RESIDENT MAGISTRATE'S COURT.

Oamaru Mail, Volume III, Issue 617, 25 April 1878, Page 2

RESIDENT MAGISTRATE'S COURT.

THIS DAY. (Before T. W. Parkkr, Esq., R.JT.) FORGERY.

I James Fare was charged, on remand, with having, on the 15th inst., forged and uttered two cheques—one for Ll6 18s., and another for Ll3 los.—purporting to be drawn by Hugh Wallace. Sub-Inspector Smith prosecuted. The prisoner pleaded not guilty. William Maitland, landlord of the Commercial Hotel, gave evidence as to having seen the prisoner in his hotel on the. night of the loth instant. He had previously seen the prisoner in Oamaru, and knew he was working for Wallace. Prisoner asked him to cash a cheque for Ll6 18s., and, ' on witness looking dubiously at the cheque, prisoner said, " You know I have been working for Wallace, and the cheque is all right." Witness then said lie would give prisoner L 5 18s. then and the balance in the morning. Prisoner said "All right." Ha never saw prisoner after that till the'

time he saw him in the dock. The cheque produced was the one he had received from the prisoner. The name on the back of the cheque, " James Binney," was on it when witness received it. The cheque was drawn on the Colonial Bank of New Zealand, Oainaru, and purported to be drawn by Hugh Wallace. Witness passed the cheque into the Bank of New Zealand to his account on the 16th inst., and was afterwards told by one of the clerks in the Colonial Bank" that the cheque was not right. To prisoner : Neither you nor I were intoxicated when you came into my house. Mathew Grant, landlord of the Alliance Hotel, deposed that on the night of the 15th inst. he saw the accused in his hotel in company with another man. One of them asked him if he could cash a cheque. On seeing that the cheque was drawn by Hugh Wallace, witness asked, "Are you working for Hugh Wallace ?" and one of the men replied "Yes." He then handed the amount, Ll3 15s. to the prisoner. The cheque was drawn on the Colonial Bank, Oamaru, and was signed " Bugh Wallace." He (witness) afterwards took the cheque to the Colonial Bank, and got the cash for it. c j

To the prisoner : We were both sober when you came into my house. Hugh Wallace deposed that he was a farmer and contractor, residing in Oamaru. He knew the prisoner by the name of " Jimmy the devil." He had known him for about a month, and had been in his (witness's) employ for about three weeks. Witness had paid prisoner by cheque for L2 some odd shillings. He kept the cheque-book at his own house. He did not know anything about the two cheques produced, but had seen them last Thursday at the Colonial Bank. He would swear that the signatures to the cheques were not in his handwriting. He knew of another man of the same name as himself ; he was working as a farm laborer — working for Mr. Reid at Elderslie. He had examined the cheques, and found by the numbers that they had been taken out of his oheque-book, two cheques being missing from the book.

Prisoner did not ask witness any questions. Constable Welch gave evidence as to arresting prisoner at the Otekaike Station on Saturday. After some conversation, the prisoner said to him (witness) that there was no use beating about the bush, that he was the man lie (witness) wanted, that he had " done it," and would abide by the consequences. Prisoner also told witness that he had got the oheques from another man, who had said they oould work the swindle, When witness asked him who the other man was, prisoner said he did not know. He described him as a man with light whiskers, but afterwards gave quite a different description of the man.

To prisoner : You did not say that you were intoxicated, and could not remember the man who had been with you. Harry Fleetwood Thompson, teller in the Colonial Bank, Oamaru, deposed that the signatures on the two cheques produced were not those of any person having an account in the bank. The signatures were not those of Hugh Wallace, farmer and contractor. No other person of the name of Hugh Wallace had an account at the bank. He believed the cheques had been taken from the chequebook of Hugh Wallace, contractor. This was the case for the prosecution, The. prisoner said he had no witnesses to call, and reserved hia defence. The Magistrate said there could be no question that there was a clear case against the prisoner, and committed him for trial at the next sitting of the Supreme Court to be held in Dunedin in July.