Resident Magistrate's Court, Foxton.

Manawatu Herald, Volume III, Issue III, 8 November 1890, Page 2

Resident Magistrate's Court, Foxton.

♦ WEDNESDAY, sth NOVEMBER. (Pofore H. W. Brabant Esq, R.M.) CRIMINAL. The following additional evidence in the caso of Walter Stevens* charged with the larceucy of a LIO note, was heard. Hugh Williams, being sworn, said— Mr Wearing was there, I think he was on the table. Mr Sandbrooke was there. Saw the accused there. Remember the day on which Mr Murray said he lost a LIO note. There were a lot of people there at the time. They were in the Commercial room, on this side of the house. They were having some drinks. Mr Murray paid for the drinks a good wlii'c after they had had the drinks. I saw him pay for them. He paid for them with a Ll note. He paid the money to my mother. The accused was just ai the door at the time, about a couple of yards from Mr Murray. Saw Mr Murray pay for the drinks. I don't know what he had in his hand. Did not see him drop anything. Did not see the accused do anything. I saw him put his foot i n something that looked like papor. I thought it

was paper. Stood there aud my mother ' t called me away. She called me once and 1 » went the second time she called me. My "-other asked me if I had got tho mon y J : .i* the drinks, and I said " No." Told my mother that i saw a man put his foot j ou a piece of paper, iid not tell her any- . tiling else. I am sure that is all 1 said. My mother then went down to the slide. She was in tlie bar. At the time she went i down to the slide sho remained in the bar. he did not spsak to the accused. Ido not know whether she could have s-p'-k.n to him without my seeing her. Whon my mother went down to the slide I stopped where, my mother had been. Did not see the accused pick up the piece of paper. I do not know whether he still had his foot on it when I went to my mother. Cross-examined by Mr Ray — My mother served the prosecutor with the drinks. Do not know how long he had been in the house. I was standing inside the bar. The bar is about the height of this witnessbox. I was looking through the slide. I Entering the house from the other side from here the room is on the right hand side of the passage. The door is nearly a yard from the slide. I don't know Dan Elliott, now I see him I know him. I know Tom Murray and W. S.andbrooko. I was inside the slide. Didn't see Tom Murray aud Elliott come into the room. I think Sandbrooke had had a drink before the money was said to be lost. Mr Murray paid for it. The prosecutor gave the Ll note to my mother. I was standing a little , way from the slide. Tho bit of paper I have spokeu of was near the door. Mr Tapp came down and saw me. He asked me if I had seen a note or not, and I said no. Do not know whether he asked me if I had seen ii piece of paper on the floor. He asked me if I had seen the prisoner put liia foot on a piece of paper He asked me j this on the evening of the same day. Do not know whether the prisoner was there or not at the time. It was after six o'clock. I had not said anything to Tapp about the i piece of paper until he spoke to me about it. Do not know- what I said to him. It , is correct that I told my mother that I had , seen the man put his foot on a piece of ' paper. I did so before Tapp spoke to me. i 1 did not sec Murray with any other money ; before he paid the note. 1 heard a six- , pence drop before Murray paid the note. ' it was a sound as of a small coin dropping, J and Mr Murray picked up the coin from 5 the floor. Somebody said thnt a sixpence » had dropped. The person who made the j remark was on the other side of Murray. The prisoner might have pushed the sixpence towards Murray with his foot without - my noticing it, but I did not see him. 1 t saw him move his foot. It might have . been a sixpence and not a piece of paper that the prisoner had his foot on. By the Police- -It was not easy to tell f the difference between a sixpence and a

