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THE HÔNGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND trader formerly residing in Manila, was living, Witness told the robbers he and his fellow boat with some relatives of his in a house in a small man had been working all morning and had got village called Kau Tau, in the New Territory, no pay, whereupon the first prisoner threw some about half-way between a place called Taiwai, money towards him, but it hopped into the sea. the head of Shatin Inlet and Taipohu. The second prisoner had a knife, and with this The evidence of the prosecution would show knife he out the bamboo from his oars so that that five men entered the house at about eight he could not get along so quickly. The robbers o'clock on the evening of the 18th July. They then went away, rowing towards Tai Fung Tau, first entered the hall, where the prosecutor's opposite Tai Mai Sha. Witness's boat made for nephew and his wife were. They rummaged Tai Mui Sha, and on landing Lo Hop went to about, securing various articles, afterwards ap-report to the Customs. Witness, at the pro- propriating certain property belonging to thesecutor's request, returned to Sha Tau Kok and prosecutor and his wife. One of the robbers had a revolver and another a knife. None of the witnesses for the prosecution could identify any of the prisoners, but at about half past four on the morning of the 19th July some police con-
reported the matter to the shop where the pro- Becutor had been staying. On the fourth August a man came with a message from a man named Chang Ngau, the message saying there was six dollars for him and six dollars for his foki, and stables who had received information of the rob- the man told him not to say anything about bery, were in Station Street North, Yaumati, what had taken place the previous day. He when they saw the first four prisoners. and their and his foki accepted the money. He wished suspicions being aroused they arrested them, and to disclose what had taken place, but his on searching them found some of the stolen pro-foki told him not to do 80. perty in their possession. The evidence against however, reported the matter to the prosecutor's He had, the fifth prisoner was of a different nature. The friend in Sha Tau Kok. Chang Ngan was a second and fourth prisoners went with the fisherman and owned a small boat. The two police to Shatin, and pointed out the fifth pri. men who rowed the robbers' boat were Chang soner to the police. The fourth prisoner said Ngan Wang and Chang Ngan. They used to to the fifth prisoner, "You took me there," and live in Sha Tau Kok but they had gone away the second prisoner said the fifth prisoner also since the robbery. Four or five days after the went there but did not enter the house. Then third of August he was asked to go and point the second and fourth prisoners asked the fifth out the robbers' boat and he did so. It be- prisoner where the two rifles were. The man longed to Wong Sam. There were no paper replied. "I have not got them." to these rifles he might say that they were piece of the deck was broken and he noticed With regard torches on board, but there were some nets. A taken from the prosecutor's house and after- this at the time of the robbery. wards found by the police at Taiwai, a few miles were about 20. straw torches in the hold. distant from Shatin.
He also saw them at the time of the robbery.
The men were found guilty. The fifth was sentenced to two years' hard labour and the others to seven years' hard labour, being also ordered to receive 20 strokes with the birch.
August 21st.
BEFORE HIS HONOUR SIR JOHN CARRING- TON, C.M.G. (CHIEF JUSTICE),
THE ARMED ROBBERY AT MIRS BAY.
The hearing of the case against Yau Ti Kin and Yan Wa Chun, who were charged with com- mitting an armed robbery at Mirs Bay, was resumed.
The jurors were Messrs. H. P. Jertrum, Henry Harrow, Vasco Luiz dos Remedios, W. F. Must, ('. W. Richards, R. J. dos Remedios, | and A. R. Lowe.
The evidence for the prosecution was con- tinued.
Yau Wai Kwai said he was a fisherman living at a place called Sansu at Sai Tau Kok. He was one of the two men employed by Lo Hop to row him to Sha U Cheung. They started from Shai Tau Kok at daybreak. The other boat- man with him was hi Ngan. When they had rowed some distance it came on to rain and Lo Lop put his umbrella up. Between seven and eight o'clock they were near a place called Tai Mui Sha, and he saw a boat coming towards them from the mainland. He thought it was a fishing boat at first. He saw there were two men rowing. Before they came along side his boat two other men jumped up. One of them called out to him to suddenly stop. This man was standing at the bows with a revolver in his hand. He fired twice. The men then came on board and seized hold of Lo Hop's quene. Lo Hop was told to take off his girdle. He did so, and then witness saw some bank notes, which one of the robbers took.
He identified the prisoners as the robbers. The first prisoner came on beard first.
The second prisoner came on board afterwards, and was the man who out the bamboo on his oars, second prisoner for the last two years. He heard people say that the first prisoner was the younger brother of the second prisoner. After taking the bank notes from the prosecu for the prisoners said, "You must have some more money." The prosecutor replied that he had not, but the robbers began to search and a bundle of silver dollars was found in the stern of the boat and placed in the robbers' boat The prosecutor begged the robbers to give him some money to enable him to get to Hongkong and ultimately they gave him a five dollar bill,
There
any
On the prisoners being asked if they had questions to put, the first one said to the witness, "You must remember that you are standing on the earth and that above you is the heaven. Look at me again and see if I am one of the robbers ?"
