SUPREME COURT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXIII, Issue 223, 3 October 1901, Page 2

SUPREME COURT.

liefore H's Honour Mr Justice Conoily.—Wednesday, 2nd Oatober. The sittings of the Supreme Court were opened on Wednesday morning, when tbe following Grand Jury were empanelled : —W. J. P«nn (foreman), H. Gr.iy, C. Griffiths, W. Humphries,® J. Avery, F. M. Turton, J. Paton, D. Mullets, N. Mi'ler. D. McAUum, C. M. L ; 'ppar, T. 0. Kelsey, J. Blyth, G. Tifch, A. C. Walker. W. F. Brooking, W. J. Foote, A. D. Gray, W. A. Oollis, A. Diake, W. J. Shaw, H. Baily, and D. McKinnon Bain. His Honour, in charging the Grand Jury, said that on the present occasion there was an unusual number of charges, some being of a serious nature; but he was happy to state 'hat there was not one of violence (gainst the person. The majority of the o se3 were those of theft, and none of them should cause the juiy any ■rouble. Thei e were four indictments against the same person, involving nine charges. Some of these casej were what used to be known as embezzlement, but were now classed as theft. The accused was the secretary of a co-operative factory at Hawera, and it would appear'that he, during a period of seven months, misappropriated to his own use a total sum of over £2OO. Ho did not think the jury would find any difficulty in these charges. There were four charges of horsa Stealing against the one person, A very singular circumstance was that within a month accused had obtained, either by hire or at night, secretly, no leas than four horses, and disposed of them immediately afterwards A case of theft of a w<ttch, and two cases of breaking and entering and stealing did not present my difficult features. A peculiar charge was t.hat against a Chinaman, who wa* charged with at- 1 tempting 'o obtain money by false pretences. It would appear that a Chinaman named Wong Foo had an account at ;h" S vings Bank at G'sbarne. \V n;s Foo lest his hook, but obtained • "tie, arid finally withdrew lii-i iiioney from the Bauk. The book evidently fell into the hands of the prisoner, who, no doubt, thought it would entitle him to receive the money. The prisoner wrote to Gisborni and demanded the money. Of eourse, he could not get it, as there wai no money to draw, The prisoner also wrote an order signed " Wong Foo," irsd persisted that he was tbe real Wong Foo, but finally admitted he was not. His persistency in trying to obtiin the money led to suspicion, and icquiries showed that the prisoner's name was Ching Qaee, and not Wong Foq, gevewl witnesses, he understood, had been detained at Gisborne through stress of weather, and it was for the Grand Jury to say whether they would dispense with these witnesses in considering the bill, or whether they would adjourn aatil tbe witnesses arrived. He could not order them to adjourn or deal with the bill with or without the witnesses ; bat if an adjournment was decided on! ha suggested that it should be made titl next Friday. A case that presented singular features was one of breaking and,entering, and stealing two drums of oil "and onp tjn of white lead. This case needed attention. The prisoner was in the employ of Boon Bros, at the time the goods were alleged to he taken. There was not sufficient .of the iil b iing taken, nor was there !*ay evi- 1 lence of breaking and entering It would appear that Boon Bros, believed they had'lost two drums of oil and one fin of whi e lead. Prisoner bad sold (wo drums of oil and one tin of lead in an open manner; in fact had got a person to assigt him. explanation was that the stuff he sold bad bten left over from a job,he had done for aMr Lealand. It was peouliar that while Boon Bros, charged prisoner with stealing they still employed him. It was a most puzzling case, and one that would need careful attention from the Grand Jury. He was sorry to say there were three charges of arson—two of setting fire and one of attempting tq do so, This was a terrih'e crime, especially in a town like New Plymouth, where the buildings were of wood, for if a fire started and obtained a firm hold it would be hard to tell the extent of the damage and loss it would cause. There were two charges against the one person. On the choice of attempting the evidence disclosed that he was seen to go into the yard aqd try tq light asack tanging at the rear of the p emises This fire went out, but a boy, who saw him, went out and gave the air rm'to ". a constable, who arrested the 'accured. On the way. to tlte station accused said, "I had better keep my mouth shut," to whioh the sergeant of police replied, " Yes." If tbe jhry believed the evidence the prisiaer was seen in the act. With regard to the other casi against the prisoner tbe evidence was circumstantial. Another cise of the.same nature which r< quired a good deil of attention was against a person for burning down an outhouse at Hawera belonging to Mrs Bailey, The 'aco'qsed iiad qsep' keeping company wjsh the daughter of a Mrs Biiley, where he had lodged till 14 days before the fire, an J w's well acquainted with the place. Accused and the girl had quarelled several 'imes, and on one of these occasions accused said he would do something. On the night on which the Bra had occurred the accused, in a written statement, admitted sleeping in ' the outhouse, but said he was drunk, and was smoking. He woke up and found the shed in flame?. He thea gave the alarm. Jt was for the jury f> whethtr the disolos : d that the fire was accidental of wilful. The Grand Jury then retired, and in the course of the day brought in the following true bills:—E. J. Archiba'd, theft (nine cherges); Otto Schultz, forgery (four charges); James Ireland, theft; Sheriff" Liwe, breaking and entering ; John CunliSe Greeks, ar;on; Thomas Payne, , arson, a'so attempted arson; Allan Clealand, breaking and entering ; Ching Qaee, forgery. On the sscOnd charge against Sheriff I<owe, the jury fet«rop.d co bill, two of the witnesses being absent. FORGERY. William Schre'ner name up for sentence on a charge of forgery, to which he had pleaded guilty in the lower Court.

