MAGISTRATES' COURTS.

Globe, Volume XX, Issue 1442, 30 September 1878, Page 2

MAGISTRATES' COURTS.

CHRISTCHURCH. Monday, Septembeb UO. [Before G-. L. Mellish, Esq., R.M.'J Drunkenness. —A first offender was fined ss. Patrick Kyles, charged with the same offence, aggravated by the use of obscene language, was fined 20s. Benjamin Milner was charged with drunkenness and creating a disturbance at a private house. The accused admitted the offence, and was fined 10s, with damages, 15s. Mary Cunningham was charged with using obscene language in Cranmer Square on Sunday morning. Sergeant Beck proved the offence, and the accused, an old offender, was fined 40s. John Delaney, for drunkenness and using obscene language, at half-past nine o'clock on Sunday morning, in Manchester street, was fined 20s, George Brown was charged with being drunk and disorderly on Sunday. .A ccused denied the charge, which w*is proved by the assisting constable, who stated it took the assistance of three civilians to take him to the depot. A fine of 40s ws.s inflicted.

V'AGEANOT. —Henry Lewis was charged with being the occupier of a house frequented by thieves or persona having no lawful visible means of support, and James Hoskins Ohubb, Annie Wharton, Isabella Leckie, and Mary Maule were charged with being found in the samo house and having no lawful visible means of support. Mr Harrison, residing in Salisbury street;, said that on Saturday night last the prisoners were creating a great disr lurbauco and tbrew a stone through his window, at the same time making use of very bad language. These disturbances were of frequent occurrence, and the house was the resort of all the riff-raff of the town. Wm. Dexter, a carpenter, living in the same street, .corroborated the evidence of the last witness Ho also stated that he had been threatened with personal violence by the prisoners. The house was undoubtsdly an infamous one. Sergeant Hughes deposed to tjie bad eharaoter of the house. The prisoner Leckie was jobr-i. Detective Walker corroborated the evidence of Sergeant Hughe*. 'j.'hr< prfsonpr Lecfcie wns discharged on her promise of future good behaviour. The prisoner Maule said she had been living with her Bister for some time, and that her husband and child were drowned 'recently, and it was enough to imike a woiaaju drink. Sho was alio diecharged, hia '■ 'Woicshiijj soying he would also give her a chance. Tho prisoner Wharton was similarly dealt "wittf on t» promifo of better behaviour. The police gave a \ery bad account of Cbubb, ■who, as it was Ins jil'ct conviction, was sentenced to one months' imprisojmont with hard labour. Lewie, the proprietor o: tha house, w&a dealt

with as a rogue and vagabond, and sent to gaol for twelve months. Beeach of Peisons Act.—Kate Grant was charged with introducing tobacco into the gaol at Addington while undergoing a sentence of seven days' imprisonment. The accused pleaded that she was not aware she was committing a breach of the prison regulations. Mr Reston, the gaoler, proved the charge, and said it was a deliberate breach of the regulations, as the prisoner had purchased the tobacco before she went into the gaol, and had admitted that it was for a prisoner in confinement there. A fine of 10s was inflicted.

Wandeeing Cattle . —The following were fined for allowing hordes and cattle to wander at large : —Patrick Flannery, 10s; James Todd, ss; B. Lintot, 5s ; W. Keith, 5s : J. Butcher, sen., 5a ; Hugh Miller, 5s ; and John Judge, ss. Beeach ow Ctty By-iaws.—William J. Kerr was summoned for not having a table of fares inside his hackney carriage in contravention of the city by-laws. He was fined 10s.

The Wbong Side. —Walter Scott was fined 10s for driving on the wrong side of the street.

Chimney on Fibk.—Joseph Oram Sheppard, for allowing his chimney to take fire, was lined 10s. Beeach of Railway By-law.—Dennis Moroney was charged with entering a railway carriage while the same was in motion. The offence was admitted, and a fine of 10s was inflicted.