Witness replied that he was certain the first prisoner was one of the robbers. It was quite true that he was assaulted by a Chinese constable as well as the first prisoner. He did not know the constable's number. He thought this took place on the evening of the 6th August.
The Attorney-General said there was only one Chinese constable in the case, and suggested that he should be called, that the witness could say whether he was the man who assaulted him or not.
The constable-So Kwai-was called, but the struck him. witness said that he was not the man who
By way of defence the prisoners endeavoured to have an alibi, and called four witnesses. One of them was Wong Sze, and he described him- self "a gentleman at large, living at leisure and residing at Sha Tau Kok. He said the first he heard of the robbery was when, three or four days ago, a police-officer asked him to go before an officer at Sha Tau Kok to say a few words.
His Lordship informed him that it was on the 11th August, ten days ago, when the second prisoner gave his name to the Magistrate as a witness for him.
Witness replied that he did not know why the second prisoner had given his name. He years. He did not know when the robbery took had known the second prisoner for about 20
place on the 3rd August. On the morning of place. He did not know of anything taking that day he was in his house. He left his house at eight o'clock, when he went to Cheung Po's house to smoke opium. Cheung Po's house was distant a little over three miles from his house. It only took him a few minutes to get there.
few minutes ? [
His Lordship-Three miles only took him a
[August 25, 1900.
he enquire, as it was a matter which did not concern him.
The prisoners were found guilty, and the first the second to seven years hard labour, both to was sentenced to nine years hard labour and receive 20 strokes with the birch rod. Two of the prisoners' witnesses were sentenced to three months' hard labour for perjury,
22nd August.
MURDER IN KOWLOON BAY, Lo Tam, vis., murder and armed robbery. The There were two charges against Tang Lin and murder charge was heard first. The prisoners pleaded not guilty. They were represented by Mr. M. W. Šlade.
The jurors were Messrs. Hormasjee Rutton- jee, V. de Champmorin, Albert Weill, C. W Richards, Julius Helms, A. H. Mancell, and E. J. Judah,
.:
The Attorney General said they were pro- bably aware that the colony were not only a means of livelihood, sampans in this but very often were used as houses on which a San, whose death they were enquiring into, was something like 73 years of age and totally blind. whole family lived. The deceased man, Chun
He was not much use in directing the sampan but lived upon it with his wife, an old woman of about 63, and his daughter-in-law-
about three. There were on board the sampan a widow. There were a grandson of about nine years of age and a
granddaughter of three generations-five people in all. Now, about II a.m. on the 21st June three men came to hire the sampan at a wharf at Hung Hom. They said they wanted to go to a place called Sai Cha Wan across the Bay. What they wanted to do there, he could not say. They went across the harbour all right and got to a place on the other side, which was nothing but a hill and no village at all. They told the sampan to wait, went up the hill and seemed to stay about there. This seemed to him to be just an exonse to get the sampan across to the other side. They re- turned to the sampan, went on board and started back for Hung Hom Then they suggested that they should go to To-kaan-wan, which was rather more north and round the side at no very great distance, about a mile or so. The old woman did not wish to do that; there was some reason connected with the wind. They seemed to take the boat across to Hung Hom. Half way across this was the position of the people on board. The old w woman was steer- ing. The old man sat in the bows near the foremast. The others sat near the passengers. The boat was a licensed one, number 2920. He understood it was the ordinary kind of sampan, about 30 feet long and six broad. The passengers' place was the general wardrobe o they seemed to have a fair lot of clothes. They now had the position, the old man in the bows, the daughter-in-law at the mainmast, the old woman steering at
back. Just then two of the three passengers got up.
the They were told to sit down, as the boat com- then attacked the daughter-in-law. The second menced rocking violently. The first prisoner
The third prisoner, a barbarous rufflan, chopped turned his attention to the woman at the tiller.
received three outs across the kneecap, a cut the old man and the children. The old man
on board and
over the hand, one across the left wrist and another across the left forearm. The woman
had two outs and the children had some. Then the robbers proceeded to jam them, like sardines in a box, in the hold of the sampan and then put on the hatch. Having disposed of these people they were the possessors of the sampan, to do whatever they liked with it. They steered it to the Hongkong side and left it on the beach and then decamped.
Witness replied that it took him about half. an-hour to get there. It was not quite half. past eight when he got there. The peo- He had known the ple were just about to get their breakfasts, people jammed in the hold were naturally
He had smoked opium for tens of years. Among those he saw at Cheung Po's house smoking opium was the second prisoner. Wit- ness stayed there until 12 o'clock. The second prisoner went away first. He was sure this
every day. was on the 3rd August, because he was there
should remember it was the 3rd of August.
His Lordship 1 hat is no reason why he
that the second prisoner had been arrested. He Witness said he heard a good many days ago did not hear what he was arrested for, nor did
The
anxious to be free, and hearing the noise of the hatch up. They reported the matter the waves and no robbers, managed to get at the Wanchai Police Station, and the officers in charge examined the sampan. The old man was taken to the hospital on the afternoon of the 21st June. The kneecap wound was the
Despite the doctor's attention, blood poisoning from died on the 15th July, 24 days after the the wound on the knee set in. The old man attack. These were the facts of the case so
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