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CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT.
SYDNEY—MONDAY.
BEFORE Mr. Justice Cheeke.
PERJURY.
Thomas Harris, an uncertificated insolvent, was
indicted for wilful and corrupt perjury. Prisoner
pleaded not guilty. Mr. Dally applied for a post-
ponement of the prisoner's trial until next term.
The Attorney-General did not oppose the applica-
tion, and prisoner was admitted to bail for his
appearance at the next sittings of the Court.
BURGLARY.
John William Mullins; alias Manning, who had
pleaded guilty to a charge of burglary, was brought
up for sentence. On being asked if he had any-
thing to say, prisoner handed up to his Honor
certificates of character. His Honor having read
the documents, said that it was perfectly asto-
nishing that the prisoner, who had obtained evi-
dence of character from every person with whom
he had dealt for the last twelve to sixteen years,
should have committed this atrocious crime. It
was not so much the amount of property that was
remarkable, as the system the prisoner had adopted
in carrying out the burglary. A large number of
skeleton keys had been found in his possession at
the time of the robbery ; and although this was
the first crime on record against the prisoner, it
was to be feared that it was not the first he had
actually committed. The burglary to which the
prisoner pleaded guilty was the breaking into Mr.
Rudd's jeweller's shop. The depositions taken in
the case at the Central Police Court were read
over. His Honor sentenced the prisoner to be
kept to hard labour for three years in Sydney
gaol.
CONCEALMENT OF BIRTH.
Mary Ann Smith, who had been found guilty of
concealing the birth of her child, was brought up
for sentence. His Honor asked if the prisoner
wished to call any evidence of character. The
Attorney-General said that he found that character
went so cheap in all our Courts of justice, that he
thought he should not be doing his duty if he were
a party to its production after trial. The proper
time for its production was at the trial, for then it
could be considered by the jury ; the witnesses
could be subject to cross-examination, and might
be indicted if they were guilty of perjury. The
practice which had grown up of producing testi-
monials of character, after prisoners had been con-
victed, was much to be deprecated. His Honor
concurred in the remarks of the Attorney-General.
He was sadly afraid that whatever character this
unfortunate prisoner could bring forward would
not assist her much. She might consider herself
most fortunate that she had not been convicted of
the murder of her child. A clearer case of murder
—of murder by the prisoner of her child—was
never submitted to a jury than that contained in
the deposition of Mrs. Ross, who had since died.
If that woman had given her evidence in the
witness-box, and if it had not been for the able
arguments of the learned counsel for the defence,
the result might have been the opposite to what it
now was. However, the jury had taken a merciful
view of the case, and had acquitted the prisoner.
The sentence of the Court was that the prisoner be
incarcerated in Maitland gaol, and be kept to hard
labour for two years.
PERJURY.
Enoch Hughes, found guilty of perjury, was asked to say if he had anything to say before the sentence
of the Court be passed upon him. Prisoner said
that three witnesses were examined at the trial and
gave evidence against him who had not been ex-
amined at the preliminary investigation held at the
Police Court, and he therefore had no opportunity
of rebutting their evidence. The jury had come to
the conclusion that he had been a partner in the
firm of "M. Hughes and Son," but by the return
mail from England he should be in a position to
prove, by the affidavit of Mr. Darvall, that he was
not a partner. The sentence of the Court was that
he be imprisoned in Sydney gaol, and kept to hard
for two years.
ESTREATED RECOGNISANCES.
James Law, out on bail, was called on but did not
appear. The recognisances were ordered to be
cancelled, and if prisoner should not appear to take
his trial at the next sittings of the Court, the
Attorney-General intimated that the money
penalty would be enforced.
ALLEGED MURDER OF HENRY KINDER.
Henry Louis Bertrand was indicted for that he,
on the 6th of October last, at St. Leonard's, in the
colony of New South Wales, feloniously, wilfully,
and of his malice aforethought, did kill and murder
Henry Kinder. Prisoner pleaded not guilty. A
similar indictment was then preferred against Maria
Helen Kinder, and to which she pleaded not guilty.
The Attorney-General said that he had read the
depositions taken in the case, and had considered it
in all its bearings, and he thought he should best
consult the ends of justice by postponing the trial
until the next criminal sessions. There were
certain publications connected with this trial that
tended to excite the public mind, and he was afraid
it would be hopeless to expect that calm considera-
tion which should be brought to bear upon an in-
vestigation of this kind. Not only had all the news-
papers given detailed accounts of the proceedings
at the Police Office, which were of course one-sided
accounts, but also pamphlets of different kinds had
been published, in which those proceedings were
made known—pamphlets headed the " Trial " of
these persons, thus converting a mere preliminary
investigation into a trial. No trial had taken place,
nor could any trial take place until the prisoners
were brought before a Judge and jury of this
Court. He was sorry there was no special law, as
he thought there ought to be, investing magistrates
with power to prevent publications of this kind.
He thought the magistrates, if they had the power,
would exercise a very proper discretion in suppres-
sing them. He proposed that the case stand over
until the February sessions, and that all the wit-
nesses should be bound over to appear and give
evidence.
His Honor thought the course adopted highly
desirable, because no one could be blind to the fact
that publications with reference to this pending
trial had been promulgated, and were, he feared,
prejudicial to the ends of justice. He must say,
with reference to police office reports, that he for
one never read them ; but he was perfectly aston-
ished when he saw the advertisements announcing
that all the proceedings were to be published, and
stating where the pamphlets were to be obtained.
If such publications were to be issued now, after
this information was put upon the file, the parties
were liable to be committed for contempt of this
Court. If magistrates had not had the power, the
course now to be adopted was easy. This had been
treated much more as a sensation case than as a case
to be brought before a jury of the colony ought to
be treated.
The witnesses in the case were then bound over
to appear on the 12th February next, the amount of
the recognisances being £40 each. Peter Kerr, the
husband of Harriet Kerr, was bound over in the
sum of £200 (£100 in each indictment) for the ap-
pearance of his wife.
The accused were then removed from the dock ;
the female prisoner, having fainted, was assisted
out of Court by the police.
STREET ACCIDENT.—A buggy and another vehicle
came into collision in George-street, near the corner
of Goulburn-street, about five o'clock on Wednes-
day afternoon. A gentleman was thrown out of the
buggy, and was apparently very much hurt. The
buggy was broken by the collision. There is a
large embankment of earth in the middle of the
street, and the thoroughfare in that part is conse-
quently very narrow.
On the 15th instant a lad named Thomas Banks
had all the toes of his left foot taken off by a
sawing machine, at Jolly's mills, Sydney.
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