THE CHRISTCHURCH RIOTERS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1169, 15 January 1880, Page 2

THE CHRISTCHURCH RIOTERS.

The following remarks, as reported in the Lyttelton Times, were made by his Honor Judge Johnston in passing sentence on the rioters Prisoners at the bar— I When you had time to consider what you had done, and how you had imperilled the peace of the community, had you pleaded guilty afterwards, I should have" thought it my duty to consider that plea as an indication of your. submission to the law of the land, and should haye felt justified in passing a sentence of much less severity than your guilt deserves. I don't know whether any of you have yet reflected upon the character of your offence, apart from your prejudices, national or religious ; but let me tell you that you have brought yourselves into this predicament, that if it had not pleased Providence to prevent your blows—which might have been fatal—froni being fatal, yoUj all of you, would have been guilty of murder. If death had resulted from the promiscuous use of those weapons, you would have been tried for murder. This is a thing for you, and those people outside who may sympathise with you, and who are of your way of thinking in religion and politics, to think of when you msw have in your mind a temptation to disturb the peace of tfye community. They j are risking the chance of committing I

murder. The evidence against you, although there has been no death, would have been amply to justify a proseoution for malicious wounding, With' intent' to do grievous bodily harm, and you would each of you have been liable to be sentenced to a long period of penal' servitude. Had there been reason to believe that a lenient sentence would have been likely to prevent the recurrence of such an offence as you have- been convicted of, I should have been glad to pass it. I have cast upon the representatives of the Crown the duty of expressing their opinion on the nature of the punishment, but God forbid that I should ever assist the Government of the country in passing a vindictive sentence. I must take it that you are convicted of riot and assault—riot of considerable seriousness, and assault of a dangerous character. ' As you have not submitted yourselves by pleading guilty, I must make your sentences exemplary. _ I cannot help it if some portion of the public, especially those who have prejudices which I have not, think that I am treating you with too great leniency. I shall pass a sentence which I do not think is at all a severe one under the circumstances. I think it right to make a distinction among the prisoners, because men follow leaders ; and "I think it is very possible we hay© not here the most guilty. It is . very possible there are others behind who were worse, but several of these have been very prominent. I may say_ that, although they may have arranged it beforehand, I think it probable that they did not consider the consequences of what they were doing. Irishmen are so accustomed to see the cudgel used at wakes and fairs, that they don't see the thing in the same light as we do. The first three men, I think, are marked out as having been particularly active, Ouddihy as attacking the flag and seeming to give directions; Hanley used expressions which showed that he was fool enough to believe that they could take possession of the town. Could they imagine that, had they been ten times the number, the law would not have overtaken them in a very short period. But men who go about like that are very dangerous neighbors. I propose to make a distinction between Hanley, Cuddihy, M'Avey, and Barrett and the rest of the prisoners. They will be sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment, with hard labor, and the rest to 12 months' imprisonment with hard labor.