RESIDENT MAGISTRATE'S COURT.

Manawatu Times, Volume IV, Issue 50, 23 June 1880, Page 3

RESIDENT MAGISTRATE'S COURT.

" Tm'aapi&lJmm 17, 1880. [Before R. WJXD: Esq., R.3|,] ' ■ FALSE PKBTENOKS. Peter Holtn, alias C. Anderson, was brought up on- remand, charged- with issuing a valueless cheque for £3, with intention to defraud Edward Fitzgorald ISjagej 1 ..- . ■■-■'-';'■< ,■"■' ■■-•■-.'V.' .'■ Me. Staifce appeared^ fjor tn,» prisoner. . Mr. Ward^said.he wpulpV consult the" Act to >iee : if it #esre conipeijent :-'i or him ■;tVaeat'Tn^liiHe'case\^uni^ariljf.. : '- 'I. ■' Mr. Staite said ha would prefer that cpurie, and asked' that -all witnesses should 1 be ordered out of Court. '■. UcQbnsthble Gillespie, wh,o conducted, -the-caser called ~ "" ' ; Edward Fitzgerald Eager, who deposed ;■ J am trustee jn the estate of S. Abrahamg; ~ I know the prisoner, V who on , Saturday evening, th.e 1-ljfth instant, cartie irito Mr. Abrahams' store, and produceda cheque for £3, drawn upon Charles Anderson. The cheque . produced is the same. He asked me to cash it, and give him, the balance, after paying fo.rsqme. goods -.which he had purchased. I asked him who was the draper qf the. cheque, and he answered ." a cousin of (my own; iajid; X . sa.w him, write it .0ut.". 1 then took it to;the boy in the shop, Mark Levy, and asked liim if he knew the man; who drawee cheque,' Charles Anderson, He answe'r-ed "yes," and I then gave the prisoner £2 19s <5d,. .sixpence for thejexchahge.- I "then went with- the cheque to Mr. Abrahams, and five or six more. I have ho^ presented the cheque at the b,ank, but my ;ai.sißtant has, and it was returned marked." no account '' • I then sent for, the prisoner, and aaked him to endorse the. cheque, which. he did. That was before, it went to, the bank. ; '" ' To Mr. Sfoite : I hive been, about a fortnight in Palmerston, and that evening was the first time I saw the accused. I have full authority to cash cheques, and from what, the Assistant told me I was satisfied the man was light. I will swear that I, did not ask him if he had an account at the bank. I will swear that he never said anything to meinpre, than .1 n ?Y e 4.r®*^y; P^i .X never recollect the 'prisoner saying, that Ih'e' 'had .a ; banking account, "nor. I don't recollect, whether he made an Answer to me^,, J^evy was present at the time.I will ?wear tjh.&.prison.er i^ever^said, "I have a bauking account, but if not, it will be right." I laid the information on the follovfiug. Monday, between ele tan iand twelve, because 1 got a telograru from Sa,ndo.n stating that the cheque was dishonored. I noticed nothing wrong in the accused'* manner the first time, but whea I saw him twenty minutes afterwards I'noticed he was pretty well drunk. It might hay« been drink our it mi^h.t have b,een excitement. , '; To the : I g^a the accused the money, a,nd to my knowledge he purchased ho goodi whatever. ' Mark Levj deposed : lam an assistantin~Mr Y Abraham'is store. I saw the ', prisoner in the shop, on Saturday night' last, between tight and ten o'clock. He purchased some goods thtre, consisting of a shirt, hat; and box of coltars,' to the value" of 9*. 6d. He paid for them, Tiie accused got the goods off J me, and whit© Xfras giving him ; them he, gaje Mr. fjager the cheque. When he presented the cheque he said he had seen his cousin, Charles Anderson, write out the cheque. He paid for the goods- but of the cash; received from Jkfr. IJager. Mr. E.a.ger gave the full amount of the cheque, a,*) d .prisoner Ithen paidume .9*. . 6d. .1 brought the prisoner back shortly afterwards 1 to endorse the cheque. He said* the cheque was right, and then endorsed^ it. I presented it on Monday 'morning at the bank of Australasia; atSandon, the one upon which it was diawp. I did not receive the cash, and "no-account " was ..written, on. the corner. I saw-the bank official wi^tei it ; I tKen .came hjck to tovfh^ anctjharided the cheque to Mr. 'Eager.' 1 ;I '/"';■; "' '";;";'. 'V t:{ , " ."'" " . ■ \ - To Mr; Staite : TMsbrier was getting •goods, and offered the chec[ue J to -Mr. Eager. Eager was in the shop when I soJLd the goods ti> the prisoner. v I do ■not see ho,w>'he could Hilp' seeing the goods being 'sold;' there are no partitions in the shop. After the **' goods were" sold, aecused handed .the i cheque Ito Eager, tam quite certain prisoner mentioned his cousin at both the- first and secor d interview;. It was not Mr. .Eager who -asked the accused .to en- ; dorse it; but the accused said '*the i oheq,ue is right, but if you do not thinkit good enough, I ! will endorse it." I have been /tight ninths in Palmerston, and have not se*n' the prisoner often, i • To Constable l gillespie : Mr : E*ger may hare been at tb»e door A but I Believe he was in the 'shop. f . ■ Alfred- Daw,son 6X8,10*1164 '■•:- lam accountant at the. Bank of A ustr a lasia .. Palmerston North. ' Tbe '■ cheque produced is drawn on the Bank at Sandon and the drawer, Charles. Anderson, had no account iip to last Friday n;ig | h,t.; "P,f course he may hive had on Saturdav, as the returns wf;«r«, only, up to, Friday inight. '. . '; •'.''. ' ; ■ i To. the Bench: The cheque, yt, a, bank of NjeWj iZealand altered^j 5 ; , ■ j Ja,mes ( "Ferguson deppse'4,: I am. a storema.n. in the employ of Alexander Fergusdri; I rempmber the prisoner calling at the store, oil Saturday night, 1 ans.'- asked ior 8* blank cheque, Np. 21,399, of thf , Bank of. New, Zealand. , Isaw him^fili up the cheque : at the store. It .was written in, " favor, of ..'?. Holms, for i63,'*nd signed, by the pri-. soner as Charles Anderson. He next

