RIOT SEQUEL
(Press. Assn.
MAN ACQUITTED ON MANSLAUGHTER CHARGE
— By Telegraph — Copyright).
Christchurch, Friday. In the Supreme Court, James Duncan Burke was charged on two counts with killing William Henry Victor Laing, a tram conductor, on May 7, or assaulting Laing. The Crown Prosecutor said the case was a sequel to 'the tramway strike, when a crowd demonstrated outside Lancaster Park. Laing had subsequently died in hospital. The charge hinged on the question of identity. Laing had heen set upon by a number of men. Only one person could identify prisoner as the man who delivered the blow. After hearing evidence, tbe Chief Justice, in summing up, said it seemed a case where accused could be given tbe benefit of the doubt. There were inconsisteneics in the stories of various witnesses. The jury returned a verdict of not guilty without leaving the box.
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Bibliographic details
Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 306, 20 August 1932, Page 5
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143RIOT SEQUEL Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 306, 20 August 1932, Page 5
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