SUPREME COURT
—— CRIMINAL SESSIONS COMMENCE
BIGAMY INDICTMENT ADMITTED
The quarterly criminal- sessions -were ' commenced in tho Wellington Supreini J Court yesterday. His Honour; 5 tico Chapman, presiding. /Air. -I'. S. lC; Mucassey appeared fol - "the Crown. ■' " Tho grand jury attended as follows 11 W. J. Lees, H. M.' Eraser, R. Brown, * W. A. Brown, T. Fathers,'A. E. Burge, * ' -A. U. Murray, E. AV. .Buscholz, N. TV liayniond, W. L. Palmer, H. It: 11 ill 1 o-. ran, W. F. Harvey, J. B. Palmer, W. M. . Page, E. S. Baldwin, T. 11. Oates, A. 1). ( Proud, li. de Montalk, and H. Fames. ( Mr. E. S: Baldwin was- appointed fore- , man. • . TT. i In charging the jury empanelled,-His ; Honour remarked that tho crimes to I>Q dealt with were generally of an ordinary type. There were'*nineteen prisoners to . "be dealt with. It seemed that there i was an epidemic of. housebreaking, theft, , and falso pretences, but tlio calender, in • ono way, was a satisfactory one", ns.there , were no sexual cases of'any description- , to be dealt with. His -Honour referredto the fact that onl>; .two returned sol- , diers were included'..ip. tho list, a vast ( difference to recent sessions over wliicu. ■ • 4io had presided, .when 1? out Of , prisoners had teen- ex-soldiers. He took , the improvement as an indication tnat ■ ' normal conditions were coming back.. He thought tlie jury would have no dithculty ■ in finding true bills. ; Tho grand jury then, retired. TRUE BILLS. ' . ■' ! . : After deliberation, ''-the grand .jury., found, true bills against tlie following prisoners, who aro charged.- with . tn© offences placed against their Mvrtle May Reid and Sydney Swonason,. bigamy; Sydney Swensson;" false-pre-tences; Herbert John-Mercer, breaking,, entering; and theft'; Alfred Joseph Vance- .; Rvan (alias K 8.-Ryan), false pretehMS; .and forgery-and My». - thoft and obtaining credit ..fraudulently, John Henry Morgan; broaking. entertmtv and theft (two charges);., James Herbert Car, breaking, enterting, and theft, Kitty Stewart and Phyllis Banks, theft from a dwelilng; Charles Thornton Mrfield Mills, false pretenceßeginald William Norman, forgery and utlteringj El a . Dorothea Boys and Rupert Hntchi^heft,. William Arthur Webb, manslaughter. ~ BIGAMY admitted. . Arraigned on a charge'of.bigamy, Jessie ' Anderson pleaded guilty, to baving. married one Edward 'Williams in AVclhng- - ton, on August 1, M 9. she then l,mig the lawful wife of Jaines Anderson. She ' was also guilty of making-a- false stilt meiit by describing herself as. ft spinster before 'the second marriage, -tor-, tho defendant, Mr, mitted that accused had left- hei, misband, Anderson, by mutual arrangement, as he'was of drunken' and cruel--habit-,.; He had agreed to pay 30s a, week to-. wards her niainteiiauce, •and*that of<| her child, now six years old- Tins had been . discontinued after..a few woman handed over the child to the State navine ss. a week for its keep, and work- . ing to support herself:'. At -this fame. \nderson left New Zealand, and,' cou.nso} . understood, had marriW.rwar yidow ( iu : -England, tliis"fact, being. borne out. by. a leUer received -by the prisoner from I her husband's second-wife. \\ jtness.tlien thought, having lieen told by a friend, tlia't Anderson had l*en drowned. It. happened, however, that Anderson de- ' se-rted the woman in- England, and ie-tuvi-ed here, fi'ndina .bis wife married to Williams. Mr. Wilfo'rd asked for clem--enov on. the ground that the -prisoner had realiv believed lier "was dead. She had married Williams .to ncrnin eet the custody of her clnld. and did not realise she'. was._/ committing =r '''iri's «aid- h? .would' consider . ivliat sentence shonld.-.be; ; ~ .FORGERY.'AND.HTTERTNG., A chargo of forgery.:-and uttering at. Wellington on August-31 was preferred aga ; nst Reginald William* Norm,aiv, who pleaded guilty to the offence. Thc forgery was an unusual one, being the .. issuing falsely of a- taxi driver's license, and the forging of the name of Arthur Collins, on it. The-prisoner's father (William Norman) said the boy had been roaming about 6inco the death-of his mother some years ago.. If the' prisoner .were given a chance the'father guaran- ; teed to'take him under his care to a' fiirni; ! in the South Island.' 'Prisoner,'said Mr. Macassey was at present on probation id I the ..Wellington district.. He lind been.' 1 convicted' previously, of theft and : the period of probation.!ha<l.bsen extended! by ono year. ■ r His Honour: This, exte^sioij:..was; only n-few dnyra ago—October'7. : . ./. Presumably if he went to tho'jSoUth Is-lftlid lie i would, of necessity be under probation there. . ;,i ' His -Honour ordered tho prisoner to como up for sentpneo when . called . on. Tho lad : had misbehaved, himself, arid, his playing' fast alul loose could_ not go on inuoii longer. Any misbehaviour on the part of tho 'delinquent would lead to his being brought up for sentence. ..A BRUTAI. ATTACK. . ' • Lawrenco Keenari, a trimmer,' formerly on tlie s.s. Surrey, pfeaded guilty'' toassaulting James Dunlop and doing him grievous bodily' harm by striking' l|fm on the head with a spanner. Mr. A; Fairfor accused.said that't|ie;ns^ault,"much" took place on October 20 .last,, hadbeen - the- result of a drunken quarrel; Pns-; oner was well behaved .when he. was sober, and in thisvinstance had wishedto help his "pal," who,..lie,thought, .was being maltreated. ,Ho -.emphasised .the fact that accused. lin,il_ : ,bcen . .;drinking lieavily. •, . ' His Honour: Drink is, no excuse for violence. There is ni> 6cale ; .where a sentence enn bo reduced according to the amount of liquor consuincd! ■ . ; '■Mr. Fair further stated that the pris-- -— oiier was the only euppOut of. his family, . which consisted of a wounded.ex-soldier father, mother, r.nd' three sisters. Jlr Macassev said-nothing was known of Keonivn; but the offence was.n coivardIv aiid brutal assault, and-was, lie- contended,, not'done oil tho spur of the Honour announced his-intention of; deliberating as to wli'tit sentence should be. passed. ' . ;
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Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 32, 2 November 1920, Page 2
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929SUPREME COURT Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 32, 2 November 1920, Page 2
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