Justices Court.

Manawatu Herald, 21 May 1892, Page 2

Justices Court.

Wednesday, 18th May,

(Beiore E. S. Thynneand J. Davies,

Esqs.'s, J.'sP.)

LARCENY

Leonard Alexander Langley was charged that he did feloniously steal take and drive away, one horse of the value of £8, of the goods and chattels of one James Wilson.

James Wilson deposed — I am a fisherman residing at the mouth of

the Manawatu Eiver j I am the owner of a cliestriut horse j it has A white star on the forehead, broken knees and no visible brand ■ there is a White mark under the saddle on the near side ; I lost that horse on" Easter Monday nightj the 18th of April last ; I last-saw him at 9 o'clock at night on the ißth at the niouth of the river; he was tethered dtitaide the garden ferice ; I went for him afc daylight in the morning and the horse was gone, I could not find him anywhere ; he was tethed by a nianilla tether lirle By a bowline fotiricl hid heck ; t found the rope undone where I had tied the bowline ; I know the accused ; I saw him come home about 10 o'clock that night ; he lived alongside me ; I did not speak to him ; I have not at any time afterwards spoken to him in reference to this horse j I have never at any time given anyorie Authority to dispose of the horse in any way whatever; I value the horse at £5 ; I saw the horse this morning ; the chestnut horse now in the Courthouse yard is the horse ; he is my horse.

By the Bench —Accused came to live down at the heads about a week before the 18th April ; he was living with his wife and children ; they are not living there now ; they left the following Monday after the 18th April ; I believe accused was only living there temporarily.

John Neary deposed - I am a sheep and cattle drover residing at Feilding ; I know accused by sight ; I saw him in Awahuri on the 19th or 20fch April last ; he had a chestnut horse and a draught gelding with him when I saw him ; the chestnut was a dark chestnut gelding, white star on forehead, a long tail, and no shoes ; he was broken kneed ; I was in the saleyards when I saw the accused and the horses ; It was Stevens & Gorton's sale yards on the 20th of A pvil last ; after the sale I had a conversation with accused ; I saw horse put up by auction ; Mr Abraham was the auctioneer ; accused was present at the sale ; I bid 10s ; the horse was passed in ; Mr Abraham did not say what the reserve was ; I afterwards went to Mr Abraham and asked him who was the owner of the chestnut gelding who was tied by the draught horse in the yard ; he told me it wa3 a man named Langley ; Mr Abraham called the accused and asked him what he wanted for the horse. He replied * "a pound." Mr Abraham asked me if I would take him at that as he was cheap enough. I said I did not know, that I would consider it and see him later ; I told accused that I had been looking for him to give him the pound ; I said I would much rather give him the pound and save him the commission ; he said it was to.do with the auctioneer, not him ; that it did not matter, that I had a good horse, that he would not have sold him only he wanted the money very badly ; that the horse had been down on his knees and was not worth much more than a pound ; he said " Yes, but that was done sfcockdriving over a bank." I told him that he told it very well ; I have had no further conversation with accused ; the broken knees was an old affair ; the chestnut horse now in the yard is the horse I got from accused ; I have had him ever since ; it is the same horse as the witness Wilson claims as his ; I believe Mr Abraham called accused by the name of Langley, but I am not certain.

William Hunter deposed — I am a farmer residing at Awahuri ; I know the accused ; I know the last witness Neary ; I attended Steven3 & Gorton's sale at Awahuri when the chestnut horse now outside was sold. I had a conversation with the la3t witness ; I saw the horse outside ; I paid Mr Abraham the money, alu though Neary got the horse ; the pound was deducted from my accou.it sales ; the chestnut horse outside in the Courthouse yard is the same horse.

The case was remanded io Monday next.

Leonard Alexander Langley wag charged that he did feloniously itqal take and drive away, one mare of the value of £1 of the goods and chatties of Thomas Chambeilain.

