MAGISTRATE'S COURT

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2400, 4 March 1915, Page 9

MAGISTRATE'S COURT

CRIME IN WAIKATO

DOTE ROBBERY CASE

ACCUSED COMMITTED FOR TRIAL The two girls, Dorothy Scoullar (previously known as Dorothy Soirter) and Lesley Reid, alleged to. be responsible for the big hotel robbery of February 16 last; appeared before Mr. W. G. Itiddell, S.M., in the Magistrate's. Court yesterday afternoon. The charge against them was that of stealing £141 ss. from Janies Thompson at the Duke'of Edinburgh Hotel. Mr. T. M. Wilford appealed for each of the accused, while Chief-Detective Boddam prosecuted. James Cunningham Thompson, an actor,' said that for the fortnight end--ine February 20 witness with his wife ana child were staying at the Duke of Edinburgh Hotel. ' Between' the hours of 8 ana 10 p.m. witness and his wife were always absent, from their room, being at the theatre. On February 15 witness received- £120, and/ of this witness gave his wife £30, and she put it along with some other money—about. £80—in a purse in. a trunk in. the room at the hotel. In the same room witness had kept £66 55.. of his own money in a hamper. At ! about-2 o'clock, on Feb-' ruaiy 17 witness, in consequence of. something he had heard, looked for his money, but it along with his wife's had gone! The purses produced were the property of witness and his wife. Altogether the money missing totalled £141 ss.

Continuing his evidence, witness, said that while paying at the hotel thfey had had five different nurse girls. The accused, Scoullar, had been one of them. On February 16, having, mo nurse 4 girl, the girl employed by the hotel licensee agreed to watch over their child while witness and his wife were at the theatre. Kathleen Josephine 1 Sullivan, . aurse girl-in the employ of the licensee, said that on the evening of February 16 she was minding Mr. and Mrs. Thompson's baby..; A young girl (Reid) came to the bedroom and asked, "Was this the room of the lady who wanted a nurse girl?" Witness replied, "Yes, but she's not in. now." They were talking for s while, and the girl asked her to show her to .another; part of the house. Witness accompanied her .there,, The girl asked her to stay with her.. About fiye, minutes later witness heard the baby cryiiig, and 'hurried back to'the room. When witness went back to the room, 'the girl Reid followed her, and then told tor that she would call again in the morning,to see Mrs. Thompson, and that she lived in Vivian Street and her' name was Reid. , ' • . 1 Esther Timmins, clerk at the Duke of Edinburgh Hotel, said she 7 was in her office at the foot of the stairs oh the night of. February 16. About 9 p.m. two strange girls went up the stairs at .the hotel. ■ : . Charles Young, taxi-driver, said that on-a -Wednesday about the 'middle of February the two girls came to him some time after 9, and-said they wished to hire; the car to be taken, up the'line. They eventually decided to be motored to Palmerstoni the charge being' £10. Witness told them to wait for.'an hour, and he would have a car'"ready. The accused Scouller paid witness £10, and gave him £2 for champagne. Later they asked l witness .how much -it' would take to oarry them to Auckland. Witness told theni it would'be too jniichl. They replied that they had done well at .the races and could pay.. . Deteotive Mason said .that when. Ae. two j told- witness that "she and Bew had decided to tell the'truth j l* S ,B i.wlwle matter. warn- » "oti that'they tfeje not;, bound to tell him anything, &nd that anything Hiey said might be used against them; footer said' that £16 16s. 5d.,'. and. Reid that,£? 9s. .2d., was aU the money tound on them when arrested. They further told him that m addition to the sum found on them they left in" a' trunk at the Oiib Hotel, Palmers ton, ten Australian pound notes. These had smw been recovered. , When the accusedaitrived at Wellington : they. • had 'in Jieir possession . five x hew -boxes, con--taming goods, . which ..they :both . said they had purchased af Woodville aiid Pahnerston with part of the stolen money. The contained ladies' plotiuag -and fancy goods', etc; ' Later i i fi 8 s^e was sorry she hid stolen the. money, and that she did not what possessed her to'steal. To Mr. Wilford:.ln the boxes which accused brought , with them there were new goods. There were now hats, valued at about £10 or £11. The goods were valued at about £70, so that unaccounted for was about £18. Witness received the fullest.'asd .freest confession of the theft. The two girls'-had! certainly made a clean breast of everything; and told a'true story. This concluded the evidence, , and Mr. Wilford said that on behalf of each of the accused he wished to say thoy were much indebted to Detective Mason and' Constable Tricklebank for the way they had treated them.

Both girls pleaded guilty and ■ were committed to • the Supreme Court .for.' sentence. On Mr. Wilford's application the bail was reduced and fixed at £50, with one . surety of £75..' AN ALLEGED STABBING AFFRAY: A young married, woman named Ellen Sullivan ' appeared charged with-.'assault-, ing Mary M'Culley so as to cause, her actual bodily -harm. Inspector Hear drey said that M'Cnlley was in the Hospital,,so . that he would have to ask for a remand to.next' Wednesday, when it was'possible the woman might be 'able to appear. '• • Mr. P. W. Jackson made application for bail on accused's behalf... Inspector Hendrey replied that the assault consisted' of accused stabbing, her mother with a knife, - as a result of which she received rather a dangerous wound' inthe back of the neck. Accused's mother was 68 years old, and had "already lost a lot of blood. . , Tlie Magistrate fixed bail at £50. OTHER CASES. Ernest Alfred. Welch was further remanded till Wednesday next on the charge of receiving £17 4s. from C. H. Treadwell, and failing to account for the same to the Receiver-General. Several other charges against accused •will probably be taken on the samedate. A remand to to-day was granted in the case in which Joseph Johnston was charged that on August 23, at Ka'.vhia, he did alter a cheque drawn in his favour arid given him, by J.,Eshby,for £5 ss. to £15.55., and uttering it to the. Bank of New Zealand at Kawhia. Charles ; Edmunds, Walter Balch, and Arthur, George. Young, against whom it is alleged that they sot fire to tho White Horse Hotel, were further re-: manded to Wednesday next. Bail was allowed as before. James M'Keoven was sent to gaol for six months on a chargo of being an incorrigible rogue. . Thomas Burns was convicted and discharged for drunkenness, and fined £3jin default 14 days' gaol, for using obscene language. James Hannah was fined. ; , in default three days' gapl, : for disorderly ocndnct. , , , , . Frederick Sampson, who attempted to beg twopence half-penny from a passerby in Tory Street, wns chargcd _ with being idle and disorderly.- As this was his first offence he was convicted and discharged. \ ■_ F<ir drunkenness, -Richard Bull was .fined' 205., ; or three days' gaol, and' Charles Smith' fined 10s, or 4S' hours,

Four..first offenders were dealt with for drunkenness.

(By TekerMi)i.—Pre?a Aesoctetio*.) Hamilton, March 3. In .the Supreme Court, John Joseph Peacock and Thomas . Leach, charged with cattle stealing at Ongarua, were acquitted. . Edward James Lowther, for uttering a valueless chcqiio tor £10 at Tirau,'was admitted to probation for two' years, and prohibited for the same period. SENTENCED FOR THEFT. Napier, March 3. . At the Supreme Court, George Frederick Murphy was sentenced to eighteen months' reformative treatment tor the theft of'watches.. J