RESIDENT MAGISTRATE'S COURT

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 18, Issue 1158, 28 October 1871, Page 2

RESIDENT MAGISTRATE'S COURT

FRIDAY, OCT. 27. g. B. SEALY,Esq.,R.M.) John Langhan and Thomas were brought up on remand charged with the assault, on the night ot the 6th inst. At the request of counsel, on behalf of the accused, the cas,e was adjourned till 2 o'clock, when, the man Joseph Cowley was put into the witness box and sworn ; but, after a variety of questions bad been put to him, it was. evident he had no recollection of the oocurrenGe, his statement being entirely confined to matters that took place previously ; under these circumstances he was, ordered to stand down, and the following evidence was adduced :-r-. Mary Masterson deposed :— rl am the wjfe of Thomas Masterson, of Napier, labourer. I know the two prisoners Langhan and Lynch. I also know Joseph Cowley. On Friday night, the 6th October, Lynch and Cowley were wrangling near the Roman Catholic Chapel. The prisoner Langhan lives near the chapel; and so do L Langhan came out of his house when he heard the row. After that, Langhan and Cowley were wrangling for some time; and I saw Langhan knock Cowley down. Ido not know what he struck him with ; it was too dark. Langhan walked into his own house, leaving Cowley on the ground. | then went inside my own house. Cross-examined by Mr. Stedman, who. appeared for Langhan :—Cowley was not to say drunk. He could walk, bu,t he had had some drink. Langhan also appeared to have been drinking. My door is about five yards from Langhan's. About five minutes elapsed after Langhan came out of bis house, before he struck Cowley. They were wrangling during that time. I was standing about five yards from them, but I 30uld not hear what was said. It was quite lark. I could not see anything in Langaan's hand either before or after he struck ZJowley. It was too dark. I did, not go. aear Cowley, or speak to him. The prisoner Lynch was not there at the time. John Mabbett, being sworn, stated :—I im a storeman, residing at Port Ahurirh Dn the night of the 6th October, between J and 9 o'clock, I was going from Napier to.

Mary Masterson deposed :— rl am the wjfe of Thomas Masterson, of Napier, labourer. I know the two prisoners Langhan and Lynch. I also know Joseph Cowley. On Friday night, the 6th October, Lynch and Cowley were wrangling near the Roman Catholic Chapel. The prisoner Langhan lives near the chapel; and so do L Langhan came out of his house when he heard the row. After that, Langhan and Cowley were wrangling for some time; and I saw Langhan knock Cowley down. Ido not know what he struck him with ; it was too dark. Langhan walked into his own house, leaving Cowley on the ground. | then went inside my own house. Cross-examined by Mr. Stedman, who. appeared for Langhan :—Cowley was not to say drunk. He could walk, bu,t he had had some drink. Langhan also appeared to have been drinking. My door is about five yards from Langhan's. About five minutes elapsed after Langhan came out of his house, before he struck Cowley. They were wrangling during that time. I was standing about five yards from them, but I could not hear what was said. It was quite dark. I could not see anything in Langhan's hand either before or after he struck Cowley. It was too dark. I did not go. near Cowley, or speak to him. The prisoner Lynch was not there at the time. John Mabbett, being sworn, stated :—I am a storeman, residing at Port Ahurirh On the night of the 6th October, between 8 and 9 o'clock, I was going from Napier to, the Spit in company with Hector Ross, and when we got near the Roman Catholic Chapel, I saw some people standing round Cowley, who was lying on the ground. I saw Cowley carried into a house near, and I went in and felt his head. There was a lump on the side of his bead, about the size of a hen's egg. He was quite insensible, and appeared to have been stunned by a heavy blow. Thomas Floyd, labourer, residing near the Roman Catholic Chapel deposed that on the night of the 6th of October, between 8 and 9 o'clock, he was getting his tea when a person named Mann knocked at his door and told him a man had been beaten, and on going outside he saw the man Cowley lying insensible, and he waa brought into his (witnesses') house where the prisoner Lynch washed his face. He was about half an hour in witnesses' house when they put him outside on some sacks, and when witness went to look for him, after finishing his tea, he was gone, Joseph Doherty gave evidence to the eh feet that he was in the neighborhood at the time, aiid saw the man Cowley lying inseq% sible outside Langhan's gate. At this stage the Inspector of Police ap-s. plied for a remand till Monday, an important witness, who was absent at present,, being expected to arrive by that time. Mr. Lee, who appeared for Thomas Lynoh, applied for his discharge on the ground that there was no evidence against him, Mr. Sealy said there was no evidenee that Lynch was implicated in the affair, and he was therefore discharged. The prisoner Langhan would stand remanded to the 30th instant.