To Mr Staite : I may have seen the accused before, but not to my knowledge. I noticed nothing peculiar about him, and he seemed sober. He made no concealment in writing the eheqne. Ido not know the name of the accused. , 'Jacob Ziman : I am t> storexnan in Joseph Nathan's Store. I saw the accused on Saturday evening, when he bought a hat, valued at 3s, a shirt; and other goods to the value of 10s. i He presented a, cheque, telling : me. that the signature was his; but upon" inquiry. I refused to cash it. The cheque produced is the one offered. He told me he lived in Campbelltown and asked me to give him £1 and leave the balance till Monday, but I still declined. To Mr. Staite j To the best of my knowledgo I had never seen accused until Saturday. Ho appeared to be -perfectly sober. I did not let him bayo the goods, (xeorge Symons said he did ; not think the cheque was -good enough. Mr Keeling was also in the. store, and said he did not think accused had a banking account. That closed the case for the prosecution, and Mr. Staite after addressing the Bench for some time, called Thomas Samuel Hoe, who deposed: I am secretary to the Manawatu Highways Board. I saw the accusedtbia day week, as he had deposited some £10 oil a contract which, he had tendered for. It was in the name of Law & Co. 1 dp not know the accused's handwriting;'but he personally left £10 in my possession, which was returned to a person signing himself " Charles Law." 1^ I merely know the accused by sight. John Store deposed : I am barman at the Clarendon Hotel. I have known the accused for about nine or ten months. Ha always appears eccentric, b.ut is worse whon he has drink. I saw him at tho hotel on Saturday night. He asked me twica for a blank cheque, and I told Mm I had none. He had had money on Thursday, but appeared, to have none on Saturday. I heard him sa,y that he had £5 deposited somewhere; To Constable Grillespie : I am barman at the hotel, H^s eccentricity appears in, the shape of rushing about, is exciteable, and talks to himself. Thomas Jpng examined : I am a ttoro.kee.p^r. residing at Palmarston. I 'have -known the accused for at least seven or- eigh.t months. He is, afd reigner an,d pjajs. the piano. I have had reaf on to bolieve that he was eccentric. He. appeared to be perfectly 'sober at the, time. John S.wiit examined t I am a la,w clerk, residing at Carroll's Hotel. I have several times seen the accused, the first t\n\a about twelve months, ago. He always appeared to he very eccentric botb, in his language and movements. *That would b.e when he was, sober, That concluded the evidence in the c^se, and The Magistrate said that at the outset of the case he had been under the imp.res.sion that there were some ingredients in it which would preclude his dealing BU,mma r jly with it. Ho,weyer, after heari&g the whole of $he evidence, he w*s satisfied that the more serious elements were wanting. Testimony ha.d he.en, produced to, show the eccentricity; of tha accused, but it had also been shown that the prisoner evinced a considerable, deal ot ingenuity in passing the cheque. He considered ; tha prisorf t: guilty, an.d would sentence him to three months imprisonment. QIVITk. CASKS., Edward Sherrlttv. Thomas BrightW.eU v -itOKWv or work; and. labor doqe. evidence of the defendant yra,B tai^en at Hawera, and according to his version of the propeedings, a cart for which £23 had been charged should only have b.een £JLQ. The. Bench asked for" the p/oduction of plaintiff's books containing the original entry of that item, but a« they wer» not jn Court the case was adjourned for their production. Upon its re-rhearingy the Bench was satisfied that the item had been properly entered at the time, and as- there was but word against, word, gave judgment for the plaintiff, upon that account. Robert Mackie v. A. Henderson. — Claim, -d&l2Bs 9d M for meat supplied. £5 had been paid into Court, and judgment was given for £8 18s 9d. C. E. Capper v. William Leigh.— Claim, £9 4s 3d for gopds received. There was no appearance of defendant, and judgment was given for amount claimed, and costs. Same v. James Scott. — Claim, £j?0 17s 3d. Thero was no defence, and judgment was given in default. Same y. JTohn Leigh.-rClaim, £6 Is 9d. Defendant did not put in aa apearance, and a judgment ex pdrte was giv^n* for the sum claimed. . Same v. J,. and W. Leigh. — Claim, £2 §s 9d. No appearance; judgment ; for amount. Same v. H. Downey. — Claim £3. There was no defence to the action, and the judgment went by defau.lt. ;D.. ! v:, W. Ba{ley. — Claim, .£2 10s. The amount was paid into (?6urt. George Eldershaw, y, A. J. Morgan. — Claim, £q lls 2d. Defendant mid £3- lbs, bamrice. to, be paid in. a month. John B. Dungan v. T. Rogers — Claim, £& ss. Nonsuited. John Lomas and another v. George Dear,— Claim, ~s\9 %s. Mr; Sfcaite for pjFaintiffi and Mir. Qood,beher^ for defendant. The. action was brought to* recover a sum for la,bor done under a contract, ancl the defence was that the, contract had noj been, completed . Defendtnt'did not dispute that the suoi had been earned, but tyok exception to being saddled, with the costs, as no demand had been made for payment until the. ' saving of the summons. Judg-. ment for £10 10s Bd-, and costs..