Violent Assault.—John Dempsey was charged with violently assaulting Hugh McClatchie on the 16th inst. Mr R. D. Thomas appeared for the defendant. On the application of Inspector Hickson, the accused was remanded until Tuesday, October Bth, bail being allowed —two sureties of £SO each, and himself in £IOO. ' ' Malicious In.tuey.—John Maurice Fitzgerald was charged with unlawfully and maliciously cutting and damaging about eighty-six fruit trees, of the value of £SO, : n the garden of Elkanah Williamson, on the 21th of September. Mr Izard appeared for the complainant, and Dr. Foster for the accused. All witnesses were ordered out of Court. The complainant stated he was a builder, residing in Harper street, Sydenham. Early in the morning of the 24th he noticed a holly was cut down, and on examination he found that the other shrubs referred to in the information were cut down also. These, to the number of fifty-five trees and thirty-three other flowers, were in the front of the house. He would not have taken £SO for the property destroyed. At the back of the house eighty-six fruit trees and gooseberry and currant bushes were also destroyed. Complainant knew the accused, but had never quarrelled with him. Had opposed defendant's licensed house on several occasions. About Christmas last threats had been used to him by the defendant and Mr Rosser. Cross-examined by Dr. Foster—Complainant stated defendant and Mr Rosser had said they would make it hot for him, and this he construed into a threat. On the first discovery of the damage done to his property, complainant gave information to Constable Brooks. Mary Ann Williamson, the wife of the complainant, corroborated his evidence as to the condition of the garden on the 24th inst. She estimated her loss at about £BO. She saw the impression of boots in tie garden, and they were not like her bootmarks. They were footmarks without any nails in them. Constable Brooks measured the footmarks in the garden, and they appeared to be all of an equal length and width. She made a paper pattern of the footprints by means of measuring them with a pair of compasses and a rule. Shortly after eight o'clock Constable Brooks came again with a pair of boots tied in a cloth. He made an impression on the sand with these boots and compared the impression with the footmarks, and they corresponded in size. Had never quarrelled with the defendant, but the latter had once assaulted her in the Resident Magistrate's Court, in consequence of an information that had been laid against him for selling liquor without a license. She was the person who had laid the information. Henry Turner, a carpenter, residing at Willow Bank, Sydenham, deposed that he was working at Mr Williamson's garden on the 24th. He saw the damage that had been done, which he roughly estimated at £SO. Had seen the shoo produced in Court tried with the footprints in Mr Williamson's garden, and they corresponded. The marks were all round the trees that had been cut down. The witness measured the footprints with a rule, and they were the same size as the shoe in Court. The ground was too spongy to retain any nail marks. Did not recollect seeing the tomahawk produced before. The axe marks on the piece of tree produced in Court appeared exactly to correspond with the blade of the tomahawk produced. The witness compared the nnrks on several pieces of wood produced in Court—a portion of the trees destroyed—with the blade of the tomahawk, and in every instance they, in his opinion, corresponded. Detective Benjamin deposed that he went to Mr M'Williamson's garden on the morning of the 24th, and found about fifty-eight fruit trees and about twenty-eight shrubs cut down. He met Constable Brooks at the garden. The trees had the appearance of being freshly cut down. Constable Brooks and witness examined the garden, and found foot-tracks of a man's boot all around the trees which had been cut down, and on the beds which had been recently dug over and raked. Thpy covered the most distinct of the tracks with boards. Constable Brook's has in his possession, a couple of pieces of the timber produced. They were a portion of the branch of a tree. Witness and Constable Brooks then went to defendant's house, and saw Mrs and Miss Fitzgerald there in a front room. Witness asked to see any chopper or axe they might have about the place. Mrs Fitzgerald went with witness to the coal box, which was at the back of the house, about 4ft. from the door. Mrs Fitzgerald gave witness a tomahawk she found there, and said it was the only one they had. Witness took possession of it, and returned to Williamson's garden, and compared the tomahawk with the marks on the cuts upon the timber. Mr Williamson, in the presence of witness, then sawed off the portions! of wood produced from the branches that had been cut off. There were marks on the tomahawk as if it had been used for cutting green wood. Witness went back to the house of the accused with Constable Brooks, and saw Miss Fitzgerald and Mrs Fitzgerald, and in consequence of something the latter said, he went into the kitchen, where he saw Mr Fitzgerald. Witness had the tomahawk produced in his hand, and he said to accused, " This is the tomahawk that put doy/n the trees in Williamson's garden 5 there are mark? upon it of its having recently cut green wood. Accused replied, "That might be, I cannot sijy anything about that, I first heard of it when the brewer came this morning." Accused also said he had used the tomahawk that morning to cut wood and break up some coiil to light the fire. Accused at the time was wearing slippers, and witness asked where were his boots. He said he had two pairs, the pair produced and another. Witness tcok the pair produced to Williamson's garden, being accompanied by a nephow of the accused named Rogers. The boots Rogers wore on being compared did not correspond with the tracks. Witness returned to Fitxgerald and naked him which pair of boots ho had worn the night before. Ho said ho had worn the boots produced till ho went to bed the previous evening. Witness then returned to the garden and compared both the shoes with the footmarks, and they corresponded in shape and size. Henry Tuck, a caipenter. living in Gloucester street, being sworn, paid ho wu? coniidont that the marks on the wood wove made by the tounihawk produced. He was sure of it becausa the i>>\\,3 in fcho head of the axe minutely ooryespondee! with the marks on trie woqd. (Jonstablc Brooks, being sworn, gave hiu history of the case, which in all material respects corroborated the evidence given by Detective Benjamin and the previous witnesses. This was the whole of the ovide'ica, and Dr. Foster declining at this to oall iiiiy witrn?t>s9«, uiw acc.;sei was cQmjnittad to tuke his trial at the next sessions of the Supreme Court. On the applicatipn of Dr. Foster the accused wob liboratod on bail, himself in £looj and two sureties of £SO each, I

Assault.—Jas. Henry Sellars was charged with assaulting a boy named Charles Edgar, on the 18th inst. Defendant denied the assault, but admitted pushing the complainant. He subsequently apologised, but the apology was not taken. After hearing the evidence of the complainant, and his brother, William Edgar, which went to show that the defendant had slapped the complainant's face and thrown him into a gorse hedge, his Worship decided that it was a case of bullying, and that the complainant had not reckoned on assistance being at hand. The defendant was fined 405., or in default ninety-Bix hours' imprisonment with hard labor.

Teansfeb of License.—The license of the Rolleston Hotel was transferred from Thomas Henry Ranger to Lewis John Williams.

LYTTELTON. Monday, September 30. [Before W. Donald, Esq., R.M.] Doo Nuisance Ordinance.—James Wills, Margaret Dipper, John Hempstalk, Thomas Kelly, Wm. Owens, John Ryan, P. O'Brien, and Joseph Atkinson were each fined 20s and 4s costs for having unregistered dogs in their possession. G. Pierce and G. Batchelor were fined 20s each for similar offences, costs being remitted in these cases. Beeach of Bobough By-Laws.—Wm. Holmes was charged with setting fire to some gorse. Case dismissed on payment of costs.