Feilding R.M. Court.

Feilding Star, Volume IV, Issue 73, 22 November 1883, Page 3

Feilding R.M. Court.

Mo-JDay, Nov. 19th, 18S3. Before D. H- Macarthur, F. Y. Lethbridge, H. L. Sherwill, Esq-., J.P.'s. LAECENY. (Conclusion of Report.) Robert Steven Reid deposed as to going to prisoner's house and asking Buchanan for the money ; found him in a stu . d and strange way • he gave witness permission to take ihe money ; prisoner asked him to count the notes before her; she seemed satisfied ; wrote an a^knowleggment of having received the money from BuchauHn ; she began to blackguard Buchanan, and called him a fool for letting Eeid take all his money from him ; he only gave a grin ; tried to get him hjrne, but he refused to come ; then came aw.iy and left him ; went to Constable Price about it, who advised him to try and get him away; went asain and got him out; came with him to the Court on Friday to get a warrant jf or prisoner; went with bim and the Constable to prisoner's house and the warrant was read to her. [Part of the evidence here was unfit for publication.] _ . The cross-examination of this witness elicited nothing material. , George Elnowles deposed he ttrs a carpenter; prosecutor hid worked for him at the same trade ; caw him on Tuesday, j and he showed witness a roll of note*- ; j told hica to put it into the bank ; should say there were between 30 and 4.0 pounds; had a drink or two with him at Hoe's and Bellve's; saw him again on Thursday, bat he was stupid and he couldn't get anything trom him. Witness" cross-examination brought out aothing of importance. Harry Halcombe deposed he was a clerk at the Bank of Australasia ; on Monday, 12th, prosecutor brought two 'cheques to the Bank to be cashed, one of £27 14s, and the other £15; cisbed them for him. William Bray deposed he was assistant to Mr Loudon, draper; oa the 13th inst prisoner came to the nil up, and paid £3 3s 6d in aotes sad silver W. G. Haybittle deposed: On Wednesday prisoner cam. to his store aad bought soma groceries to the amount of about 365. Peter McMillan deposed he saw Bhch&nan for the first time on Monday last; knew prisoner, was in her bouse oa Wednesday morning; went by invitation to lave a mouth f al of beer with the people -who were there ; went to fetch another lot of beer ; stopped two or three hours ; Buchanan drank his share of it. Constable Price deposed: Oa Friday 16fh iast. received a warrant signed by >£ r Sherwill, J.P., to arrest prisoner; went to her residence and arrested her. Cross-exa - ined : Did not search the bouse ; should have applied for a search warrant if the circum^tancea had appeared to justify it; Buchanan had never . come under his notice the worse for liquor; -Buchanan's statements on Thursday were «ontradictory. Charles Roe. proprietor of tbe Denbigh hotel, de*>ossd : Knew prisoner and prosecutor; the latter came to the hotel on Monday; didn't know anything about what money he had. Esteven Belive, proprietor of the Empire hotel, deposed : Buchanan came to his house ju«t before closing ou Mon--day and Tuesday, and slept there ; was not drunk when he came. This closed the case for the Crown. Mr Prior, in addressing the court, failed to see that there was sufficieat «videice to convict the prisoner, maintaining that there was oot a tittle of it whiek attached a greater criminality to th© prisoner in this case than to some of the other persons mixed up ia it. He made an exhaustive sifting of the whole of the evidence adduced on the side of the prosecution, aril submitted that he •was not called upon to rebut it by calling any witnesses on the side of the prisoner. Mr Hawkins, while admitting that the case was not so strong as it might have been, said there wew very grave doubts as to whether the prisoner had not taken th» money, m support of which remark he called attention to some of the points contained in the evidence. After about five minutes" consultation, their worships came to the conclusion that there was no case on which a jury could convict, aud the charge was therefore dismissed. jji_B__«-a-a-H-H--a---nt--_i