MAGISTRATES' COURT.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XV, Issue 88, 8 April 1880, Page 2

MAGISTRATES' COURT.

[Before S. Kingdon and P. Donald, Esqs.> J.J.P.] ASSAULTING WITH A PITCHFORK. William Henry Klein, having been remand- . ed from Brightwater yesterday, was brought up, charged with having on the 2nd April unlawfully wounded Thomas Holdaway, at Hope. The defendant was engaged in the Franco-Prussian war in Nov. 1870, and he there received a bad sabre cut down the centre of his forehead, the scar from which is a considerable disfigurement. Mr Bunny appeared for the defendant, Inspector Acheson prosecuting. The first witness called was Thomas Holdaway, who, being sworn, said :„ I reside at Richmond, and am the proprietor of a threshing machine. I know the defendant, who is a farm laborer. On Eriday last I was working at Mr Jessbps' at Hope, and the accused was also, working there. . Just as . we. were finishing work'abp'ut a quarter past five, il was standing on the engine, and defendant was about -ten yards away. He -beckoned to me, and I went "towards him. He said, "You don't know Mfhat harm you are 'doing... by I letting boys get oh the engine."" He ha^ia fork in his hand,* and when I was speakifig to him I out my left hand on the topjto&it, and he said, ""Leave it alone; it's mine?' 'I said, " Hold hard a minute," and.wasjgoing to speak to him. He picked up the. fort and stabbed at me without saying another word thai I could understand, for he was talking in German. One prong struck me oji the hand, and the other went through my linen jumper by my side and under my right "arm. It was a violent thrust that he made. T saw it coming, and sprung back. He made a second attempt, but I was out of his reach. When he could not , reach me he turned round and made a thrust at a young man named James Jary. We, all left nim{then. He appeared yery excited. Nothing had been done to him all day so far as I am aware. If I had not jumped back I don't think I Bhould have been here to give evidence to-day. I have only known the prisoner about a fortnight. He had had some drink, but till within five minutes of the time referred to he appeared to be as sober as anyone on the ground. I don't drink. Cross-examined by Mr Bunny : There was beer on the ground, and most of the men drank some. Mr Jessop employed them. I heard no chaff. The accused was a stranger to moat of the men. When he called me the prongs of the fork were in the ground. There had been no dispute. He spoke to me in quite a friendly manner. I put my hand on his fork unthinkingly. Had he meant to stab me in the body it was possible he might not have stabbed me for I sprang back. I went back partly sideways, and the fork passed by my hand wounding my arm. I will not swear that there was not a wound there before. Supposing I had not moved I believe the fork would have gone right through me. He did not follow me up. I did not in the leaat expect him to stab at me. I had no idea of his intention till I saw the. fork coming.' ~ ' ~ : - By the Bench : After the accused had thrust at me he could have followed me up had he liked, but he made no attempt to do so, and turned away from me altogether and went to another young man. The was no provocation for his assault. I had given him no reason for his action. None of the men showed any signs of having drank freely. He had no appearance of being excited through drink. Benjamin Primmer deposed : On the day in question the prisoner and I were both working for Mr Jessop. Shortly after 5 o'clock I saw accused beckon Holdaway towards him. Holdaway went towards him, and I saw him standing, and they were talk, ing about the engine. The accused had a fork in his hand, when he up with the fork and stabbed Holdaway. The fork went with violence, and Holdaway 's left band went between the prongs of the fork and kept it from his body. I went to see if Holdaway was hurt, and there was a mark on the forefinger of the right hand. I only saw accused make one stab at Holdaway. I saw where tbe fork went into Holdaway's jumper. After stabbing Holdaway the accused stabbed at Jary. The fork was taken away from him by force by two men before he stabbed at Jary. The first man that was stabbed was Coleman, and two men rushed forward and took the fork from him, but whilst we were talking he got the fork agaiD, and it was not taken from him after. When he had stabbed at Jary he left the field and went towards home. Cross-examined by Mr BunEy : There had not been much drinking going on ; all were sober. We had "some tea and some beer. We had some beer from two breweries, but that was not because one could not supply enough. A good deal had occurred before Mr Holdaway was touched; ib was before that the folk was taken away from him. There had been no chaffing going on, but it appeared that Coleman blew the whistle of the engine in answer to t<ae railway train engine, and thig seemed £o annoy accused. By the Bench ; lam su.re ' there was ' nothing in the way of chaffing. The whistle was blown to answer the train ; it appeared afterwards that this annoyed him. Inspector Acheson said he had further evidence, but he scarcely 'thought' it ' necessary to call the witnesses. Their Worships concurred, and Mr Bunny then said that he Bhould liko their Worships to say whether they thought qf dpallng with the case summarily, because, if not, be should not (hen address tbe Court, The Chairman said they intended to deal with the case, whereupon Mr Bunny said that the prisoner, who wasal'russian, served in the war in 1869 and 1870, and whilst fighting for his country received a bad sabre wound, which necessitated his being kept in a Lunatic Asylum iii Germany for some time, and even now apparently any excitement affected him greatly. He said it was evident that he called Holdaway in a friendly manner, but it seemed to him that something had been kept back by tbe witnesses for the prosecution, and, indeed, he considered thattheircase had entirely broken down. The informant had rtceived a mere scratch, but he did not think it was at all certain as to how he it, and he commented upon the prosecution omitting to produce either the pitchfork or the jumper. He urged that there must have been great aggravation, and he hoped ;their Worships would fiud that there bad been, but if they thought an assault bad bepn committed he asked them to inflict merely a nominal penalty. Their Worships said a very severe assault had been, committed by the defendant with very little reason, and they thought there must really be something wrong about the accused, who, after calling the informant in an apparently friendly manner, stabbed at him. The effect of this stnhWns? might have been very dangerous, but iuciciiy for the defendant the injury inflicted was only trivial. They should not put the country to the expense of committing deferent to the

«??*?* ** m&ttici CoIIH8 ' *<* &«? th6u *bt that by .dealing, with the case eummarily justice would be done, and they accordingly nned defendant £io and costs, and in default sentenced him to two months imprisonment, witn hard labor. Mr Trautvetter having Dsen engaged as interpreter, the Court ordered that his fee be paid.