SUPREME COURT.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2444, 8 March 1909, Page 3

SUPREME COURT.

HALF-YEARLY SITTINGS. The half-yearly sittings of the Supreme Court were continued on Saturday . beforo His /Honor Justice Edwards. THEFT FROM THE PERSON. James Garretty, who had been found guilty on this charge on Friday evening, was brought up for sentence. Mr W. L. Rees appeared on behalf on the prisoner and addressing him, His Honor said: “Well, Mr Rees, the detectives say and the records show that the prisoner. is a spieler and a welsher.” Mr Rees said that the prisoner had been partially punished already by the loss of his money and his peace of mind. As well lie had been in a constant state of anxiety for ten months. His Honor: Ido not think so. We must hear in mind the shameful expense to which prisoner has put the country. I dio not mind what expense lie has suffered. _ Addressing the prisoner His Honor said: You belong to the worst" and most mischievous class of criminals in New Zealand. You are guilty of an attempt to rob a _ fellow-passenger on a steamer and this is a crime which •ought to he checked, particularly as it is so easy of commission, and difficult of detection. I must pass a sentence on you that will deter men 6? your class from committing such crimes. You are sentenced to eighteen months’ imprisonment with hard labor. - Prisoner: Well, Your Honor, _ I must say, you are sentencing an innocent man. His Honor : I don’t want to hear anything. Remove the prisoner. THEFT. John James Isaac Todd wa6 charged with having on or about the 31st of October, 1908, committed tlm theft of £l3 in notes, and about 3s in silver,'the property of one, Robert Nicol, .at the Record Reign Hotel. A second charge of having received the money knowing it to have been dishonestly obtained was also preferred against accused. Mr J. W. Nolan, Crown Prosecutor, appeared for the Crown, and accused was defended by Mr J. R.

Lundon. The following jury was empanelled : -John H. Gittos, T. L. Steel, A. Kirk, M. W. Craig, J. R. Parker, E. S. Goldsmith, F. H. .Lawton, G. Edwards, "W. G. McLaurin, iH. J. Ben- < die, D. Peach. Mr J. H. Gittos was chosen foreman. Mr Nolan opened for the Crown detailing the circumstances of the case. . Robert Nicol said that on 31st October he occupied room No. 12 at the Record Reign Hotel. He went to feed at about 10.30 p.m. and his room mate was a man named Wells. He. took his money, amounting to £l3 in notes and a few shillings, and put them in his trousers pocket, which he placed under the pillow. He did the same ’with his watch, which was in ms waistcoat pocket*. At 5.30 in the morning lie iras awakened by Mr Zachariah, licensee of the hotel and, on looking for liis clothes, he round, them on the floor near the bed. The money and the watch had been taken from his clothes. There was no lock on the door, and when he got up his mate was in bed. To Mr Lundon : He had been workfor Murphy at Mangatu, and was paid £7O a few days prior to coming to Gisborne. He got Bank of New Zealand notes for the cheque He did not know the accused at the hotel, and was .at the races, but had no drink then. On the previous night to losin" his money he had not counted bis money. When he counted his money there was a light in the room, and there was no torn note amongst them. Hsl room mate saw him put the mo,nev under his pillow. He usually put his clothes under the pillow, but Ye did not put them on either of the nurhts prior to that on which the ■monev was stolen. The clothes were oil the floor on the side of his bed nearest to the door. He could not remember when he put his clothes under the pillow before. He did not hear any noise in the room, and when he went t<o bed the door was on the latch. He had a conversation with his room mate who told him there was no lock on the doer. Re-examined by Mr Nolan: He told Mr Zachariah in the morning that lie had lost £l3 and a tew shillings, and a watch. He repeated tins-statement to Detective Rawle. He banked £4O of tlie money lie received from Air. Murphy of Mangatu, before the races. He won some money at the races and got paid in notes. He also changed a £lO r \vith the bookmaker, and on the second day he went to the races w ith £l7. Accused asked him to have a drink in the hotel. ~ TT ~ The evidence of Raymond J. Wells, taken in the lower court was, by consent, read from the ■ depositions. Alexander Ta.it, night porter at the Record Reign hotel, said that on the night of October 31st, at 12.35 he saw the .accused leaving room No. 14 and .go into room No. 8. He remained in No. 8 . for a few minutes and then went back to No. 14. Ho came out again shortly and went into No. 12 room, and, after hawing been in* there for about ten minutes, he came out and returned to No. 14. After leaving No- 12 accused stayed an No. 14 until the police came early in the morning. Accused was dressed in dark trousers and blue pyjama jacket similar to the one produced. To Mr Lundon: He was only employed at the hotel for three nights, lmt : prior to the night of the theft he had been there as a customer. Ho had come on to work tho night of -the theft, and was told to watch No. 14. Air Zachariah told him to watch this room, and also to watch_ No. 8. He stood in the ladies’ sitting mom at about 10.30 p.m., but saw no one going into No. 14 to go to bed. There were two gaslights in the corridor burning low, the only one of. which that was any good to him; being about three yards from wTfere he was standing. At one time he was! stand-/ ing on the doormat of No. 2, just close to tho light. The door of No. 8 was the only door visible from the sitting room. He went downstairs before 10.30 p.m. and not again , until about 4 a.m. Between these hours lie was in the ladies’ sitting room, and lie walked in the corridor a little while accused was in No. 12- Ho saw accused bloat ,out a light in -No. 12 'about this time, and on passing the door of No. 14 (accused’s room), no saw into the room; and saw accused s room mate in bed asleep. _ Ho could not recognise accused by his features although ho wa? close alongside tho