Thomas Chamberlain deposed— l am a farmer residing at Longburn ; on the night of the 22nd April I lost a bay move out of my paddook ; strayed or stolen 1 did not know which ; she is a bay mare about 14 hands and a half high, a hack ; she has three cracks in off fore foot and two in the near foot and a white off hind foot ; on Sunday 24th wo missed the pony ; my son searched the roads but could find no trace of her ; I gave him instructions to go to the Palmerston pound but she was not there ; we made inquiries all round but could find no trace whatever of her ; on Monday 25th at about 5.50 in the morning my horse l'eturned ; she had a good deal of mud about the legs and tail very much tucked up as though she had n been ridden a long journey previous to that ; on tho Tuesday following the police at Palmerston came down with a telegram from Foxton ; he sent the telegram to me asking me if I bad the horse in my possession which I described before ; I said " yes I had " ; he said " how came you with that horse in your possession " ; I told him it was my horse and then he said how cani3 your horse at Foxton ; then I said " has my horse been to Foxton " ; he

said " yds it has aud I wonder thai ybu saw it anymore j " He dxaniiricfl the horse* he compared the 'horse with the description in the telegram and found they corresponded ; my horse was in the paddock on the Mdnday at fliflO a;m ; j I missed it from the Biinday morning until the Monday morning ; the paddock the horse was in was a secure paddock ; it joins two roads, it is a small corner paddock; it is within 15 Yards of any dwelling ; I examined the fence in 1 the morning when my son and the horse Were gjoiie ; I found that the gate on the side road was half way open and the tracks of the pony going out ; the night previous at 4.30 I came through the gate and I shut it and fastened it with a wire fastening and v, round hoop over the post and the top of the gate ; anyone opening the gate woiild require td- rehidvo the wire and would have to lift the gate round to open it ; the gate drags, it does not open clear ; I did not give anyone authority to remove this hoise or take it away or do anything with it-; I value the horse at seven pounds ; the mare now in the courthouse yard is the one in question ; the Monday the horse came home, in the evening at about 5. 80 the accused came to me and asked me if I had lost a pony mare out of my paddock on Saturday night ; I told him that I had and that she came back this morning at about 6.80 ; I asked him if he had one in his possession that answered the same description as my horse ; he gave me no satisfactory answer that 1 could understand ; I made the remark about several horses being missing from several paddocks ; the accused said lots of horses had be.en taken away out of paddocks ; he then went away ; that is the first I saw ol accused until I arrived in Foxton yesterday afternoon ; I identified him yesterday on tfiy arrival ; I never at any time gave accused authority to deal with the horse in any way whatever.

By the Bjnch--- 1 don't know what the purpose of accused's visit to me was ; he did not claim to "have found the mare.

Bernard Spelman deposed— l am a contractor residing at Foxton ; I know the accused ; I remember fleeing him at the Fox ton Heads whilst I was in company with Constable Gillespie ; It was on Sunday the 24th April last ; we wero looking for horses ; we noticed three horses there that day ; Constable Gillespie said one of them was not a Foxton horse ; it was away from accused's dwelling about a quarter of a mile, tied up with a long rope to some rashes ; when we got to the horse Constable Gillespie got off his horse and lifted up each of the horses four feet and examined the shoes ; the mare is a bay mare, no visible brand, two near front shoes on and the two fore hoofs very much cracked, two old shoes on the hind feet ; the off hind foot was a bit white ; after looking at the shoes I said the mare had not been shod by any blacksmith in Foxtou ; we then went across tc Langley's house and asked Langley was that his bay mare that was tethered in the rushes with another horse of Andreason's • be said it was ; Constable Gillespie asked him had he a receipt as he thought that it was a stolen horse ; he said he had no receipt as he did not think it was necessary to get one ; he then asked him if he had a witness in the buying of the horse where he bought it ; he said he bought the horse in Palmerston from a man of the name of Mr Edwards, and paid for him in one of Doreen's rooms ; there were other people in the room but he did not know them ; Mr Gillespie asked him did he know this man Mr Edwards, he said he had seen him before in Palmerston

and thought he was a draper there ; he told Mr Gillespie he saw the horse in Stevens and Gorton's sale yards at Palmerston on the 28rd the day previous ; his number was 62 ; Edwards took his horse away out of the sale and had him tethered opposite the Central Beady Money Store ; he said a new saddle and bridle was on the mare when he saw it tethered ;' Edwards told him he did not require the horse and would take 5s on his bargain ; he said he paid £4 5s for the mare; I have just seen the mare outside in the Courthouse yard j I am quite certain that she is the same mare that we Baw on the beach at Foxton Heads, and the same mare that accused said he had bought from the man Edwards.

By Bench — Accused also said to us when we were speaking to him, Mr Gillespie, "I did not steal the horse " ; he also said, " that if you think it is a stolen horse, you had better take it" ; Mr Gillespie asked him if he was going away from there, he said, " No," and he told him on no consideration to part with this horse until he had seen him again ; Constable Gillespie also said that he believed the horse was stolen ; nothing was said by the constable to lead the accused to think that the constable thought he had stolen the borse. This case was remanded to Monday next