416
SUPREME COURT.
Monday, 19th November.
CRIMINAL SESSIONS,
BEFORE HIS HONOUR SIR JOHN CARRING TON, C.M.G. (CHIEF JUSTICE).
LARCENY BY A GOVERNMENT SERVANT.
Lau Tim, who was charged with larceny, pleaded guilty.
The Attorney-General (the Hon. W. Moigh Goodman, Q.C.) said-In this case the prisoner is charged with stealing a coil of telephone wire, the property of the Government of the Colony, at Tai Po on 23rd December, 1899. It seems that the prisoner was linesman employed by the Public Works Department. Evan Dougherty. an overseer in that department, left six coils of galvanised line (in connection_with_telephone | laying) at Tai Po. Early in January he found three missing. On 23rd December, 1899, Chin Wing, master of a marine store, bought one coil of wire from the defendant for $6.33. On 12th January prisoner and two other men were charged with stealing the three coils. The case was remanded for a week and prisoner allowed out on bail. He absconded, his bail was e3- treated, and a warrant issued; but he was not arrested till 8th October.
His Lordship, addressing the prisoner, said he had paid $150 for this offence, having deposited that money and run away. There- fore he would pass a somewhat less sentence than he otherwise would have done. But the prisoner ought to know that whether he was employed by Government or anyone else he ought not to steal his employer's property. He must undergo imprisonment for four months with hard labour.
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
[November 24, 1900.
The
(Witness
second
Then they both lived together on the first | his box. His box was în court. floor of No. 1, Moon Street. The point pointed the box out. It was not the same was, did the jury think one brother could as that said to belong to the second pri bring home a whole lot of things snch soner.) The box was kept on his bed. When as these without the other brother knowing the police went to his house he saw the purse. perfectly well that they had not been properly He saw the police find it. They found it in come by? The Attorney-General read out a list his box. He saw them take it out of his box. of the articles which the prisoners were charged His box was locked when the police came. He with having stolen. The value, including £4 had lost the key and then a man living in the 12s. 11d. in money, was $135. One of the articles same house forced it open. He told him to do stolen was a purse, and this was found in a box so. The other box produced belonged to the which the second prisoner said belonged to him, second prisoner. He saw it opened on the
Kate Eddie said she was the wife of Corporal morning the police came. Eddie of the Royal Engineers. She lived at prisoner himself opened it with his key. No. the Married Quarters of the Royal Engineers thing which had been stolen was found in it. opposite to the end of Arsenal Street. There He was quite positive that the purse was not was a little gap between her house and that of found in this box. There were gold coins stolen. Sergeant-Major Crombie. She knew the pri- Ho put them in his box and somebody forced soners as Sergeant-Major Crombie's coolios.
open his box and stole them. At seven o'clock in the evening of the 13th October she went out, leaving the house locked np. She returned about nine o'clock and found that the jalousies had been opened from the inside. She missed various articles. She went to the Barracks and told her husband. Her husband accompanied her back to the house, and the matter was reported to the police. Among other things she lost was a purse which belonged to her baby. The purse produced was the same. There was no money in the purse. A sewing machine and a clock were also stolen. Those produced were the same. She had got all the things mentioned in the indictment back except- ing the money.
By the Court-She had seen the prisoners about Sergeant-Major Crombie's house for some two or three months.
Police-Sergeant Ritchie said that on the 28th October he went with the first prisoner to No. 1, Moon Street, first floor, where he lived. At that time he was in custody for breaking into another house. Moon Street was a little over 200 THE THEFTS FROM MILITARY PREMISES yards from the Married Quarters. He found
AT WANCHAI.
the second prisoner, who admitted being the There were two counts in the indictment brother of the other man. He then proceeded to against Wong Hung and Wong Ling Sai, search the place and found the things mentioned viz., housebreaking and receiving stolen goods. in the indictment except the money, the clock, The prisoners are brothers. The first pleaded and the sewing machine. A pawnticket relat guilty and said he was the only person who ing to the clock was found, and it and the sew. committed the crime. The second pleaded noting machine were afterwards recovered. The guilty. The first prisoner was accordingly told to stand down.
His Lordship-Mr. Attorney-General, I understand you don't propose to proceed with the first count against the second prisoner.
The Attorney-General -I think I had better proceed with them both, my Lord.
The jurors were Messrs. A. M. V. Schöne- mann, F. de P. Barres, A. McPherson, Thomas Banks, J. M. do Silva Rozario, V. C. C. Herbst, and F. G. Chunnett.
purse produced was feund in the pillow box produced, which belonged to the second prisoner. Both the prisoners were then taken into custody.
Chinese Constable Chan Sun, who accom- panied Sergeant Ritchie to No. 1, Moon Street, also gave evidence.
Agiz Din. assistant warder at Victoria Gaol, said that on the 31st October the second pri- soner obtained permission to write a letter. When he had written the letter he handed it to him. The letter produced was the same. He recognised it because he wrote on it the prisoner's name and number. He delivered the letter to the sentry on duty.
