A CROWDED COURT.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1198, 5 August 1911, Page 6

A CROWDED COURT.

■■ REQUEST TO CLEAR IT REFUSED. ; SOME or. THE .EVIDENCE. • >m.. widespread public'interest that is j taken in tSf > jas; —j ; 5 VuW bf the »d at- ■ accused came up tor • t " a k r'ou r t was i ll) o'clock the body ot the Court was : packed with spectator?, fair sex prcdominatm©* J-ho o ■ space was crowded almost to -jmd although the caso was not called till 1130 t.li'3 - curiosity of. tho crowd buoyet ■" them up to endurance of tho unpleasant conditions that prevailed. - ■ ■ , When the: caso was called, Kart T ¥if™. o'Sha.ughnessy, Jano Li' l ' lls . ' James Edward O'Shauglmessy, and Mary Ha™ 11 filed into Court to answer tho chargo of having munlvwl one Elsao Alexandra Holland, at lungsland, on or about Ji.no 13 last. Mrs. O'Shauglmessy '. well-dressed" and' .self-possessed, ente r e ' l ; irith quiet demeanour. Her husband, unehaveu, and evidently younger than his wfe, firmly led Uio ; way into tlio Court. Mrs! O'Shaughnessy's daughter, Mrs. Hartley, was apparently ai nonchalant - as on her first appearance a fortnight ago, and nodded to several acquaintances m . -the body of tho Court. Mrs. Hassell appeared to, preserve the same stoical view ■ of tho -proceedings which characterised her attitude at.tho.Coroners Court. Mr. Selwyn Mays appeared to conduct tho case for tho Crown, and said that lie proposed to ask tlio - Bench to tauo Mrs. O'-Shauglinessy's caso first, and to deal with tho indictment against her as a separate charge. . . Mr. Mays-then, .asked ■that m view ot the crowded, state of the Court and tho limited accommodation ■ . afforded, tho public should bo ordered beyond tho precincts, in tho interests of public health. Mr. Singer immediately raised strong. : objection. It was the right of'tho'accused to have the public present, and he , raised his voice strongly in. protest. Store ■ harm ..than enough had already been done in Nefr Zealand in this respect, in con- : sequence <of tho almost childish manner in which' tho -Honch had on previous occasions- had. recourse to this power to clear tho Court. Accused persons were entitled not only to trial by jury, but to trial before the public.

Mr. Frasnr, S.M., said Mr. Justice Denniston. had already ruled- as to when a Court should be cleared of tho -public, and, while sirtmitlinff Mr. Mavs's contention as to the hygicnic .conditions prevailing, ho could not see his way to ordering tho clearance of tho Court for that reason alone.