THE FRENCH CONVICTS.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1769, 28 July 1888, Page 3

THE FRENCH CONVICTS.

Wellington July, 27. At the Supreme Court yesterday, before Justice Richmond, Mr Jellicoe applied for a writ of habeas corpus to prerent the extradition of the escapee Gasparini. He contended there was nothing on the face of the warrant to Bhow jurisdiction, and it did not appear on the warrant that the prisoner was the fugitive prisoner, and there was, moreover, nothing on the warrant which gave the Governor jurisdiction. It must be shown the prisoner was a convict undergoing

sentence. His Honor said there was nothing in that excuse, because the statutory form had been pursued as far as applicable, Mr Jellicoe said such cases were very rare. There was no cases reported in the books, and in the absence of authority the warrant should conform with common law as well as statutory ; again, under the treaty extradition, the treaty requisition must come from the Governor or chief authority of the colony, from which it was alleged ho escaped. This was not so, as it was signed by the French Consul of New Zealand. He contended that the documents put in in evidence before the Acting-Gover-nor were unauthenticated, being merely copies of a copy, and asked bis Honor to grant a rule nisi ; also that an order for the requisition might be made, to have it brought into Court for the purpose of being quashed. His Honor reserved his decision.

THE CONVICT ROBERT*.

The Christchurch police have ob taitied information, which they have reason to believe reliable, that the escaped convict Roberts was seen in the neighborhood of the south of Timaru a short time ago. It will be remembered that Roberts, after his first escape, found a number of friends in this district, who successfully sheltered him for a time from the visits of the police. Doubtless this was a reason why he should make for the same spot again. Seeing the length of time, however, that has elapsed since the escape of the convict, it would seem as if he had now got safely away from the colony, or had found a secure hiding place. A party of gentlemen who were out shooting hares on the other side of the Lyttelton harbor on Wednes lay, found what they alleged to be a portion of a convict’s suit, namely, a pair of trousers and a waistcoat. They were found about half a mile from the water’s edge, in Rhodes’ Bay, and about a quarter of a mile from the road from Governor’s Bay to Port Levy. The clothes had apparently been exposed to the weather for some time, buf it is said the prison marks are distinctly visible. Constable McCormick has been despatched to take charge of the clothes. An examination of them and the numbers that should bo upon them will at once prove whether or not they are those which the convict Roberts was wearing when he escaped from Ripa Island on June Bth.—Press