RESIDENT MAGISTRATE’S COURT.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 4951, 3 February 1877, Page 3

RESIDENT MAGISTRATE’S COURT.

Friday, February 2. (Before J; C.,Crawford, Esq., R.M.) • DRUNKENNESS. •There were no less’ than five cases of drunkenness. Four of the delinquents were each fined ss. and costa,’ with alternative. The fifth offender was.aiemale,uninteresting in - •'appearance and somewhat-groggy looking,.by name Jane Ashbridge, who was also charged . with being a. vagrant. " Evidence,having been heard,which clearly proved the charge of vagrancy to be truthful, Jane was sentenced to three months* imprisonment, ’ - A LITTLE OP MAN*B NOBILITY. - • A. B. W. Goldsmid, a cabdriver, in the, ‘'employ ‘6f Mr.* Futter, .waß charged with illtreating, a horse on the 29th ult. : -o Defendant pleaded guilty to driving a horse with sore shoulders, but stated that he was driving it home when attention was attracted 1 40 Constable Darby deposed that he saw defen- ,! 'da'nt’ driving the horse in a cab and beating it, i i. and added that the animals breast and shoulders were covered with sores. , , , , Hiß "Worship cautioned the defendant, and fined him 10s. and costs. ' BREACHES OP THE MUNICIPAL BY-LAWS.. _ I ■ Two persons wer.e fined for committing -breaches of the Municipal Corporations Act. I assault. ... ,' Daniel-Bichards was again, brought up on rCmand'cbargecl with assaulting Mr. Way, the I ?'tSafe J Sf , ‘tM ship Himalaya. On the occasiop Id'the' last’ remand’ defendant,, had informed Bench that he could If /allowed ’time prodace evidence which would prdve his innocence efi the offence’ with which' he was charged- ’ 'MrlOUlvler appeared for the prosecution; and Mfi tbia* Caaa to take up the defence. A of' witnesses were - called on behalf of V 'tbhi"defbh ; daht,; and their evidence went to show.that',defendant ‘had not been guilty of miffing the mate, but that on seeing him rtrike the man Bruce with a belaying pin,

prisoner called the mate a coward, and with another colored seaman named Matthews endeavored to take from him the pin; but the witnesses agreed that 1 the. mate was - very mildly treated, and that, as Mr. Ollivier put it, prisoner and his companion were lamblike in their behaviour; , However the eyidenpe elicited by Mr. Barton had a more direct, bearing on the case of Bruce, which was to follow. It appeared that ; the' mate had cabled upon Bruce, who .was on- the Moa then lying 'alongside'' the Himalaya, to come on board, and as Bruce was climbing rip the side, the mate struck him twice with: a belaying-pin, knock-; ing him between the ship and the. steamer.; He did not fall into the water, however, as he was caught in the arms of some of those on board the steamer, when he was attended by Dr. Lloyd, of the ship Avalanche, who happened to be there at the time.' It was after this occurrence, as previously stated, that the ■ colored prisoner (Richards) went up to the mate and said to him, “ You'area cbwpd to strike a man with a belaying-pin,” and afterwards attempted to: relieve him of .that weapon, in which attempt he received the assistance of Mathews.” .- ■/, His Worship, having heard the evidence and the addresses of counsel, gave judgment as follows:-*-!, am: quite' wijlinjg to grant that there may , have been what called; ,a technical assault ■ made . out in - this case. Prisoner did interfere with the chief mate; arid at all events laid handrupon him. and.tried to take the belaying-pin from him. But consider-’ ing all the surrounding;; circumstances —the ship being in harbor,-the Moa lying alongside her, and a man having been struck on the head and knocked overboard, so that murder might have ensued—it seems only reasonable to. expect that the bystanders should remove the! weapon from the hand of; the manwho used it. In the case of mutiny at sea, I consider that officers may use any weapon which they, in their Judgment, consider necessary/ But the case of a ship lying- In port, with a steamer alongside, and plenty -of assistance at-hand, is entirely different. In the latter circuriistances, if a person.used a. belaying-pin m_tfie_way I state, I consider that any person standing, near would be perfectly justified in attempting to remove from his hand the implement used. This is what the accused would seem to have done in the case we have—just been hearing, and he appears to have exercised no unnecessary force in the. attempt... _lshall therefore dismiss the case, - ■ - ■ . ; , ACTION FOB- DAMAGES. i

This case, Bruce ’ v. Vfxj, 'Mroge. out. of ..the case last heard, Bruce suing; the mate, Mr. Way, for £SO damages for the assault with a belaying pin! ~ T , , .- It was agreed to' accept the greater part of the evidence heard in the last 'case as applicable to thisaction/'Mr.'-'Barton-fflerety calling his own witnesses to swear to the accuracy of the statements - previously -made by them in reference to the mate’s performance with the weapon, so often mentioned. - : • The evidence for the defence went chiefly to show that .the, plaintiff ' was a grumbling, swearing, turbulent character, and that on this occasion, when he vvas returning from the Moa, from which he -was • ordered by the captain, he used filty and provoking Ifinguage to the chief officer, who was thus, irritated into striking him. % ' ’ ;. ' : The defendant paid £5 13s. into Court. His Worship; gave judgment for £ls, in addition to that amount,- arid allowed costs. DISOBEYING--ORDERS. George ' Bruce was then charged with disobeying orders on the *, Himalaya, and was sentenced ■ to ten day’s; imprisonment, with hard labor., , (Before J. Holt and J. H. Wallace, Esqs., J.P.’s) ' Margaret Cleland, the- unamiable female who on the day was, remanded on a charge; of stealing several, articles, from, the dwelling of a person living at the Hutt, was again brought up yesterday afternoon, and additional evidence was taken, which fully proved her: guilty. ' - Margaret Cleland is well known to the police here, and she bears anything but, good character, to which Mr. Atoheson testified amply. • " The Bench committed the prisorier to three calendar months’ imprisonment, with hard labor. ‘ i