MAGISTRATE’S COURT.

Taranaki Daily News, 13 October 1922, Page 6

MAGISTRATE’S COURT.

NEW PLYMOUTH SITTING t a; ILLEGAL WHITEBAIT NETTING. d w The usual weekly sitting of the Magistrate’s Court was held at New Plymouth yesterday. Mr. A. M. Mowlem, S.M., was on the bench. j; For netting whitebait in races at the c Waiwakaiho, fines of £2 with costs 7s ?, were inflicted on the following:—Clif- ; ford Walter Arden, James Boswell, Har- I old Hatley, Oswald Jans and Clarence c West. Confiscation of the nets and gear s was also ordered. A similar charge A against Arthur Henry Elmes was dis- ,c missed, while three boys were remanded J to appear before the Juvenile Court. Thu informations were laid , by the o Collector of Customs (Mr. R. Eyre),who I organised a raid on the river on Sunday, I September 24. c “THEATRE FULL” BY-LAW. Charged with attempting to enter Everybody’s Theatre when forbidden to do so by the borough inspector owing to the place being already full, Sidney Arthur Campbell. John Furze and Sidney Flood pleaded guilty. Mr. C. H. Croker appeared for the defendants. The facts, as outlined by Mr. R. Day, were that on the occasion . of Mr. “Pussyfoot” Johnston’s address at the theatre on a recent Sunday 0 night, he had occasion to stop the admittance of further people owing to the 8 maximum number having already entered. The defendants, of whom Flood was the ringleader, persisted in entering, and he had to invoke the assistance ~ of the police to have them ejected. This ® was the first occasion on which an in- 1 formation had been laid under the c amended by-law, and he asked for such ’ a penalty as would vindicate his auth- * crity. The defendants, he added, had 1 been admitted later on, when their j conduct had been quite satisfactory. Fines of 10s, with costs 7s, were in- 1 dieted on Campbell and Furze, and £1 I and costs 7s on Flood. CRUELTY TO A MARE. “This is one of the worst cases I have ever seen,” stated Mr. C. J. Wickham (inspector for the Society for the Prevention of 'Cruelty to Animals), in giving evidence against Percy Russ, who was charged with ill-treating his mare. The inspector said he saw the mare at Newton King’s Haymarket, when it had a serious swelling on its shoulder. In favor of the defendant he added +hat he had known him since childhood, and witness considered it a case of ignorance more than anything else. The defendant, who pleaded guilty, stated that the mare had developed a sore, and he had bathed it twice a day until it had healed up. A lump remained, but he considered the mare was in a fit condition to drive in a gig to New Plymouth, as the journey was all down hill. On the inspector’s advice he had bought a breast plate in which to work the 'mare, and the pressure on the shoulder had been relieved. A fine of £3, with costs £1 10s, was inflicted. NEGLIGENT DRIVING. George Amos Curran was lined £1 and costs 7s for negligently driving a motor cycle along the South Road. The circumstances, as explained by Senior Sergeant McCrorie, were that defendant z was riding towards Oakura and had collided with a dray. Defendant explained that he had had trouble with his carburetter, and was leaning down attending to it, the first he knew of the dray being when he hit it. He had been in hospital for six days and was still un- • able to work, while he had also to bear the cost of the repairs to the dray and to his motor cycle. UNLAWFULLY ON LICENSED PREMISES. William Fitzgerald (for whom Mr. R. H. Quilliam appeared) pleaded, guilty to being unlawfully on the premises of the : Terminus Hotel after hours, and was ' convicted and fined 7e, while he was also mulcted in the sum of 10s and costs 7s for allowing his motor car to '■ stand in St. Aubyn Street for a greater ’ period than five minutes. The two offences arose out of the same set of eir5 cumstances Francis Whiting was convicted and 1 fined 30s, with costs 7s, for being found 1 in the Imperial Hotel after hours. Ac- - cused pleaded guilty. CHARGE . ' Sidney Campbell -was charged with j driving a gig on the main New Ply-mouth-Waitara Road on May 25 with in2 sufficient lights. Mr. R. H. Quilliam appeared for the ' Taranaki County Council. Evidence was ‘ given by Benjamin Tippens, who was then county inspector, to the effect that l - he had stopped defendant on the road. - When asked for his name the witness s alleged that Campbell had given the name of Samuel Johnston, but that e when a summons was issued no one of that name could be found. Subsequenti ly he met defendant in a hotel in New e Plymouth, and had ascertained his right • name, and a fresh summons was issued, q but defendant had again disappeared. Defendant denied that he had been stopped on the road. He had sold his gig ‘ the month before, and since then had ? never been in one. He had been in New 1 Plymouth all day on the day when the fc inspector met him in the hotel, and had a returned to his home that evening. h Mr. Mowlem stated that while he had fc no doubt that the inspector was telling e the truth, it was probably a case of mistaken identity, and the case would be dismissed. BREACHES OF BY-LAWS. For allowing stock to wander, Rupert Whitcombe was fined 10s, with costs 7s; Samuel Peters and Edward John Gilmour each 10s with costs 17s, while William Baker was convicted and oi[y dered to pay costs 7s. w Harold Masters was fined 30s, with n costs 7s, for driving a motor car along 0 ’ Devon Street at a greater sjjeed than in twelve miles per hour. THE ARMS ACT. er nl James Riley was not present to an- •* swer a charge of being found in possession of unregistered arms. He was fined £2, with costs 7s, an order for forfeitis ure also being made. 9 For purchasing a Remington rifle with-

out a permit, Archibald John Hodge was convicted and ordered to pay costs 7s. THEFT. William James Glenn pleaded guilty to the theft, at Corbett. Road, on or about February 18, 1922, of a gold ring, valued at £2, the property of Frank Copestake. He was sentenced to 14 days imprisonment, to be concurrent with the sentence he is now serving. CIVIL CASES. Judgment by default was given for plaintiffs in the following undefended cases: —Frederick Samuel Butler v. ?dargaret Lena Drury, £5 16s 4d, costs £1 10s 6d; H. Brown snd Co., Ltd., v. Richard Ernest O’Donnell, £ll 3s lOd, costs £2 17s; T. C. List v. J. H. Thompson, £7 10s, costs £1 10s 6d; W. C. Weston v. M. E. McKenzie, £1 13s 9d, costs 8s; Harry Robert Garnham v. John Hayes, £l7 Ils 6d, costs £2 18s. Judgment for plaintiff, with costs, was given in the defended action W. C. Bransgrove (Mr. R. H. Quilliam) v. T. Lister, a claim for £6, balance of account.