The Resident Magistrate said that he wished publicly, and in presence of the representatives of the Press, to make a few remarks in reference to a member of the police force, who had been charged in one of the newspapers with embezzlement-. Not only was it very unjust that any individual should lie under such an imputation, without having an opportunity of rebutting it, but it would be a scandal to the police force if such a charge could be allowed to rest upon a member of the force without receiving the fullest investigation. Such . i an investigation had taken place at tue earliest possible opportunity after the charge was made against Sergeant Farmer, He (the Magistrate) did not W

iend to reply to any statements that had appeared in print respecting his own conduct, or that of the Inspector of the Police, in reference to the investigation ; he was responsible for the manner in which it was conducted. Constable Rice charged Sergeant Farmer with appropriating two shillings, out of money paid for pound fees nn three horses. Two witnesses were called, but their evidence only proved that six shillings had been paid to Constable Rice himself for three horses. Only two horses with four shillings for poundage were entered into the book kept by the sergeant. The only evidence againt Farmer was that of Rice* who said that he folded jfche six shillings in paper, with a memorandum of what it was for, and left it on the sergeant’s pad, with the words “please, sergeant, look at this,” written on the outside. He afterwards met the sergeant and told him about it. Sergeant Farmer having been called upon for his reply to the accusation, denied that he had ever received more than four shillings from Rice. He also stated that the money was not left for him in the manner stated, but was handed to him the day after the horses were impounded, by Rice personally. He denied any knowledge of more than two horses having been impounded, until this charge was brought. Sergeant Parmer then stated that on other occasions Constable Rice had been irregular in accounting for pound fees, and he pointed to an entry in the pound book of three horses released by Mr. Boyd ten days previously on which the fees amounted to six shillings, but only five had yet been handed over by Rice. This statement Rice emphatically denied. Farmer said it could be proved by Constable Coghlan. He (the Magistrate) was about to send for Coghlan, when Rice in a hesitating way said he admitted it was so. but he could not remember whether Boyd had paid him six shillings or five, but he was of course responsible for the six. Farmer did not charge Rice with embezzlement, with an intention to steal the shilling, but with a loose mode of dealing with the fees in his charge. In his published letter Rice admits this looseness as may be gathered from the quotation Some short time back I released three horses to one owner who had to pay 6s pound fees ;he paid mess, and I gave it to another constable, with the intention of making up the other shilling. This kind of thing I have frequently done when the owners of cattle have not found it convenient to pay in full, and when I knew if I made up the money from my own pocket it would be refunded by the parties. In this instance, unfortunately for me, the Is bad not been paid, and the poundage book showed that only 5s had been received on account. It was not paid at the date of my making the charge against the above-named official.; when spoken to I at once admitted it, and paid the deficiency.” Here, the Resident Magistrate observed, was a direct falsehood, for so farf from having at once admitted it, he had emphatically denied it, until it was shown that proof could be obtained. The whole case against Sergeant Farmer then rested on the unsupported testimony of Rice, who said he bad handed over the six shillings a month previously, yet grossly prevaricated in his account of a transaction only ten days old. Farmer had been six years in the police, and had always borne a good character. Had the charge been proved, he would, of course, have been dismissed, and Rice would have, probably, been appointed in his place. Mr. Sealy further observed that he had unhesitatingly decided that the charge against Sergeant Farmer was not sustained, as he did not believe th£ two shillings in question had ever been received by him. He had thereupon suspended Constable Rice, and as this was shortly followed by bis resignation, no further proceedings were necessary in his case.