piece of paper. By the Bench — I saw the accused put his foot on a piece of paper. The sixpence dropped a little while before I saw him put his foot on a piece of paper. I told my mother that 1 saw the man put his foot ou the. piece ot paper. 1 do not remember whether anything more was said about the piece of paper. 1 do not know whether it was a large piece or a small piece, nor do I know the colour of it. I do not know whether the sixpence had been picked up at the time I saw him put his foot on tha piece of paper. Christina Williams being sworn said -I remember the 28th of last month. Mr Murray was there on that day. He came in about 12 o'clock mid-day. I first saw him in the long hall near the billiard room, ho appeared intoxicated. He had a drink while he was in tbe hall, afterwards he with several others came into the commercial room. He was by himself when he had the drink in the hall. He asked for whisky, but I gave him soda and limejuice The men who went into the commercial room with Murray were Sandbrook, David Nolan. Accused was also there and a lot of others, about a dozen or more standing about. Shortly after coming int> the commercial room Murray asked for drinks, he asked for 5 drinks he did not pay for them. He asked for whisky and I gave him soda and limejuice. He paid for the drinks some minutes afterwards. He had dropped a sixpence and I would not wait as he was fumbling in his pockets, so I left my son to receive the money from him. Ito k the money, he gave me aLI note. At the time he gave me the note I saw another £1 note and another note which was folded up. which lie said was a £5 note. I gave him 17/0 change out of the pound. He had the notes in his hand and the purse also, and he was looking for something. The notes were out of the purse at the timo they were in his hand. He took them all out of the purse to give me one. He said he had lost a note. He said a note at first, and afterwards he said a LIO note. I canuot repeat his exact words but he said that he had lost a LIO note and said "never mind boys, 1 have got some more" He did not say at first where he had lost it but afterwards said that he had dropped it. 1 did not understand him to say where he had dropped it, but he said he had lost it. Somebody remarked that very likely he had dropped it at Stansell's when ho changed the note. ] do not know what Murray said then, but he was rather excited over losing he note. I called Hugh twice, and he came the second time, we were both in the bar at the time. I asked him if he had received the money for the drinks, he said " No.'" He said something about a man having his foot on a piece of paper. Some time after this, about half past one, the accused had been out aud come in again, and I said to him " if you picked up the noto you had better give it back " he said that he had not picked it up. I did not make a similar questiou to any one else in the house. I asked the prisoner because Murray had previously spoken to him about it. I was annoyed about it that it should have happ'-ned in Mr Williams's absence. I did not leave the bar until I went to dinner. When my son told me about the piece of pap r I went down to the slide and the accused was then stooping down. Mr Murray had not then missed his note. It was not exactly in consequence of his stooping down that I spoke to him about the note, but as Murray had spoken to him, I thought that I had better speak to him too. Where the man was stooping, was not very close to where Mr Murray

had been standing, it was a few feet away. I did not see him pick up anything. I think I should have seen him pick up anything if he had done so. Ido not know whether he picked up anything or not. The accused was standing furthest away from Murray. Murray was on the right of the slide, there were two other men standing between the accused aud Murray. The accused was standing at the far side of the doorway. A man standing at the doorway by' moving his body could reach the slide, but there were men standing between Murray aud the accused. On the slide there is a shelf on which the drinks were placed. Murray stood a little distance from there on the right wheu tie pulled out his notes and then came forward with the notes in his hand, and gave me one. I received the Ll note over the slide, ho reached the Ll towards me, and I put out ray hand over the shelf and received it. Cross examined by Mr Ray— l did not hear Murray speak to the accused about

