Resident magistrate's Court.

Marlborough Express, Volume IV, Issue 194, 18 September 1869, Page 5

Resident magistrate's Court.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 13th. [Before S. L, Muller, Esq., R.M., and His Worship the Mayor.] m‘eLWAIN V. GIBSON. This was a summons calling on the defendant to show cause why he should not he committed to prison for three months, under the Resident Magistrates Act, 1868, for. neglecting to pay the plaintiff, in compliance with a judgment obtained in May last. The defendant made a statement to the effect that he wished to have a settlement with plaintiff, and would pay him, whereupon the case was withdrawn. EDUCATION BOARD V. J, ANDREWS. This case was adjourned a fortnight ago for the production of a witness to prove defendant was not entitled to pay, as not being a householder. Defendant appeared and said he had not brought the witness, therefore the Bench said there was no defence, and gave judgment for plaintiff with 14s. costs. MAXTED V. LEWIS. A claim for £66 14s. Mr. Pitt for plaintiff stated that he had no notice of judgment being, confessed, and therefore applied for his costs as if heard, as well as the fee for adj oumment. Granted. ALLEGED EMBEZZLEMENT. Jokn Ritchings was brought up on remand charged with having embezzled certain monies and chattels, the property of Messrs. Monro Bros., Butchers, at Blenheim. Mr. Pitt, for the prosecution, stated that prisoner entered into their employ in May last, as slaughterman and storeman, and it

was his duty to' receive monies over the counter. They had a paid collector, whose duty it was to collect all accounts. On several occasions prisoner received sums from different customers, but had- not accounted for them either to his employers, the collector, or accounted for in the books. He would produce witnesses to show the amounts received. The quantity of meat deficient, as computed by the books kept by the prisoner was 4,4001b5. Alexander Monro, sheep-farmer, Yalleyfield, deposed that, with his brother, he carried on business as butchers at Blenheim. They engaged prisoner at Nelson in April last, to begin service in May, and he continued until September 2nd. His duties were as slaughterman and shopman, and to receive monies not entered in the books, but not to receive any from Booker, Purkiss, Collins, Hewitt, or Murray. He produced the day-book kept by the prisoner, but there were no entries therein of monies paid by the parties named, nor had he paid him any money as received from them ; he also produced books containing weights of carcass meat received. It commenced with May 1, but the weights of meat sold do not tally with those received, and the deficiency is about 4,4001b5. in all, after allowing lOOlbs. on every great cattle, and olbs. on every sheep as “ sink,” to account for skins, hocks, drying of meat in shop, drafts, &c.; he had doubled the weight of sausages to account for bone, and found the deficiency after all this. Prisoner was entitled to a fair allowance of meat for his family ; did not limit him ; 30lbs weekly would be a very fair allowance. There is also till money, which would represent £ . Lewis had taken two or three carcasses at a time, but there were entries of cash corresponding. There was till money, received in May, £l2 2s. 6d.; June, £l4 12s. 6d,; July, £5 12s. 6d.; August, £5 15s. 6d.; of this £9 7s. 4d. had been received and accounted for, leaving £2B Is. balance during the four months to be deducted from the 4,0001b5, meat, which, at an average of 4d. per lb., would be 1,6851b5,, and is not deducted; his own consumption would be 5401b5., and the balance is not accounted for to me, or in the books; note should have been taken of all meat going bad in the shop, but being winter it should keep well. By Mr. Nelson : We both engaged the prisoner, and made enquiries previously; he had a character of being a good tradesman, and referred us to Mr. Warren, who told us he was such. There was a sketch agreement with prisoner, but I have not produced it. It says he was to serve us a year from May at £2 weekly, with meat for his own consumption, and free house. Afterwards we gave him the caul part of the sheep, but he was not bound to have it, nor that of the cows and pigs, which is deficient also, and is not included in the 4,0001b5. May have asked him what caused the bad smell in the stable; it might be fat. He consented before my brother to cancel the agreement on September 2.' Did not ask him to settle accounts, but asked for some receipts for pigs which I had authorised him ta buy and pay for as cash. My brother irever got money from him but once; ‘‘authorised him if he saw a good bargain in pigs to buy them; have not got the receipts yet. Saw one in his shop, but do not know if he paid for them or not. Gave him £2 on account of wages, as he said he had no money about a week after he came into our employ. I think we were to pay his expenses from Nelson, but never paid them, because we were not asked. I expected I was getting the cash in full which was received over the counter, but the whole of this has not been paid me. May and June were accounted for, but only £3 was received; for July and August he received £l9 17s. Bd. on account of till cash. He was to pay for pigs bought out of the till cash. I consider he got no wages only £2 since he came to our employ. Kemember talking expressly about receiving money when Grant was engaged. He had no instructions previously to take it; my brother was the collector in May, and Grant was engaged about July Ist. I told prisoner to send any who came to pay to Grant; a pig set down to Dalziel was bought out of the cash. I took the day-book home with me for a night or two, during which time the account was kept in pen and ink, and not on a slate. Hodson’s last account contains £1 ss. Bd. in Grant’s writing; he also received the prior one, and my brother the previous one. Lawrence said he paid cash for what he got. My brother and I had looked over the accounts, as did Grant and Humffreys ; they were made up near enough to show the deficiency. At* this stage a dispute arose as to the right of counsel to be present on behalf of prisoner, which was ended by the Bench ruling that he was there by courtesy. Witness resumed—-Prisoner never told me he had a pig from Murray; he negociated an exchange with him for me; he had no authority from me to purchase on

