China Mail Hongkong
2.5 th March 1871
----------
Ta quality of Executive mercy will not be strained by its exercise in behalf of the unfortunate man Nicks who has been sentenced to six months' imprisonment for the alleged crime of stealing a bat, There are circumstances about this case which will justify Executive interposition. The antecedents of the prisoner's career do not warrant the idea that he is a common thief, He had served in the British Artillery and (we are informed) he has won the Victoria Cross for deeds of valour. Such a man cannot be of such a bad character as Mr Russell's sentence suggests. A police magistrate's juris- diction is ordinarily fenced in by, consi derations of legal and judicial propriety. He may fairly be allowed to deal extremely with an incorrigible vagabond, or with a well-ascertained thief who practices in the minor walks of Fagin- ism; but in the case before us, Mr Russell, so far as the published evidence enables us to judge, has done a cruel thing-cruel, and unnecessary in any
respect of public justice. So far as we have read or learnt, there is nothing in the poor soldier's conduct that is not reconcilable with the notion of a mere thoughtless freak, perpetrated perhaps under the excitement of an artificial stimulant. Mr Russell's severe sentence * has excited a great deal of angry com- ment--not disrespectful to his Worship, but in a tone of surprise that under the circumstances before the bench he con- demned a man, unless his sentence is reversed, to absolute but undeserved ruin. We trust that His Excellency will take this matter into his consideration.
China Mail
31th March 1871.
The case against Edward Nicks, who was Sentenced by Mr. Russell to six months, hard labor for stealing a hat, from the estate of the late Signor Pellico, was r heard to-day, in consequence of a repre sentation having been made by the Captain Superintendent of Palies that prisoner bad heretofore Borne a good character, and had copies of certificates showing that he had served for some time in the army. Thomas E. Hawkins, formerly Tarrier-inajor in the 2nd Brigade Bengal Horse Artillery, testi- fied that he did not hesitate to state on oach that prisoner did belong to the same; Brigade a trumpeter., There were two brothers in the Company, and he could not say which of them the defendant was, but they both bare an excellent character. De- fendant explained that the original papers relating to bis service in the army were barved in 1868 in Allahabad, and the copies were given him by Captain Dalmahoy. He did not produce the papers when he was first tried because they were in his carpet bag in his quarters. Under these circumi- stances the Magistrate, amended the former sentence to three nonths' hard labor, under the provisions of Ordinance No. 5 of 1850, Section 11.
mandand n..
China mail - 18th April 1871-
tunate man.
err on the safe side in such cases we still entertain the bope that His Excellency the Lieutenant Governor willstill more favorably consider the case of this man, Nicks.
THE action taken by the Junfor Police nature of the steps" fecessary to attain Magistrate yakterday flative to the sent this very desirable object. ence' pasted on the Policeman, Nicks, It has been urged that the practice whose case we alluded to in our issue of here might with advantage be assimilat- the 25th ultimo, has been viewed with ed to that in England, where in such a surprise, as it was generally anticipated case as that under consideration the that the executive would have advised accused person would be accorded the His Excellency the Lieutenant Governor option of having his case summarily dis- to extend full clemency: to this unfor- posed of er sent to a superior Court A simple mitigation of the where he would have the advantage of a sentence to three months' imprisonment jury. cannot be considered a satisfactory settle- It is not yet too late for the exercise ment of such a case, more particularly as
of the greatest privilege with which Her grave doubts existed as to the guilt of Most Gracious Majesty invests all Her the accused, whose position we may add Representations, "Mercy," and as it will not be much improved by the change is so much better to of sentence, considering that he will come out of prison a marked and ruined man for life. There appeared three courses, any of which might have been pursued upon this occasion in preference to that adopted the first, which we indicated, a free pardon; secondly, by committing the accused for trial at the Supreme Court, where he would have been tried by a jury; or third, by granting him a new trial, which might have been pre- sided over by the Senior or some other Magistrate or Magistrates. We say ad- visedly "some other Magistrate or Ma- gistrates," in order that Mr Russell's original judgment might have been fully revised. With such a long list of Magistrates as we possess, it would not, we apprehend, be difficult to secure the at- tendance of one or two of the number in such an emergency, although it would seem as if these gentlemen seldom at- tend the sittings excepting to assist in the granting of spirit licenses. It would really appear as if the Police, Court practice were amenable of some improve. ment, although we are not at the
present moment prepared to suggest the precise
AU
206