SUPREME COURT OPENS IN HAMILTON

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 137, 31 August 1927, Page 13

SUPREME COURT OPENS IN HAMILTON

LIGHT CRIMINAL LIST

WASTE ON TRIVIAL CHARGES (From Our Own Correspondent.) HAMILTON, Tuesday. The quarterly session of the Supreme Court opened in Hamilton this morning, Mr. Justice Herdman presiding. In his charge to the Grand Jury the Judge stated that there was little for comment. The criminal list was phenomenally light, a circumstance for which the community must be thankful. Referring to sexual cases the Judge said that such offences, unfortunately, were becoming unpleasantly common. Hardly a session went by but the jury had to deal with charges of that kind. There was one charge of alleged bookmaking. It was unfortunate that the Supreme Court should be troubled with cases of that kind, which could more appropriately be dealt with in the inferior coLirt. There would be no difficulty in arriving at a decision. In a further case charges of forgery were preferred against three men. The following Grand Jury was empannelled:—Messrs. A. M. Bisley (foreman), A. Bullock, W. D. Ross, W. Christie, sen., C. W. Wycherley, C. Matthews, N. F. Currie, L. H. Boneham, G. T. Allen, Charles Speight, F. J. Mar fell, E. A. Scott, A. Cracknell, T. B. Booth, H. D. Cobb, John Ranstead, J. P. Goodall, A. H. Strong, F. A. Snell, T. Y. Lusk, T. FI. Dillon, S. Arthur and F. W. Kemp. True bills were returned in the following criminal cases:—Wm. James Blackman, alleged illegal sale of liquor; Horace Benjamin Martin, alleged attempted offence on a male and alleged indecent assault; William West, allegedly carrying on the business of a bookmaker. No bill was returned in the case of William Joseph McLeod, aleged indecent assault. In returning the decisions the foreman of the Grand Jury added that they were strongly of opinion the country should not be put to the expense of trying bookmaking cases in the Supreme Court.