LAW REPORTS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2298, 4 November 1914, Page 9

LAW REPORTS

SUPREME COURT PRISONERS FOR SENTENCE BREACH OF PROBATION : Four prisoners appeared for sentence before his Honour Mr. Justice Hosking in the Supreme Court yesterday morning. Mr. H. H. Ostler,- of the Grown Law. Office, represented l the Grown. ; '

A half-caste named Bernard Tamatea Walden, 20 years of age, was first to appear on the dock. He had some tinio ago been admitted to probation for theft of a motor bicycle, and the charge now against him. was that ,'he had broken his probation order by. being guilty of forgery, false pretences and theft, crimes for which he had been sentenced to two months' imprisonment. Mr. H." F. Ayson counsel for Walden, had submitted that'as it was not a spe-' cial condition of accrased's order that he was to be of good behaviour he could not now be sentenced under Section 18 of the Probation Act. This point was considered by his Honour, who announced yesterday that he was prepared to hold the prisoner chargeable under Section 18 for the reason that by Mb own orimes the prisoner had made it impossible that he coujd carry out the terms of his order. Mr. Ayson asked his Honour to deal leniently with.the accused, who was still a young man. It might be better,' counsel suggested, to admit him to a further term of probation. His Honour said that as the prisoner had openly defied the probation order previously made it. would be of no use dealing further with him in 'the Bame way. The best thing in the prisoner's owit interests would De a period of reformatory treatment. The sentence of the ! Court would be that accused bo imprisoned for seven days with' hard labour—this sentence to run concurrent with the' term Walden was at. present serving—and that at the expiry of that term he be detained for two years for reformatory treatment. •

WHEN ALEOTO "WAS BEATEN— : George F. Sievers, 32 years of age, had pleaded 'guilty at Masterton to charges of theft or sums of money totalling over £100. When lie wa6 brought forward for sentence yesterday Ms counsel (Mr. T. M. Wilford) called four witnesses, who'testified to the previous good character. of the prisoner, and expressed surprise at .his Deing in his present position.. Mr. Wilford informed the Court that the explanation given by the ..accused 1 for his first fall was that he was tempted to bet and took a sum of his employers' money to put on what racing men call, a "cert.," a horse that could not lose. It did lose, however, and Sievers went on doubling his bets until the end came.. His last plunge was on Alecto at. Wobdville. :

His Honour ss\id: lio would, like to know if'accused's .betting operations were 6hown tlirpugli his hank book. One beard a lot of these stories, but'if they' were always/ tested they might faE tb/.the ground. If accused could produce his bank took it might help to corroborate his.sto'ry. ■ Mr. Wilford,:' after' consultation, with Sievers, •■' stated that not one of the transactions had passed, through his bank book. Counsel' pleaded for leniency for his client. : '.'■./.' iHis Honour intimated that he could not grant probation'.in this. ca5e......T0. do so,..would be strictly against the terras "of the First Offenders.. Probation Act. ■■'■.':.■■•■'■: ■;.■•■• ■■. : - : , ■■■■•>:■ '.-.

Mr: Wilford'agreed) that probation' was not to De granted, but submitted that his Honour could without stretching the law record the _ conviction i against. Sievers and order him to come up for sentence when called upon. ', '■ ;His Honour said he'had not been disr posed to treat the case as one for bation nor 1 , to /release the prisoner on an order to comeYupwhen called, be-, cause the conversions by accused were only able to be effected on account of the good'character he had born©, After having heard counsel, however, his Honour was inclined to give further consideration to the case, _ and Sievers 'wa6 remanded on bail until 11 o'clockthismorning, ,\'.'. ;

\ . :.—■ r REFORMATORY TREATMENT. Though only 18 years, .'of age, Tatrick Joseph O'Connor had several previous convictions against his name when'he stood in,the'Bock yesterday to be sentenced on a charge of forgery. He aßked his Honour,to deal leniently with him, •pointing out that the forgery was committed ■ at '. the same time as an offence for which hewas sentenced on Septem4; ber 6 last—theft.from a dwelling, for which he was undergoing two years' reformatory treatment. ~,.'■ ', His Honour expressed.-the hope that the reformatory treatment would do the, young man good. If he was going to Went -by it there was nonnecessity to increase.the term.and the sentence for the present offence would therefore be that accjised be detained for reformatory, treatment for .a period of two .years dating from September' 5.

DEFAULTING PROBATIONER. Taimona Karetu, a Maori boy, who had been undergoing probation for theft of a bicycle, was charged with failing to : make payments of £1 per month in\terms of the, order of ' the. Court. The. police .Teport was to the effect that the prisoner had been £G in arrears, but the amount had been paid this week, making a total sum of £9 paid out of £22 4s. ',■"' ! • His Honour, after questioning the accused and the police, said it was apparently hot the boy's fault that the payments'had not been kept up as ho had hot received all his • wages. He would be released on probation again on condition that he was of good behaviour, that he complied with the usual terms of probation, and that he paid a'sum of £5 4s. within a month, and kept up the monthly payments If, £1. THE KUMEROA HOTEL CLOSED. An application for a mandamus to compel.a licensing committee to grant a renewal of a hotel license was heard by His Honour .Mr; Justice Hosking oil October 23 and His Honour delivered his reserved decision on the question yesterday. Tho applicants were: Frederick Charles Cook, publican, of Kumeroa, and James Drysdale, sawmiller, of Nireaha, licensee : and owner respectively of the Kumeroa Hotel. The defendants were the chairman and members of the Pahiatua Licensing Committee. ' i

Mr. T. M. Page, cf Eketahuha, appeared for file applicants, while Mr. H. H. Ostler, of the Crown Law Office, appeared for tho chairman and two mombers of the Licensing Committee, the remaining members of the committee not' having filed any defence. It appeared that on May 25 last, tho licensee of the Kume'roa-Hotel'was requested by the Liconsing Committee to carry ont certain work at the hotel. The notice was not complied with, on June 30, and the. committee mado.it a condition of his renewal of license that the work should b9 effected by September 30, the date of the nest quarterly meeting. The licensee was represented at that but the owner was not. When the quarterly meeting came round the work had not been carried out, and tho hotel wns therefore closed by the committee. The row contended that the re-

quest of May 25 was not a notice within the meaning of the Act, and asked that the committee be compelled to renew the license until June 30, 1915. In the course of a lengthy judgment His Honour held the action of the Licensing Committee, in refusing to renew the license, was valid and .effective, and the motion for a mandamus was. therefore dismissed. It had been agreed that no costs should be allowed.