In answer to the usual question, prisoner stated ho had been tried in the South Island on a similar charge and sntenced to six months imprisonment, which was witb'n two days of expiry ; but though he had asked for the t .vo charges to be tried at the same | time, the Judge said that the North Island case was not of his jurisdiction. He pleaded for leniency, promising to j lead a better life. His Honour s»id it was a very impudent cse, as prisoner, jinder the guise of being a labour enquiry ' ftgent foj the United States he committed forgery, His Honour had no doubt

prisoner was one of that class who got a living by swindling people. He sentenced the prisoner to three years hard labour. HOBBE-BTKALINB. Alfred Aitken, who had pleaded guilty in the lower Court to a charge of horse-stealing, came up for sentence. Prisoner handed in a written state--1 ment. His Honour said it appeared that the prisoner bad been sentenced in the lower OourS for stealing a saddle and bridle, which no doubb formed part of . the same offence. He coaßidered that it was objectionable to have separate convictions on the same matter and that if the lower Court could not deal with the whole of the charges they should all be remitted to the Supreme Court. After hearing prisoner's employer, from whom the horses were stolen, his Honor sentenced the prisoner to nine calendar months, and in so doing tgok into consideration the fact that prisoner had already been sentenced to three months' imprisonment. FOEGKKY, John Joseph ConneU came up for sentence on a charge of forgery. Mr. Weston, on bibaif of prisoner, stated that there was no intention to defraud. His Honour rend over part of the | depositions and said in order to convict there must be some fraud or attempted | fraud and unless the prisoner endeavoured to obtain money by the false cheque it wa3 a mere act of folly. He did not think that the magistrate should, without further evidence, have taken the plea of guilty, but that plea being recorded his Honour was bound to pass a sentence, which would be nominal—one day's imprisonment, THEFT BY A SECRET AHY. Edwin John Archibald was indicted on three charges of stealing at various datfs cheques, the property of the Hawera Dairy Co-operative Company, of which he was secrotiry, Prisoner pleaded guilty. Mr. Wnstoo, instructed by Mr. Halllwell of Hawera, submitted on the I prisoner's behalf three testimonials of character, which his Honour described as worthless. Mr. Weaton called

James Goodwin, orpeater, who said be bad known tin prisoner for 21 months. He assigmd the cause of tho thefts to horse racing.

' His Honour said horse, raping was all very well, b.ut it did not justify a man in committing theft. Mr. Spratt, chairman of the company, was called by his Honour's direction, and stated that prisoner's salary at first was £l6 a year which was in creased to £27 subsequently. Prisoner was also a commission agent;. There were several qtjber casss which the company did not bring forward. His Honour, addressing the prisoner, said it was very sad to find a man at his age stealing cheques amounting, on the indictments, to £216, and no doubt there were other cases. Gambling was, he was sorry to say, a growing vice. Persistent robberies like this must be dealt with severely, and sentence would ba four years' imprisonment on each charge, the sentences to be con* current.

