ONSET ON A REPORTER

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1753, 19 May 1913, Page 6

ONSET ON A REPORTER

IN SUTTON CAMP.

SEVERE COMMENT ON OFFICERS. BY REPORTER'S COUNSEL, 'An assault by Territorials upon a rcporter—a caso which li-is attracted widespread interest not only in the locality in which it ocourred, but throughout the Dominion-was roviewed in tho Magistrate's Court at Dunedin last Wednesday. Five Territorials who attended tho recent infantry brigade camp at Sutton— Jamos Carr Rigby, Thomas Atkinson Bunbury, Cecil James S. Nicolson, Robert Kirkness, and Herbert Thompson, were charged \ with unlawfully assaulting Charles Macan, a reporter on the staff of the "Otiigo Daily Times." 1 Tho Court was well filled with spectators, who occasionally derived some amusement from the pointed remarks of counsel. Mr. Hanlon appeared for the defendants, each of whom pleaded guilty. "Planned and Instigated by Commissioned Officers." Mr. W. C. MacGregor appeared for the prosecution. This, ho said, was a caso in which a cowardly assault had been committed on a reporter. He read tho facts as stated in the newspaper report of the occurrence. These, he said, were the facts surrounding tho actual assault, but, according to his instructions there was a great deal more behind them. This was not a mere act of horseplay on tho part of somo young men. It was an assault, that was planned and instigated by the commissioned officers of the 4th Regiment. . , Mr. Hanlon: I submit that my friend has no right to go into that. Mr. MacGregor: I propose to show that these men -were merely tools of the officers, and it is a question for your Worship whetlifcr that is a. mitigating circumstance or ' otherwiso so as to assess punishment. .Mr. Widdowson: It might be miHgattng. Mr. MacGregor:' It might be mitigating or it might bo aggravating, but it is right that tou should know the facts.

Mr." Hanlon: If what my friend says is true there are other people who should bo charged. Of courso, the statements made' are not for the purpose of mitigating the penalty of theso men, but for the purpose of saying that some officers havo taken some part in this matter..

Remarks oh the Ringleader. Mr. MacGregor: The object is to put the full facts before the Court. If I satisfy your Worship that these men were tools in the hands of Colonel M'Ara and Lieutenant Nisbet and other officers of the 4th Regiment, and'that one of them —Rigby, the ringleader—has since received his commission as a reward for carrying it out, then your Worship will see thero is something mora in it than common assault.

Mr. Hanlon: Then someone else should be before tho Court. 1

• Mr. MacGregor (with emphasis): And probably will be beforo the Court. Mr. MacGregor went on to say that if it could be suggested- that this was a mere freak on the part of some young men ' excited with camp life, then perhaps a small punishment might suffice; but if it wa3, as he suggested, a deliber- ■ ato assault planned and organised by . vsome commissioned officers and concurred ; in by officers who failed 4o protect the victim when out of bounds, then his Worship would see that it was a very serious ■ offence. "To Stifle Further Inquiry." • MrWiddowson: If it is proposed to bring tho other " men before tho Court then I think the proper thing would be to adjourn the case and bring them all together. At present I cannot hoar you. It has been suggested that this has been instigated by others. - Mr. MacGregor: If i's'not- a 'suggestion. It is a fact. These men pleaded guilty to screen the others and stifle further inquiry. Mr. Hanlon: They pleaded guilty betcauso I have .instructed them that on the, evidence th'ey. could not evade liability. Mr. MacGregor: The effect is to stifle further inquiry. Mr. Widdowson: If. you wish evidence - it can be called. Mr. MacGregor again eaid that the effect of the pleading guilty was to stifle further inquiry. One could ''hardly ex- ' pecfc these men to giy away thoir offi- ' 'cers. They were brave enough to attack .a reporter—four or five of them—especially'one standing about sft. high, but they wero not brave enough to face their •officers. "Five Days to Plan It." Mr. Widdowson asked when tho report that occasioned tho ill-feeling lad appeared. » Mr. MacGregor: On a Tuesday morning. The assault did not take place till [Saturday morning. During that • time itlie plot was hatched, conceived, and carried out. It was not actually carried out ■till tho other regiments had left tho (camp, and the'4th Regiment was in full charge. The camp was actually in process of breaking np, so that these gallant ■officers and men of the 4th Regiment had -five days to plan this gallant and military operation, for which some of them iprobably get decoration in due . course. Mr. Widdowson: It is just as, well not to bring in extraneous matter.' Mr. MacGregor: No, sir. I .quite agree .with you; but still it seems a monstrous thing that men wearing his Majesty's uniform should make such a bnjtal and unprovoked assault on a civilian. The Reporter in the Box. 'At Mr. Widdowson's suggestion the complainant went into the witness box. He said that when he came out from breakfast on tho Saturday morning a crcwd of men, perhaps about ono hundred s in number, approached him. and asked him for an apology. Ho said that he could hot guarantee an'apology, but lliht it was a matter for his editor. actual assault took placc when ho was inside the T>rigade headquarters' office tent. Tho five men beforo the Court rushed in and ono of them said, "There he is!" They collared witness and ran him down a pretty steep bank—a drop of about eight or ton fecit— fa tho edge of tho creek. From thero thero was a drop of two feet into tho ■Rater. Ono man had hold of each arm and they pushed hfm in. Thero were three or four feet of water in the creek. After witness had left the box Mr. ]-!:■ - lon read the "Times" report of the disturbance, which had occurred on the Monday evening previous to tho assault. That, he .said, was what a young and inoxperi-. enced reporter wroto to his paper. Naturally it .was intended to make copy for his pajier, and ho mado a mountain out of a molehill. The statements were exaggerated for the purnuse of taking good reading for the public. Mr. Widdowson: I don't propose to deal with the case to-day. I will consider tho inatter, and tho men can come up for sentence either on Saturday or Tuesday next. The cttso was' adjourned until Tuesday morning.