light. He recognised the pyjama coat produced as similar to tho one the man in the corridor was wearing. Ho did not think it very strange to see a man going from one room to another, as he thought they might ho gambling or drinkings Ho 'reported to Air Zachariah; at abouts a.m. He did not remember having said that ho went downstairs immediately after 12.55 ia.m. He; might have gone downstairs hut he would not have reamed there long. When ho reported to Mr. Zachariah. in the morning the latter did not say that he (witness) should have come and told him at once. He did not remember if he said "in the lower Court there was a light in No. 12. He was called into the room occupied by accused when tho police arrived. Accused was then dressed in >a pyjama moat and trousers.' ' ■ • -

Re-examined by Air. Nolan: He was employed that night as watchman to watch rooms Nos. 8 and 14. In the position he was in lie could see accused come out of No. 14.

Thomas Blair, laborer, said that he was one of the occupants of No. 8 on the night in question. About 1 a.m. lie was disturbed by some person striking a match in the room. He saw nobody as the match went out almost immediately. To Air. Lundon: On the previous night he occupied the same room as three ethers. Two of them were strangers. He had some money in his trousers pocket, which were under the pillow, and not disturbed. Constable Pratt gave evidence of having examined the corridor. Thero was a light at the head of the stairs, directly opposite No. 2 room. From that light to tho door_ of the ladies’ sitting room was a distance of one yard, two yards to No. 8, and from the ladies’ sitting room to No. _l4 was 84 yards, and from the ladies’ sitting room to No. 12 it was 14 yards. Detective Rawle said that he went to the hotel at 5.45 a.m. Knocking at room No. 14 they received no response, and broke open the door. Inside, the accused was occupying the bed immediately behind the door. Accused was wearing a suit of pyjamas, the coat of which had been produced. Witness found 12 £1 notes on the mattress of accused’s bed, tinder the sheet, also a small portion of another £1 note, and a£s note. In his trouser pockets accused had 13s 6d in silver and half a sovereign. In his portmanteau there was a pricker, a small hand drill, and >a small file. Occupying the same room was a man who was in the habit of going by different names. Witness was unable to find any trace of the rolled gold watch dn the -room. On the Monday following the occurrence he received from the barmaid at the hotel the major portion of tho note of which he had' found a smaller piece in accused’s bed. The accused and the man who was his room mate were totally dissimilar in appearance. The man was -at this stage brought in for inspection by the jury. To Air. Lundon: He thought he made a thorough search of prisoner’s effects, and also those of his room mate. In No. 8 there were two men named Parker and Hamilton. He could not remember if Air. Zachariah wanted these men searched. After lodging accused in gaol witness returned to the hotel. Parker and Hamilton had been in town several times since that occasion. Catherine AlcDonnakl, barmaid at tho Record Reign Hotel, identified tho torn portion of the £1 note referred to in the evidence. She received it from some person who was a stranger to her. Later in the evening the man came and asked ior tho note, but she could not find it in the cash register. At this stage a man named James Arthur was called, and was identified by the witness as JLhe man who had tendered the torn note. This concluded the case for the Crown, and Air. Lundon opened for his client, outlining the evidence that he proposed to call. Adolf Zachariah, licensee of _the Record Reign Hotel, said that accused commenced to reside at his hotel on October 21, remaining there continuously -until 31st. Healy and lie arrived together. He instructed the night watchman Tait to led him know if anything happened. He went to Tait in the morning -and asked why he had not been told of the occurrences of the night previous. Tait had replied that he did not think it worth while. , . . To Mr. Nolan: Both prisoner and Healy came to him on the Sunday afternoon following the robbery and threatened to make it very warm for him if he did not return the torn note. He did not give them the note. Robert Bradshaw, a licensed bookmaker, said that ho saw the accused in a fish shop on the night in question. Accused was not with him. Witness was paying for suppers out of a £5 note when accused -gave him five single notes. The following morning he discovered that one of the notes he had got fr-om accused was torn. He gave it to his clerk, Jas. Arthurs, and as a- result of inquiry ho asked. Arthurs , what he had done with tho note. James Arthurs, be ..kmaker’s clerk, also gave evidence as to receiving the torn note from the previous witness. The note was very like the note produced, and ho changed it in the Record Reign Hotel. On being asked by Bradshaw for the note lie tried to get it_ from, him, but failedTo Mr. Nolan: It was not an unusual thing to see a torn note. He met accused in Auckland and accused asked- him -if he was coming down to the Court, and if. not he would subpoena, him to give evidence. . Frank Healy, laborer, said lie had been working on tho Stratford railway line. <Ho occupied a bed in No. l 4 at the Record Reign on the night of the robbery! Accused was his room mate, and came in at 11 p.m. slightly the worse for.: drink. Accused shut the doer, and witness blew out the light. About an hour and a-half afterwards lie heard the door open, -and lie called out, . “Who’s there?”; He got no reply, and lit a match, hut failed to discover any_ person. Accused was fast asleep at 'his time, and witness looked the door. He 'remembered nothing more until the police hurst open tho door in tho morning.