HOBSE STEALING, Otto Schultz pleaded guilty to {qu? charges of horse stealing. Mr Weston, on behalf of prisoner, oalled M, Jones as to character. His Honour said the case was a bad one, and he had determined to pass a heavy sentence; but as the prisoner was a young man who had previously borne a good character, the sentence would be two years on each charge, to be concurrent. THEFT OF A WATCH, James Ireland was charged vfltbi the theft of a goJ4 watch, the property of Abraham tavy MoDuff, at Inglewood on Ist June. Accused was represented by Mr T, S. Weston, and pleaded not guilty. The following jury was em p welled: —Oswald Caldwell (foreman), D. Penwarden, Thomas Jury, James Mynott, John Downis, Adam K'lpaUick, Fred E. Morris, Richard Jury, George fcjffan, James 0. Morey, William Elierm, and Frederick Thome, Mr Kerr, for the Grown, called Abraham L. McDufif, who stated he lost a gold watch on June Ist, while at Gryll's Hotel, Inglewood. It bad on the casing his own and his mother's initials. The watch [produced] was tjhe same. The watch had been nanging in his vest pocket in his roatfy To Mr Weston; Ney.er.' saw the in his (witness* room) room, Bichard Gryjls, licensee of the hotel stated accused stayed there on the Ist June, and had a room about. 20 feet from McDuffa, There were a number of people about the hotel on that day. v J. H. Parker, jeweller, identified the watch in Court as one which icaused brought him on the 18th June for repairs. Accused gave his name as ! James Ireland, and witness, at' hi<i re quest, erased some engraving on the jdoine of the watch, which had Wn partially scratched, out. Op the 22nd prisoner and another man aqd | took tfye sway, [ jSatrick Hurley deposed that one | Bight in June accused asked him to I pay for a watch he had at a jeweller's. [Witness did so, a ,; d was to beep tlw watch until accused repaid him. He handed the watch to the police. Constable Young gave evidence as to the arrest of accused, who stated that he had bought tjhft Wfttoh from a man at T^glewaqdi No witnesses were called for the defence.

Mr Weston said he did not question the ownership of the watch, but denied t'h*t accused took it. The oharge founded on the dootrine <f "recent possesion," and though the possession of stolen property was a presumption, yet the jury must consider the facts carefully. He stated he bought the watch from a man, whom he desoribed, on the day it was missed. Accused had made no trouble but volunteered a statement to the police as to how he came into possestion of the watch. Mr Kerr asked that his Honour direct the jury that the Crown relied upon the contradictory statements made by accqsed,

His Honour directed the jury, who retired at 3.15 p.m. At 4.35 p.m., the jury returned to Court with a verdict of gu'lty. His Honour said the case was a bad one. There were four previous convictions against accused. A sentence of two yearg hard was imposed. BREAKING AND ENTERING. Sheriff Lowe was charged with theft of ati accordion from the house of Wm. Sudfelt, on Ist May last. Mr. Kerr submitted evidence that a material witnes>, Annie J. Sudfalt, was not able to attend to give evidence, and that her depositions be admitted. His Honor agreed to this course. Accused, who was defended by Mr. Weston, pleaded not guilty, i The following jury was oho:en:— Albert Biyly (forernw), Francis C. Mace, Jas, Allen, Arthur E. Good,'

Frederick Heldt, Jas. A. Culpitt, Gao.

6, Boulton, Vm, Ghatterton, Ohas. | Brown, Robert M. Coraey, Jos. L. Ibbetson, Edgar R. Bayly. Mr. Kerr, for the prosecution, da* tailed the circumstances of the rse. Wm. Sudfelt gave evidence as to missing fie accordion from his place. The depositions of Annie Jane Sudfelt were put in. Constable Lind and Wm. McKay also gave evidence. Mr. Weston addressed the jury on accused's behalf. His Honor briefly summed up and/ the jury, after 15 minutes deliberation, brought in a verdict of not guilty, and the prisoner was discharged. The Court adjourned till 10 o'clock this morning. [PBS PBBSS ASSOCIATION.] Wanoanci, October 2. At the Supreme Court to-day, Collier, who, with McQinnity was found guilty on Monday, was sentenced to 15 months' imprisonment. The Chief Justice said that if tbe accused had made known the locality of the plant he might have been admitted to probation. He also instructed the police to watch both accused when they came out of gaol. Peterson was sentenced to nine months on five charges of forgery. Oonnell was admitted to probation on two charges of forgery. Buckman was found guilty of fradulent preference to a creditor, and judgment was reserved. In the case of James M. Cart, charged with assaulting Andrew Horne at Mangaweka, the jury disagreed.