CO129-239 - Governor Des Voeus Acting Governor Stewart - 1888 [9-12] — Page 448

Enclosure 4.

444

ultimo, riz:-

1. Report of the Judge who

presided at the trial.

2. The Judge's notes of the

trial.

His torron des suence

of the case

Leach, who is present, states,

briefly,

the facts of félicited before him

of the

trial

retires.

accused;

and

After deliberation',

Casion,

the formal advice, (The soovible

J. M. Price, and

the sorrible

M.M. Deane dissenting), that

the

sentence be commentes

to imprisonment for life.

X

x

Truse Extract.

x

Arachoon Seth. Clerk of Corneils

Hongkong

1

The Daily Press.

HONGKONG, NOVEMBER 27TH, 1888.

SUPREME COURT.

26th November.

IN CRIMINAL, SESSIONS.

J

T

BEFORE MR. A. J. LEACH, ACTING PUSINE JUDGE.

MURDER.

Li Tak and Y Man were charged with maliciously killing one Chin A Tak, at Little Hongkong, on the 10th October.

The Attorney-General prosecuted. Mr. Ro. binson, instructed by Messrs. Caldwell and Wil kinson, appeared for the defence.

The jury consister of Messrs. P. A. Schom- berger, A. Harvey AJ. Carma, A. E. Allemao, A. Duor, S. E. da Luz, and H. W. V. Ehmar.

The Attorney-General, tu opening the case, for the prosecution, said that, the two "pril soners were charged with murder, and he would briefly state the circumstances. A wi- dow, named. Chan Ayau, lived in house No. 200, Little Hongkong. With her lived her daughter-in-law and two children, and the de- ceased, Chan A Tak, who was a servaut in the house. At about 11 p.m. on the 10th October. Chan Ayau was awakened by a noise and she noticed a number of men with torches and arm- ed breaking open the roof in the front of her residence. The same thing awakened her daughter-in-law. The thieves. some armed with revolvers and some with swords, proceeded

to collect the clothes and jewellery from the boxes belonging to the women and deposited them in sacks, which they had brought with

them for the purpose. The deceased was up- parently giving the alarm to the neighbours, in the front of the house, by beating a drum, when ha was shot dead on the spot by one of the gang, and this was the murder with which the prisoners were charged. After the thieves had acon- plished their work, they made off. Within two days after this the two men in the dock were ar- rested by the Police at Yaumati, and each, at: the time of arrest, had with him a bundle of Folothing. Both these bundles, had since been identified by the old woman as her property. This was one of the principal elements of the case against the prisoners. In addition to this one of the men was found armed with a sword and another with a revolver. Tho sword was concealed on the person of one

of the prisoners when he was discovered. One of the grandchildren of the old woman, twelve years of age, was sleeping on the premises on the night of the attack on the house, and wit- nessed the robbery. The two prisoners had been mixed up with several others in the gaol, and the lad had, without hesitation, picked them out as two of the gang. This was another link in the chain of evidence towards identification. The legal grounds of the charge put forward by the prosecution were the following:-They alleged that these men, some twenty or more of them, who came on the night of the 10th October, and broke into the house. were engaged in a common felonious enterprise. When men joined together to take part in a: felony, and if in pursuance of their purpose any felony was committed, they were all equally gailty of it, notwithstanding the fact that only one of them might have committed the felonious act.

The evidence for the prosecution was then call. ! ed, and was still being proceeded with when the case was adjourned till 10 o'clock this morning.