Wong Kwok Ů. the Court translator, said he had compared the translation produced with the letter written by the second prisoner. He made two or three slight corrections and then said it was all right. The letter was with reference to the man being bailed out. It directed the person to whom the letter was written to take a gold coin which was pasted on the partition above the bed in a certain room, to get it changed into ten dollars odd, and to give the money to his uncle to bail him out.
Police-Sergeant Ritchie (recalled) said the letter was read to the party to whom it had been written. The gold coin could not be found though some of the paper was found on the place indicate·1.
The Attorney-General said that on the 13th October there was a housebreaking committed on the premises of 25, East Block, Married Quarters, Royal Engineers. Wanchai. There were various houses round there-a central block and two houses each side. One of these houses was occupied by Corporal Eddie, of the Royal Engineers, who lived there with his wife. It seemed that on the night of the 13th October Corporal Eddie's wife. left the house locked up at about seven o'clock, her hus- band being out on duty. When she returned at nine o'clock in the evening she found that the jalousies had been opened from the inside. On looking round she found that various articles were missing, and she at once informed her hus- band, who reported to the police. It was not found out who were the offenders at the time, but next door Sergeant-Major Crombie had his quarters, and on the 28th October his house was broken into, as well as that of a man named Wilson. On that day the first prisoner was arrested in connection with these robberies. He was taken to the Police Station and then to the house where he lived. There the police found Wong Hung said he had pleaded guilty all the things the prisoners were charged with to the indictment-that was that he stole stealing from Corporal Eddie's quarters except the money and goods from the house of Corporal some money, a clock, and a sawing machina, the Eddie and then broke out of the house. The clock and sewing-machine, however, being sub-second prisoner was a pledge-man of his and sequently discovered elsewhere. The whole not a brother. He only wished to tell his Lord. thing was this The first prisoner had admitted ship that the second prisoner took no part in that he was the man who stole these things. this crime. Witness did it himself. He was in The question the jury had to decide was the the house when the second prisoner was arrested, connection of the second prisoner with the mat- The purse produced was found in his box and ter. The prisoners were brothers and both not in the box of the second prisoner. Wit were employed as survey coolies to assist Ser-ness stole the purse from Corporal Eddie's geant-Major Crombie, of the Royal Engineers. house. After he had stolen it he put it into
This closed the case for the prosecution. In reply to his Lordship the second prisoner said he would like to call his brother, the first prisoner, as a witness.
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On being cross-examined by the Attorney- General, witness said it was not a fact that he had arranged with the second prisoner to get him off on condition that he helped his people while he was in prison. Ho took all the things away himself.
The jury found the prisoner guilty and he was sentenced to nine months' hard labour.
The first prisoner also pleaded guilty to two other charges, viz., entering the house of Ser- geant-Major Crombie at two o'clock in the morn ing of the 28th October, and stealing a telescopo valued at $36 and a tiger's skin valued at $18; and entering the house of Charles Augustus Wilson on the same morning and stealing there- from a quantity of clothing, etc,
The Attorney-General produced a plan showing the situation of the block and the shrubbery close by. He added that it was discovered early on the morning of the 28th October that the rope attached to the sky. light at Sergeant Crombie's house had been broken. The police were informed, and a num. ber of people were set to watch a gap through which the thief or thieves would try to escape. The prisoner was seen to emerge from the bushes and was arrested. Some of the articles stolen by him were found in the bushes. It happened that some painting had been going on in Wilson's house and the burglar had left foot-prints that were found to correspond ex. actly with the prisoner's feet. Both the pris- oners had had good employment and they had abused it by taking stock of the houses all around. This man had pleaded guilty to three robberies. Whether he had committed any others they did not know. At all ovents these occurrences had given a good deal of anxiety in the married quarters. He asked for a severe sentence.
His Lordship said that a man who did this kind of thing was considered a very dangerous character and must be kept from doing mis. chief of this kind for some time to come. The sentence of the Court was that the prisoner be sentenced to two and a half years' hard labour in the first case and five years for each of the other two offencos, the two latter to be concurrent and to take effect on the expiration
of the first sentence.
On the suggestion of the Attorney-General the money found in the prisoner's possession was ordered to be given to Mrs. Eddie, it being considered to be part of the money stolen from hor.
1
TRIAD SOCIETY CABES.
Chan Sam, who was charged with being a member of an unlawful society, pleaded not guilty.
The jurors were Messrs. J. A. Rumber, A. M. de Cruz, C. A. H. Westerberger, R T. Head, J. Abraham, C. A. de Cruz, and J. P. Fonseca.
The Attorney-General said the charge against the defendant was that he was a member of the Triad Society. If that society had been simply a political society in China they would have had vory little to do with it; but the Triad Society had been declared by the Legislature of the colony to be a dangerous society, dangerous to the peace and good order of the colony. There was an Ordinance which made it an offence to belong to the society and a more serious offence to be one of the leaders. The first Ordinance on the subject was passed as long ago as 1845. Another Ordinance was passed in 1887, the latter Ordinance providing that any person found to be in possession of insign's or books relating to the Triad Society should be presumed to be a member of such society. In consequence of
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