RESIDENT MAGISTRATE'S COURT, AHAURA.

Grey River Argus, Volume XIII, Issue 1565, 11 August 1873, Page 2

RESIDENT MAGISTRATE'S COURT, AHAURA.

Saturday, August 9. J (Before C. Whitefoord, Esq., R.M., andi F. Guinness, Esq., J.P.) i James Godfrey and Mary Godfrey: were charged with stealing wearing ap- ; parel and other property to the value of ! LlO. The male prisoner was defended by ' Mr Staite and the feihale by Mr Guinness. ; Sub-Inspector Goodall conducted the * prosecution. Mr ; Staite asked that the' prisoners should be charged separately, I but the application was refused. The; first witness called was Thomas Grahatn> ! a miner, who said that on the 3rd July he i was proceeding ,up the Napoleon-road, i. Ahaura, and when near the hospital! building he put down the bundle he was I carrying in consequence of a friend! calling him. He laid his swag a little offi ;the road and went again into tow.n, butj when he. returned in twenty, minutes he found it was gone. It contained a pair of new boots, a large cloth overcoat, one white and one Crimean shirt, a pair of black cloth pants, a silver collarstud, and two gold links, several pair •of socks, an American ate, two pairs blankets, two pocket books, and j pocket ledger, a saw-tiller and set, and aj lot of other articles, altogether worth' more than LlO. He searched all round '■■ the place where he left his swag, but could not find it, and he made inquiries I for it of several people, among the re3t of James Godfrey, - He asked him because i he heard he (Godfrey) passed the spot;' where his swag was in a dray shortly 1 before he missed it. On the Ist August he went with the police to the house of the prisoners, and in a canvas bag the boots produced were found. The boots were his ; he purchased them for 22s 6d at Hayes's shop, at Ahaura. The children's coats produced were also found in the house. They were made from portions of his overcoat, but he would not swear positively to the cloth. The axe produced was also his; It was found in the house, bat the handle was broken off since he lost it. The witness, in his cross-examination, refused to swear to . any of the articles, but. the boots. , Patrick Ryan, a draper, said he sold at Hayes's ihop a pair boots, similar to those produced, to Graham. He identified the boots as having the [private .marks of : Mr Hayes on them, although an attempt had been made . to scrape the marks off the leather of the heels of the boots. There was only one pair of boots of the size he sold Graham in the store at the time, and they corresponded in size with those in Court. In crossexaminatibh, the witness would not swear to'the number and dots (.7. ) on the boots, or to the ink stains, but !tio swore positively to the trade mark.' 'SubInspector Goodall said he searched the house of the prisoners in company with Constable Meredith and Graham. He observed the female prisoner throw something through a window while the search was going on. He directed Constable Meredith at once to go outside, and the constable returned with a bag which contained the boots now produced, and which Graham at once recognised as his. The search was continued, and the olathing and axe were found, which Graham also identified. . He afterwards arrested both prisoners. Constable Meredith corroborated the above evidence. Other witnesses were called, and Messrs Staite and Guinness addressed the Court for the prisoner. After consultation by the Bench, both prisoners were committed for trial at the District Gpurfc, Ahaura, on 2nd September. ' The accused were afterwards admitted to bail. a