Supreme Court.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 186, 5 February 1914, Page 6

Supreme Court.

NEW PLYMOUTH SICSSIONS. CRIMINAL CASKS. The quarterly sessions of the Supreme Court were continued yesterday before his Honor .Mr. Justice Edwards."

CHAKCK 01' THEFT. AN" AUSTRALIAN CRIMINAL. Robert Johnson pleaded not guilty in a charge of theft from the person of Daniel Harry on the Stratford racecourse on January 1. . .Mr. C. 11. Weston appeared for the Crown and Mr. Hutlicrfurd. of Strutfuui. for the accused. The following jury was empanelled; W. K. Kendall.' William 11. Drinkwatcr, Neville 11. Ardeu. llv. S. Watson. Wm. McKav, Thos. John West. K. .7. Cartlicw. !■:. F. lloskin. Joseph \V. Sttirmcv. M. Jones. John T. Hell, A. C. I'egg. -Mr. K. ■I. Carthew was appointed foreman. After brielly outlining the case for ihe Crown, Mr. Weston called

(,'eorge Sadler, of New Plymouth, hold poller, wdio deposed that he was on the Stratford racecourse on January I. Immediately after the last race he was waiting outside the totalisator. when he saw Mr. Barv standing bv the line of people outside (be tolaiisat'or. Close to llary was the accused, who tugged llary's 'coat and right hand side, and llary turned round and -poke to accused, who ran away. Harv ran after him. calling for the police. ' lie last saw the pair running through the crowd. To Mr. Rutherfnrd: He was two yards from llary and accused and there were many people about at the time, llary was making no effort to collet his dividend.

Daniel llary. of Ilawera, farmer, who was on the' Stratford racecourse on January I, deposed that he was earning his money in a pur-e in his trousc/s pocket. It contained £2 lis lid. He went into the wrong division of the tote "J collect his dividend, and when he came out he felt his coat pulled, and later noticed that bis purse had 'gone. Accused moved from his side, and witne-,-asked for his purse, but licensed said he had not got it. Accused ran, and witness called out for the police. When lie lii'st saw accused, he was trying te slip away. Witness pursued accused towards 'the grandstand, where accused was I ripped up. lie was never more than three yards from accused during the chase. Sergt. .McNcaly arrested accused, and the sergeant then had a put"'; which witness claimed in the heaving oi accused. Accused was at the time of the theft the closest man to witness.

To Mr. Rulherfurd: The purse wa- in his left-hand pocket. lie last looked at the monev in his purse before the last race. lie was sure he had the purse during the race, however. Crossexamined at length as to which side of his coat was puiled, witness said it was the left-hand side of his coat, which was pulled across to the right. He did not turn round till he found his purse was

William Jury, of Waitara. draper, who was on the steps of the grandstand ".' the lime of the alleged thefl, deposed that he heard Mary call out. llary was chasing a man, wdio fell down in front, of the grandstand. As he fell a purse appeared to come from him to the ground. The purse produced was like the one he saw. lie could not swear that the man who fell was accused. To Mr. Rutherford: There was a crowd of .VHKI or HOOO on the course at the time.

William A. Carby. a warder in the New Plymouth gaol, who was standing alongside the totalisator at the time of the alleged theft, gave evidence similar to Mary's. lie identified the accused as the man who was tripped up. staling that he saw accused throw away a purse as he foil. lie assisted to arrest uceiiscd. A boy picked up a purse and said, "This is the purse the man threw away." lie identified the purse produced as the one the bov picked up. Police Sergeant McNe'cly, of Stratford, deposed to the arrest of the accused as stated by previous witnesses. lie was walking to the totalisator, and wh.-n about twenty yards away he heard cries of "Policc!"'and saw llary pursuing accused. AYitness headed accused oil', keeping his eye on him all the time. Accused was dodging through the crowd and ran towards the. grandstand. He was tripped up, and when he got up he ran back and witness arrested him. AVlicn witness caught accused a youth in the crowd handed witness the purse produced, saying. ''Here's a purse. Sergeant: he threw if away!'' Accused said. "I have twelve CI notes of my own in my pocket." A. search of the prisoner revealed a race card, some tickets. £l2- in notes, three sovereigns, and 17s 3d in silver. Witness ask"d the youth in question to come to the police station, but lost sight of him in the crowd. , This closed the case for the Crown.