To Mr. Nolan :Ho came to Gaborrie with accused, having known him for twelve mouths. Ho met accu-cd com- j ing from Napier on tho steamer. He , had been in New Zealand for about fourteen months, and ■ hul been in 1 West Australia. He ' • d hern changed in Hokitika with breaking and entering and dynamiting, and acquitted;' Accused was charged at the | same time in his company. He (wit- *

ness) had been convicted of vagrancy in Western Australia. He saw the detective discover tho clrel, file, (to., To His. Honor: Ho met accused- in Napier prior to coming to Gisborne m October. He and accused were both discharged at Hokitika on' Ist October, and came to Wellington, where they had a holiday. Ho loft Wellington for Napier a few days before accused. They stopped at -a house called.. “Fountain Hall,” in Marion Street, Wellington, hut ho did not know who tho people w-ro that owned it. They stayed at the City Buffet in Napier for three or four days. He was discharged from Hokitika with £B,- and the prisoner with £l4 or £ls. ■ He did no work from the time ,df being discharged until October 31st, arid when he arrived in Gisborne he endeavored to get work: At that time he had over £SO in the Auckland Savings Bank, and at present he had £22 there. Ho earned the money in Queensland, and had a draft for £IOO when he came into the country. He deosited £IOO in cash as- bail for accused at his trial. To Air. Lundon: His 'account had been opened at the Auckland Savings Bank twelve months ago, and had not been dosed. It was fonr years since he had been convicted for vagrancy, and he was a total abstainer. John James Isaac Todd, tho accused, said he arrived in Gisborne about October 21st. Before the date of the alleged theft ho received £ls by wire from his sister, E. Palmer. He was present at the races, and made money by betting. One of his wagers brought him ten £1 notes. He got them in a crumpled form, and while trying to smooth them out he tore one of the. He placed the torn piece of note inside the bundle of notes. What Bradshaw had said about the changing of the £5 note in the fish shop was correct. He got home that night -about 11 p.m., not very sober, and went to heel. -He put his money under the sheet for precaution sake, as lie had been robbed before. The first thing he knew after going to bed was when the police buret open the door. lie saw Healy on Saturday, and asked him to make inquiries about ‘tho torn note. After being hailed out, on the Sunday, ho (witness) went to the. Record Reign Hotel and endeavored to get the note, but A[r. Zachariah refused to give it to him, saying that ho had not got it. To Air. Nolan: He had been charged by the police a few times in Western Australia, but never convicted. Ho first met Healy. oii the Alain Trunk line. The amount that he and Healy were charged with stealing at Hokitika was about £l3O.

.To His .Honor: Ho did not wake when Healy did on the night in the Record Reign Hotel.

This concluded the evidence for the defence, and both counsel addressed the Court at length. • His Honor, addressing the jury, said that the ease really lay in >a. nutshell. He 'reviewed the evidence at great length, and said that tho whole question was whether it' were possible that the person Tait saw going from room to room could have been some thief domiciled in No. 8, who had taken shelter in No. 14, or whether it was the prisoner. The jury retired at 5 p.m.. and returned <at 5.37 p.m. with a verdict of guilty. TTis Honor said that such an offence must not go unpunished. The peace and good government of the Dominion must be preserved. The reports about accused showed that he was clearly -a spieler, and in the habit of associating with racing people. The sentence of the-. Court would he that prisoner would he imprisoned for one year, with hard labor.