his own credit. He told me he had bought a bullock from Atwood for Adams, but I did not tell him it was desirable to put it in our shop; bought all the beef myself. The document produced is not in ray writing, but Grant’s. There was a few of one lot of sheep, sent down a few days ago, not fit to be used, but they ought to have been put down. Prisoner never asked me for a settlement of accounts in the presence of Hodson; nor had he a right to deduct his own wages from till money. I did not admit an account of Carter’s as a contra; did not hear he was about suing me for wages, but heard he had been to you before this information was laid. On referring to Collin’s account there is no credit, but a debit of 7s. 3d. in Grant’s time ; in Purkiss’ there is no debit; Booker owes 9s. 7d. Am not a butcher by trade, but have acquired a knowledge of what is allowed for waste. Told prisoner I was satisfied with the profits of June, under the impression they were £2O, but afterwards found out a mistake, and they were only £lO. Saw no bacon in the store; there was only a small quantity of meat in the harness cask. The sheep are put down deficient in weight, as is shown by the weighing out. In August, 27 sheep are entered, but no weights are put down ; there were 12 sheep in the shop when he came, but they were credited to him afterwards. Remember some meat being borrowed from Adams, also 90 sheep coming from McLauchlan’s, some of which were condemned; paid Adams out oi them, in return for the fat ones , prisoner is debited with the balance after deducting five to Adams, and eight to myself, and presume they were killed. By Mr. Pitt: Prisoner did not get money from us to pay his passage. I knew he had borrowed some, and he said he was hard up. It was Grant’s duty to call on people, and not they on him. George H. of Bankhouse, deposed to being partner with last witness, and that prisoner was in their service, but had no authority to receive money except for meat sold in the shop. He received from him £3 9s. in June; believed at the time it was. the whole of the takings, and had received none since. Only assisted his brother to add up the weights of meats out of the ledger, as he called them out.

By Mr. Nelson : Prisoner did not ask me for a settlement of accounts before Hodson, but said be should consider himself our servant till we had settled accounts. I made no answer, but told my brother, who came down next day ; this was at the time we had disposed of the business to Hodson, but we went into the accounts to see how the case stood with prisoner. "We did not present any account to him ; we knew there was a certain amount due to him for wages. Heard of his buying meat on his own account. Told my brother McLauchlan’s sheep were a loss to the firm, and that the three I. saw were rubbish. He said some had been returned. When prisoner gave me £3 95., it included £1 Bs. 6d. paid by Hodson, which was a book account. Ido not know anything of Tom Palmer’s account, or Broughan’s. Archibald Grant, laborer, deposed that he kept last witness’ books, and was their authorised collector. He gave prisoner authority to receive some small sums due out of the way, and named them to him. There were Silvius, Hyde, and others, but he collected Broughan’s without, and gave it to witness. There are no entries of monies paid by Booker, Collins, or Murray, nor has he accounted to me for monies paid by them. By Mr. Nelson: I gave him some bills to deliver, and some to collect Tom Palmer’s he received and paid me ; Hodson paid his account at the shop, and it was handed to me. He collected Dove’s, but did not give it me, saying he would do so on the Ist of the month, which I thought was all right; he told me he had received Hyde’s and Ireland’s. I never made out a bill for Collins, and he never told me he had received it. I told him if he wanted money he could have it. He never handed me the money taken in the shop; I supposed he used the ready cash. Saw the sheep spoken of, which was not' good mutton. Booker’s and Collins’ accounts were due on the Ist September, The case was then adjourned till the following day.

