75., with, the option of 14 days' 'imprisonment. Mr. Fitzgibbon appeared for both the. accused.

' BREACHES OF THE BY-LAWS. Alleged breaches of the city by-laws led to several prosecutions by the corporation inspector, Mr. James Doyle. Fo'r allowing horses to wander, Martin, Gleeson,. Edmund Adams, Frederick Petherick,, and Charles .Shields were each convicted and fined 55., with costs 75., the' option being .24 hours 'imprisonment. . For. allowing- a mare and foal to wander, William Rice was convicted and fined'los., with costs 75., in default 48. hours' imprisonment. "•., William Wilson, charged with having driven a horse and cart across the footway, was convicted and fined £2 10s., with costs Os., in default 7 days' imprisonment. ' Charged with having cycled in Revans Street without a light after sunset, James Howard Ridyard, who pleaded guilty,, was convicted and fined 55., with costs 75., tho usual option being given. ■ There was no appearance of Hercules Jonassen to answer to a charge of having ridden his bicycle along the footnath. He was convicted and fined £1, costs 75., with tho option of 7 days' imprisonment. STONE-THROWING. Tho dangerous practice of throwing stones led to tho appearanco before tho Court of a lad named William Barrett, who was charged with having thrown a stent to the danger of the public, to wit, ono Frederick Seymour- Hubbard. The latter was .hit on the head, and sustained an ugly scar. Barrett was convicted, and ordered to pay the costs of the prosecution, 75., the option being 24 hours' imprisonment.

OTHER CASES. With one previous conviction for drunkenness against his name, William Hatlield, charged with having boon found drunk in Cuba Street on Thursday evening, was convicted and fined 10b., with the option of 48 bouis' imprisonment.

Rosio Somes, who did not appear, was doomed to be a prohibited pqrson within the meaning of the Licensing Act, the order to have currency for twelve months in the Wellington and Hutt districts. (Before Mr. W. R. Haselden, S.M.) SLY-GROG SELLING. A man named Charles Watkins, convicted on a charge of having unlawfully sold liquor to ono A. Anderson, was fined £20, with costs 75., the option being one month's imprisonment.' There was no defence. The evidence of the police was to the effect that two probationers had visited the premises of the. accused and purchased liquor. INSPECTOR OP AWARDS V. OTHERS. Mary O'Hagan and Co., charged on the information of Walter Newton, Inspector of Awards, wiijh having failed to post in a conspicuous place in or near their shop a copy of the Cooks' and Waiters' Award, were convicted and fined 55., with costs 95., the option being 24 hours' imprisonment. i : Failure to close his shop at 9-p.m., led to the prosecution of Patrick M Farlano, by Walter Newton, Inspector of Awards,' for an alleged breach of. the Shops and Offices Act. A nominal penalty of 10s., with 7s. costs, was, upon conviction, imposed. Thomas M'Laughlin, a prohibited person, was convicted of. having been found in licensed premises—the Foresters' Arms Hotel—on March 24, and was fined 55.,' with costs 75., in default 24 hours.'- : MQTJNT COOK COURT. At the Mount Cook Police Court yesterday, before Mr.'T. S. Lambert, J.P., John Pryse, Thomas North, and Robert Henderson each pleaded guilty to a charge of drunkenness in the streets of tho city. Each of them was mulcted in the sum of 10s., in default 48 hours' imprisonment. Another man pleaded guilty of insobriety; being a first offender, he was admonished, convicts, and discharged. " ■■ ■■