MAGISTRATE'S COURT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 324, 15 January 1909, Page 4

MAGISTRATE'S COURT.

UllAßtiE OF VACJtAXCV. ■ Mr. H. S. Fitzhcrbert, S.M., yesterda; morning heard u charge of driuikennesi against a middle-aged woman nauiei ■Kathleen Stanley. Defendant pleadei . guilty and was convicted and discharged Another charge against accused, uf .be ing an idle and disorderly person, am 'having insufficient lawful means of sup port, was then read out, when an in leresting po.iit cropped up. His Worship stated that a decislo': of the Supreme Court of Victoria >i 1!)U5 rigarding a section of the Vic torian Criminal Code identical witi llits vagrancy section of the .New Zea land Criminal Code laid it down tlia a person accused of vagrancy nnist b< brought before the Court "either b; warrant, or on a summons, or by orde of Justices, or could be dealt with b; llie .Magistrate, being before the Court on his own initiative without the pro cesses previously mentioned being usivl Air. Fitzhcrbert did not feel inclined ti deal with accused on his own initiative and she bad not been brought befon him on aji order 'by Justices. There fore she would have to be suminoiiei and given an opportunity of defentlin; licrsell'. lie could not ileal with tin case at present. Sergeant Jladdrell stated tint whei the police sought to lay an infonnatioi for vagrancy against accused the. 1 were informed in the Court oilice Ilia no information was necessary. It hu been the practice of tile past for per sons accused of vagrancy to be deal with after information had been ian against tllein. Of course, accused per sons had the right of obtaining remand in order to procure evidence for thei: defence. i His Worship held that an informalioi alone was no good. A summons must hi " served on accused' after the informa tion had been laid. • Sergeant Haddiell remarked that i". 1 such cases lie could not guarantee ser I vice of the summons. Persons accusei ' of vagrancy were often difficult to tint 1 when they knew the police were aftel ■ them. In answer to his Worship, accusal ■ -aid she was staying at the Trocadero She was going to work as a laundres-. as soon as she was well enough. After Mr. Terry, Clerk of llie Court bad slated that he knew nothing ol what the police bad been told in tin ■ Court office regarding the information ■ .mil 'hail not given instructions that an I jiformatioii was unnecessary, an inform--1 ation, was laid against accused. A t' summons against her was afterwards issued.