MAGISTERIAL

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2381, 23 December 1908, Page 6

MAGISTERIAL

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 22.

'(Before Mr. W. A.. Barton, S.M.)

DRUNKENNESS

James George Fuller, who had .been remanded for a week for medical "treatment, was convicted -.and fined 10s and 2s costs, or yin default 48 hours’ imprisonment. -He was also ordered to pay £2 11s medical expensgs/ or undergo —fu.r’tlier term oi 7 days’ imprisonment.

THEFT 0-F JEWELLERY. Harold Charles Phillips, on remand, appeared charged with that, on December stll, he did receive jewellery to the value of £6l from one Herbert James Grieve, on terms requiring him to account for the same, and that by fraudulently omitting to do so lie did" commit theft. Sorgt. Hutton, who conducted the prosecution, asked leave to amend oho charge as it has since been ascertained that the -amount ol jewellery missing was only £2O. Accused, who was not represented, by counsel, pleaded guilty, and said that ho was very sorry tor what ho had done, as his intentions had been strictly honorable at the outset. Ho went to To Kiaraka and alter having been away for a short time lie staiteu drinking, and after that he baldly knew what he was doing. He would ask his Worship to deal leniently with him and gnant him a term ol orobation. . . . Accused was remanded unti-i tins morning to enable the Probation officer to -report on his case.

PROCURING LIQUOR . •Charles Single was charged with having, at. To Kanaka, on December 11th, procured liquor during the currency of a prohibition- ordei against him. Mr. E. H. Mann appeared on behalf of accused and. entered a plea of faulty. Counsel said that the ordei was taken out by defendant against himself, and that this offence was a case of sudden temptation, and the liquor was consumed, not on a licensed place but in. a stable. His Worship said that lie had hud defendant before him times out of number on similar charges. He was a man separated from his wife through his drinking habits and he (His Worship) did not know how to deal with the case. In view, lioweverr, of what counsel had said, he would try a course which, ho had ‘previously adopted, and which he thought- was an experiment worth trying as he did not want to send the man to prison. Defendant would be bound in one sum of £5 to come up for sentence when culled upon. James George Fuller pleaded guilty to a similar charge and was fined £5 or 30 days’ imprisonment in the Gisborne Police gaol. This sentence to be concurrent with that for drunkenness.

SUPPLYING LIQUOR TO A PROHIBITED -PERSON.

Alfred Batchelor w'as charged with having, on December 11th at Te Karaka, supplied liquor to one Charles Single, well-known to him to be a prohibited person. Mr. E. 11. Mann appeared for accused, and entered a plea of not guilty; claiming that (although defendant was prepared to admit having procured liquor for Single he did not know he was prohibited. Constable Doyle, of Te Kartika, said that on the morning of the 11th inst.,' he saw Charles Single and. toe defendant in Cassidy’s stables. Single was under the influence of liquor, and witness watched them for about five minutes. Accused beckoned Single to the further end of the stable and said something to him about 2s or 2s 6d, and accused loft saying he would be back in n minute. He returned shortly afterwards, and went' into a-stall in the stable, where he handed Single a bottle of beer (produced). They each bud a drink and witness wont" into the stall where he found Single holding the bottle or beer which witness took from him. Single was a well-known -unfortunate about To Karaka and defendant’s place was only a mile and a .half away. Ho had previously seen Single and defendant in company. It was commonly known in Te Karaka that Single was prohibited. Defendant used to come to the hotel about two or three times a month. To -Mr. Mann: The ordinary man going into the To Karaka -hotel for a drink might not see the list of •prohibited persons. Re-examined by Sergt. Hutton: Defendant said at the time that lie had not given him -any beer. Charles Hood; -barman at the J.o Karaka hotel, said that defendant bought a bottle of beer on the day m question and asked to have the cork dfiawn. Walter Lam-pr© gave evidence ot having seen Single with a bottle or beer. Constable Doyle took the beer from. Single. Dofendfint was in t'hiO vicinity hut ho did not see him talking to Single. Mr (Mann said he thought the prosecution had not succeed in proving that the defendant knew Single •was prohibited. , , 7 , His Worship said ho couldhardly believe. that. any ; person living within ten miles or Ic Karaka could possibly fail, to know that Single was a prohibited person as he had been prohibited off and on for years. Addressing defendant, -His At orship said: “I have no sympathy whatever with you. You deserve the fullest punishment which the law admits, -and this I am going to give you. You will be fined £lO with 19s costs in default of immediate payment-the amount to he ilevied by distress, and in default of distress two months im-. prisonment with hard labor.

BREACHES OF BY-LAWS. Seven young men were charged with having committed breaches -ot the by-laws by cycling on the tooL paths within the borough. Their names were Frederick Lancaster .Alexander Lawrie, Kenneth Le Gailias, Gustave Solvandcr, Michael Hickey, Peter Sim, .and Ambrose Walmsley. Each of them pleaded guilty to the offence, and a fine of 10s, with 7s costs, was imposed in each case.