Williqrn Booker T bricklayer, deposed to paylngprisoneFTS small joints frequently, and on August 30th. paid 17s, 6d. as receipt produced, but did not see him write it. By Mr. Nelson : I was in the back room when it was paid, but in my hearing. Mrs. Booker paid it; have been in the habit of dealing at Monro’s store. It was a readycash account; the items were on several dates; wished to pay for everything on delivery. The figures seem to apply to the jweights; the money was paid to the prisoner. | By Prisoner: The pork charged at 9s. 6d,

was said by him at the time to be his own, and is marked “ to self” in the bill.

Thomas Collins, storeman, deposed that he was an occasional customer to Monro Bros., and had paid prisoner 9s. for goods up to date; never had a bill, nor any receipt, and called in at the shop to pay it. By Mr. Kelson : Had bought meat there on three or four occasions, but did not intend to have any account opened; the 9s. was incurred at different times during 15 days. Prisoner did not ask for the money, but I called in and paid him. Told him one day I wished to pay, but he said it was so small it was not worth making out a bill for ; told him I did not wish to run an account. Did not hear that Grant was collector till after I had paid the money. Told him I had paid it, and he said it was all right. The account was paid on the 30th August, for meat purchased in August. The Bench asked to refer to the book, when it was found 7s. 3d. only was charged in this account. William Murray, publican, deposed that he exchanged a pig with prisoner on 26th July, on behalf of Mr. Monro, and paid him 7s. 6d at the same lime for him. By Mr. Nelson: It was to be put to prisoner’s credit. My pig was considered to be worth so much less; he told me it was on their account; I gave him credit to a drink account he owed me; he would not take money, because he owed me ; he was to make that right with Monro; there was a meat account separately, but I never paid him any money; knew of him buying things for Monro by hearsay. James Leek, formerly a butcher, deposed that the waste allowed for sink varied, averaging from 60 to 80lbs per bullock ; there was not much on sheep, 2 to 3ibs; in sausage making double weight would cover bone and other waste. By Mr. Nelson : Have no idea of the extent of business carried on; cannot say whether .£l2 a month was a fair amount for profit; saw one or two of M'Lauchlan's sheep ; there would be a loss on them ; they kept pigs at the paddock ; don’t know how many ; it was usual to give bad meat to them ; a pig would eat more than a man ; saw some mutton got from Adams’, but not that given in exchange; that killed by them six weeks ago was very indifferent, and unlike Adams’; bought sheep from them ; did not find it a paying game; the meat in their shop had been good until lately, but could not average them ; what I got from them averaged 40 to 50lbs. all the year round. Charles Purkiss, publican, deposed to knowing both the prisoner and Vincent Hewitt , a bargain was made between them, prisoner buying two pigs from him on his own account; they came to £5; there was an argument as to whether it should be £5 55., or £5 and a side of mutton ; he brought Monro in to prove he was buying on his own account. By Mr. Nelson : It might be a fortnight after when he brought Monro in ; Hewitt was present, and said they were his oivn pigs; prisoner proved that he bought the pigs on his own account; there was a dispute as to who the pigs were bought for; it did not strike ' me as singular that a piece of mutton was in the bargain ; Mr. Monro seemed satisfied ; it was just about the time he was giving up the business Mrs Booker proved paying prisoner an account on behalf of Monro Bros., but could not remember the amount; paid him for half a pig, but believed it was for himself; the bill was made out in the bar at my request; had no account open with him, as Dr. Horne was our butcher. Vincent Hewitt, farmer, deposed that he sold prisoner 2 pigs, 2 hams, and a lamb; had a dispute with him as to the price; was to have half a sheep in the bargain, which he declined; might have been on his own account; he did not tell s me ; he came up previously ; I asked £6 ; offered £5 ; agreed to receive it with a side of mutton; don’t know where the mutton came from. By, Mr, Nelson : Told Monro that I thought they were for him, and sent him a bill; he said he had had one pig, but knew nothing of the other ; never received a fraction but the mutton ; prisoner and another man killed them at our place and took them away, and dressed them on bisj own premises, where I saw them after; he said he paid cash; dealt with prisoner as their manager. Inspector Emerson received a warrant for the apprehension of prisoner on the previous Thursday ; he did not seem surprised ; duly cautioned him, but he only said a great deal of meat had gone bad, and he had thrown it away. The Bench consulted for abouta minute, when the Chairman said the Court would not ask the prisoner to make any defence, as they did not consider aprimajaciagase had been made out, and therefore he would be discharged. Ritchings then left Ihe dock.