A GANG OF ROUGHS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1380, 5 March 1912, Page 6

A GANG OF ROUGHS.

VIOLET ASSAULT, MAGISTRATE TAKES STRONG MEASURES." (By Telesraph-Prosa Association.! Auckland, March 1. Ten young men, named George Bradley, John Martin, Thos. Herk, Wm. Estall, Alexander Jones, Geo. .Tones, Henry Whiteside, Alexander AValker, Herbert Gamble, and Joseph Howard, appeared before. Mr. E. C. Cutten, S.M., in t)» Polieo Court, charged' with using threatening behaviour in Wellington Street, also with assaulting Ernest Mather and Georgo Evans.

The evidence for the prosecution was that Mather was standing in Queen Street on a recent Saturday night, when Whiteside came up and asked for a match. 'Mather gave him a liox of matches, which, after lighting his cigarette, ho put in his pocket. When Mather asked for the return of the matches, Whiteside struck him on the nose, and then disappeared. Later, when Mather renched Wellington Street, ho met a number of the accused young men, who set on him, punching and kicking him. Evans then came on the scene, and asked for fair play, and a section of the gang then. assaulted him. One of them then went for reinforcements,. and Evans (a man of fine physique) was again set upon with such violence that ho had to call for help. Evans then went for the police, _ and, whilo he was away, .the crowd again turned their attention to Mather, kicking and beating him unmercifully. One. of the accused holding his head while ancther hit him in tho face.

Describing the affair, Evans said accused behaved "like a pack of wolves." Constable Murphy said when he met Mather and Evans they were terribly battered about, their faces and bodies being a mass of cuts and bruises. The defence was a total denial of any assault on the two men. With regard to Alexander Jones, it was admitted ho endeavoured to act as peacemaker, and that Martin was not in the habit of mixing with the rest of the gang.

His Worship said the charge against Alexander Jones would be dismissed. Martin would be fined .£5. As to the others, he wished to make it quite clear that anything in the nature of the formation of gangs would be put firmly down, and he was going to take the.somewhat unusual. course of sending them all do gaol except Martin. Each would bo sentenced to 14 days' hard labour. The accused, when they hoard the sentence, were evidently staggered, few of them treating tho affair seriously.