tlie loss of his note. I heard the sixpence drop on the floor, but 1 did not see it picked up 1 1 was some minutes after the sixpence dropped that I was paid for the liquors. I saw \ urray go up to accused and speak to him, but I did not hear what he said. When I said to accused that if he had picked up the note he had better return it; he said that lie did not pick it up and asked me if I thoughs he was a thief, and I '-aid "no, certainly not." He was about th- house in and out part of the dav afterwards. i y the Bench — The sixpence dropped some little time bpfore I saw the accused stoop. There were a good many men in the room when I saw the accused stoop. After the prosecutor had given me the £1 noto he had left only £1 note and the £5 l note and some small coin's three-penny pieces, a sixpence and two pennies. He turned his purse inside out and one or two looked in his purse. I think he knew what he was doing when lie paid me for tho drinks. He did not then appear so stupid as when he had his first drink, but at first ho did not seem clear about where he had lost the £10 note. He did not say decidedly that he had dropped it in onr room. George Wearing being sworn said— l am a painter and reside at the Manawatu hotel. I know Murray the informant in this case. I remember his complaining that he had lost something some time last month. I had been working that day painting in the forenoon with Mr .renks. I went home to dinner that day about half past 12 o'clock. I overtook Mr Murray between Stansell's hotel and the Manawatu hotel. He asked me to go with him and have a glass of beer with him. He shouted, I had a glass of beer and he had some light drink, he shouted say half a dozen drinks. I didn't see him pay for them, some time afterwards I heard Mr Murray complain of having lost something, he said that he had last a LIO note. He said that he came out with a LIO note and that he thought he must have dropped it there (at William's) accused was present at the time. I then said that I had seen the accused pick up somethiug from the floor, and that very likely it was the note. It was in the room adjoining the bar, that I saw the accused pick up something, but I really cannot tell what it was, it might have been a piece of paper, or a piece of rag or a pocket handkerchief I did not see it under his foot at all whatever it was. He put it in his left, hand trousers pocket. I do not know whether he remained or not. I went into lunch and I think he went out. I afterwards spoke to him about it. I felt a little hurt when I heard of the money being lost, having been in the accused's company, so I took him into the billiard room and said to him' "if that you picked up was Murray's LIO note, give it to me and I will make it all right," he replied that he had not picked up Murray's LIO note, that he knew nothing about it aud that what he had picked up was his own. He appeared quite indignant. I had to leave the room very quickly, as he appeared to want to pitch me out of the room. He did not show me what it was that he had picked up. He said that it was his own. I wanted to get myself out of trouble as some people might accuse me. He picked the article up casually and put it in his pocket in in this manner (witness here showed the court how the action was performed) I did not see it in his liand after he picked it up. Cross examined by Mr Ray. — Sonicbody said to me " You might have picked it up." I had not seen Murray that day before I met him as I have already stated. When we th*st went into the hotel, we weut iuto the passage, and I had a glass of ale, and he had something light. When he paid for the liquors after we were iv the room he tendered at Ll note I think. I saw a sixpence dropped it rolled towards the accused he stooped and pushed it towards Murray. Ha stooped down to do so. Saw him stoop before that, that is to say before he stooped for the sixpence. lam not positive whether the stooping for the sixpence was before or after the stooping for the piece of paper. I have not a very clear recollection of ihe circumstances, we were all together, all in a heap. It was before I went to lunch that 1 heard of the loss of the note. I did not see him pull out his money to pay for the drinks, so I do not know what money he had. Murray went in to speak to the accused just as I went to dinner. Was not present at the interview. Do not know where Murray had been. When I saw Murray going to speak with the acoused he was very excited, and was very near the dining room. Did not suggest to him who he should accuse when he was near the dining-room door. I saw him there. When I came out of the dining-room Murray was first in one room and then in the other, in fact he was all over the placd. ] spoke to him lirst. 1 said to him, " have you lost a LIO note." 1 had my doubts about it. I bought it would be best to go straight to accused, and I did so. Believo Murray went towards the accused, he couldn't help doing so, we were all going towards each other every minute. It was before dinner that Murray went to speak to the accused. Was not present when he spoke to him, so I do not know what he said at this time. 'I he «ccused had not k-ft the house. Did not know it was a LIO note until I was at lunch. Only knew it was a note. I only saw a piece of paper. Prosecutor was drunk ia his legs, but his head was right enough. I assisted him home that day, he asked me to do so. By the Police — I do not know whether he could have got home without my assistance. Believe he would have found his way home. He made two or three attempts to get home. He made the final attempt about 3 o'clock. I think he could have got home without any one's assistance. (To be continued.)