ASSAULT WITH A HATPIN.
CHARGE AGAINST A WOMAN. Mary Sweeney appeared before Mr. A. Crooke, S.M., in the New Plymouth Magistrate's Court on Saturday morning on three charges—using indecent language in St. Aubyn Street, assaulting Lilian Hutchins, of Stratford, and assaulting Edgar Loveridge. All the offences wtTre committed on January 20. Accused pleaded guilty and elected to be dealt with summarily. Sub-Inspector Hutton said that on the Jay in question (Sunday), at about 6 p.m, accused got on to a tramcar coming from the breakwater into town. When she sat down some of the paabtngers moved up to make room for her, and accused evidently accepted the attitude of tlie passengers as an insult to herself and commenced using abusive language. After subsiding for a little, she made another outburst of filthy language, and at the same time attacked Nurse Hutchins, of Stratford, by stabbing her in the knee with a hatpin. Some of the passengers then demanded that accused should be put off the car, and. the conductor removed her. The oar had by that time reached town, and accused was put off near the Grosvenor Hotel. It was in this connection that the assault had been made on Loveridge (the conductor), who had been stabbed in the arm with a hatpin, and the words complained of in the charge had been used. The woman was quite sober at the time, but was very erratic in temperament. Her husband was a man of Similar temperament, and had recently been charged with vagrancy. Accused had served a sentence of 14 days' .imprisonment in Auckland for being illegally on premises, and had been under police observation for some time. Regarding her failure to appear on Thursday last when the case was called, SubInspector Hutton said she could easily have appeared as it had been discovered she went to Hawera by the mid-dav train. The Magistrate asked if anything was known of accused's mental condition, and whether she did anything for a living Inspector Hutton said he feared 'she was more of a knave than a fool. The Magistrate said that the use of filthy language was a serious offence agftinst a. man, but much more so 'against a woman, and especially as she was apparently sober at the time He was- relnctrtnt to' send a woman to "aol and on the charge of using indecent W fftiagc convicted accused and ordered her to come-up for sentence; if railed upon within twelve months. His Worship referred to the serious nature of the assaults with a hatpin, the results of which might have been dangerous. Accused was convicted and fined 20s in each case, in default 14 davs' imprisonment, the terms to be concurrent.
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Taranaki Daily News, 18 February 1918, Page 2
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451ASSAULT WITH A HATPIN. Taranaki Daily News, 18 February 1918, Page 2
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