Mr. Eutherfurd called no evidence, hut addressed the jury. lie characterised the evidence for -the prosecution as purely circumstantial, and therefore to be treated with caution. There was a crowd on the course, and in the jostling it would be diUkult io see what went on. lie traversed the evidence in support of his contention. Not one witness saw the purse taken or saw aceused with it. One witness could not even identify accused. '

His Honor, in summing up, said that counsel for the prisoner had suggested that there was no direct cviden-c against prisoner. lie was of opinion that all the evidence was direct, thoiiifh it might not be conclusive. The witnesses could have no motive for telling an untruth. He pointed to the suspicious manner in which the prisoner had acted, and the fact that darby had seen him throw the purse away. The, jury, after a short retirement, round the prisoner guilty. His Honor, addressing the prisoner, remarked that he had come to New Zealand when he found Australia too hot for him. lie had been .sentenced ;li Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide on various charges. Jle would be sentenced to live years' imprisonment with hard ■labor.

AN KRKINd BOOK-KEEPER. A HEAVY SKNTKNCK. Win. Henry lloskin. of New Plymouth, clerk to Harvey and .Murphy, butchers, of New Plymouth, jdeaded not guilty in a charge of embezzling the funds of the firm. The indictment was that he .•.•- ceived from John McKean. of New Plymouth, £8 8s on October 211 last, C 7 6s fid on November 17. and Z'.\ 12s !id on November 2(i; and from Walter Little, ;C4 '2s on June 20, and US ISs on July 28: and fraudulently failed to account for these sums, lie was alternatively charged on each count with liaving stolen the moneys, which totalled '£32 7s. •Mr. ('. 11. Weston appeared for the Crown. Prisoner was not represented bv counsel.

"The following jurv was empanelled: - Lewis V. Mace, Frederick It. James. A. C. Ca-e, Charles R. lirown, Charles 11. Burgess. T. 11. Salter. Lewis Sarteii. Wm. John Honcvficld. A. S. ITasell. Ccorgc S. Morton, A. M. Higgs and 1). McAllum. Mr. McAllum was chosen foreman. John .McKean, licensee of the Criterion Hotel, New Plymouth, wlio had dealt W'ith Harvey and .Murphy. Ltd.. for about twelve months, gave evidence similar to that given by him in the lower Court some weeks ago. Accused had been in the habit of collecting "tnouevs from him. He deposed to having paid accised the amounts mentioned in the indict ment as having been paid by hi • to .accused. lie recognised the cluqKproduced as those which he had paid !n accused. Accused had receipted the bill presented by him to witness. To the accused: It was customary for tradespeople doing business at the lode! to spend monev there occasionally. Walter Little', licensee of the Imperial Hotel. New Plymouth, stated that lie had been a customer of Harvey and Murphy, Ltd., for about twelve mouths. He deposed to the payment of the sums mentioned in the indictment a- paid by him to accused.

The prisoner asked a question similar to that which he put to the previous witness, and received the same reply. Harry Harvey, managing director of the firm of Harvey and Murphy, depo-ed that accused had been in the employ id the firm for about twelve months at ,C2 per week. He kept the day book and the ledger. It was part of the accused's duty to collect accounts from hotels and restaurants, with authority to allow about 5 per cent, discount, but none to spend the firm's money. He w:n required to account to witness for liemoney. There was no record in the (inn's 'books of the receipt of the money mentioned in the indictment. Cheques paid to him were never cashed, but were ipaid into the bank. In December but be asked accused what he had done with Little's and McKean's money, ami he said he had spent it. Accused said Little owed nothing and McKean a sinaii 'amount.

To prisoner.- His linn was a member of the Master Butchers' Association of New Plymouth, which had a certain standard of prices. The members of the Association were not bound to these prices. He never suggested to accused that he could take a few shillings to spend in the hotels when he went for orders. Arthur Owen Murphy, co-director with the former witness, corroborated Harvey's evidence. To the prisoner: No; 1 never asked you to ''shout" for a customer. Hugh liaily. of New Plymouth, accountant and auditor, deposed that he had audited the accounts of McKean ami Little in the nooks kept bv accused for Harvey and Murphy. These showed no credit for the amounts mentioned in Ihe indictment. lie asked accused iibout this, and accused said he had received the moneys, and should have credited them in the customers' ae. counts. This closed the case for the Crown. Prisoner addressed the jury, and :ii the course of his remarks strove to show that he had taken the money in order to "buy business for the linn." Ho asked Hie jury to believe that it was his business to do so, and incidcnlaiU stated that his hours of work were unduly long. lie aureed with his Honor that it would have been belter to have credited (he amounts received in- tinledger. His Honor brielly summed up the evidence. The jury, without retiring, returned a verdict of guilty on all counts. His Honor remarked that prisoner had been convicted of live charges of forgery in IS!)] and also of a breach of ine Uaukruptey Act. lie would be sentenced to three wars' imprisonment, with hard labor, on each charge, the sentences to run concurrently, with reformative treatment for a term not exceeding ,lw years.