RESIDENT MAGISTRATE'S COURT

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 245, 11 October 1873, Page 2

RESIDENT MAGISTRATE'S COURT

[Before L. Broad, Esq , R.M., and W. Wells, This Day. In the case of Esmy Brown, his Worship said that he should wish to make a slight alteration in the information, as defendant was there accused cf cutting a piece off hie horse's tODgue. It appeared that it was not actually cut off, aud therefore the last word should be omitted. Mr Fell, who appeared for the defendant, said that if the case couli only be disputed on technical points he would not have taken it up, but he whs prepared to defend on its merits, and therefore would raise no objection to the proposed alteration. The Inspector of Police, who prosecuted, called

James Shedy, who said I reside on Jenkins' Hill, I remember defendant passing my house on the 30th of September, with a cart and two horses. He was coming to town, and left one of the horse' in my charge, saving that it was knocked up. I observed the horse's mouth w-is bheding, but I made no remark. tirown suid the horse had hud his tongue out of his mouth, and he had struck him with a .Mick three or tour times, but he would not put bis tongue in, so he took ins knife and gave it u little nick. Afterwards I examined the tongue and found a cut across it underne ith. The piece was nofi off' but hanging, and in the morning I found that hu had bitten it while eating. -.'ross-examined: Brown was worse for drink at the time By tbe Bench: He was quite capable of asking me '0 take care of the horsj and telling me what he wanted me 1 o do. Charles Bird : I am a butcher. I remember overtaking defendant on Jenkiti's Hill. He hnd i one horse and a cart. I also saw Mr Shedy leading his other horse towards us, I saw its mouth was bleeding. I got off and looked at it, and found the tongue slit underne-ith in a slanting direction from the point upwards. I asked defendant what he had been doing io it, and he said it would not pull, but put its "tongue out at him, when he took out hia kuite und gave it a slit. Cross-examined: Defendant was worse for liquor. He did not tay the horse had fallen down, George Fleming: I wa? with the last witness, when we saw Brown's horse. I ca i confirm what the last witniss s-iid. Defendant was quite able to walk at the time E. J. Brock: lam a Veterinary Surgeon. I was called last week to examine the tongue of defendant's hor.-e. I fnun-t the tongue from the left hand side towards thepcintcutobliquely. The cut was longer on tbe under side than the upper. The cut portion was entirely detached as far as the cut in the upper side, it was evidently a clean cut wiih a feharp instrument and done at once I have known hor-u-s fall and cut thi ir tongues This cut was certainly not done with the teeth. Had it been so dme the tongue would have been lacerated, and borne the marks of .some of the more prominent of the teeth. Cross-examined • It wou'd hare been a very d fficult matter to have p!a ed the tongue across the teeth so as to cut in that position. There w« uld have been a ragged appearance about the the edges of the cut had it been done with the teeth. This closed the case for the prosecution, Mr Fell suid that* notwithstanding the evidence of the previous witnesses he was still prepared to go on with the defence. He would chow that the horse was in the habit of falling, and that it always carried its tongue out of the mouth, as it had the occasion in question, when it had fallen and ii fiicted the wound with its teeth. Mr Brock bad certainly said that it must have been done with a sharp instrument, but he did not lnok much weight was to be attached to the evidence of experts, whieh was generally mere rubbish. His client occupied a very unfortunate position, owing to the gross injustice thai had been done him by exciting indignation in the public mind against him before the accusation had been | proved. j — Macfarlane: I have known defendant for several years, and seen a great deal of him. I ! have been with him whe he was driving. I have never seen him use cruelty or bad treatment to animals. I have known the hor.-e in question ahout a twelvemonth, lie was formerly mine 1 here is a curious deformity in 'he shoulder. He fell with me once when I was riding him snd cut his iip. He fell twice afterwards and cut Lis nose. I wns nearly shooting him one day but he was the other aide of the iiver. I disposed of 'nim to Brown. His tongue wan always about •half an inch out of the near side of his mouth. '1 his close d the evidence for the defence, and Mr f-'ell havirg -idilresscd the Bench, Hi< Worship said that there could not be a sh idow of doubt ol the defendant'-*- guilt in the mind of anyone who had heard the evidence. He had voluntarily confessed it to three persons, when, although under the influence of drink, he was still sufficiently sober to give coherent a* d intelligible instructions with regard to his horse. It had been urged that publie indignation hal been expressed against the mmi, hut thia, he thought, was high'y creditable to the feelings of the people, and if anything he could say would tend to increase that indignation to such an extent as to cause pressure to be brought upon the legislature to induce them to pass an Act to meet offVnces of this description he should only be too glad. No punishment could be given such as his savage brutality deserved. The Act IV. and V. of William IV. was the only one in force here, but that Act had been repealed in !• ngland by the XII and XIII of Victoria which placed much more ample powers in the hands of the Magistrates. Unfortunately that later Act had not been adopted in the coiony, or a much more severe punishment would be inflicted. All that he could do was to fine him 40s and cos's, and he regretted that it was out of his power to mark , his sense of the defendant's libominable conduct in a more substantial way.