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;A H-LTHEAO APPEAL CASE. I

SABNABVON BWRD OP GTTAIMIANS.,

I SERIOUS OBAMZ 07 ASSAULT…

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SERIOUS OBAMZ 07 ASSAULT AT i BANGOR. At the Bangor Police Court on Tuesday be- fore Mr T. Lewis and other magistrates, a cabdriver named Robert Williame was charged on remand with assaulting a railway.. wil- liam Shelton, at the latter's residence in Upper Bangor on Saturday night week. Mr Thornton Jones appeared to prosecute on behalf of the pol- ice, and Mr S. R. Dew defended. The court was crowded. Mr Thornton Jones, in his opening remarks, nMd that on the night of the assault about eleven o'clock the defendant came to the door of Shelton and inquired whether he had a bed for a friend. Shelton told them to come in and see his wife. They did so, but after sitting down, Williams went for Shelton in « mo3t murderous manner. He blackened both his eyes and caused him con- siderable damage. The moat serious part of the affair was that he broke Shelton's lower jaw, and attacked him about the neck so that there was a serious swelling of the larynx, which even now caused the medical men considerable axixietyand difficulty as well as pain in swallowing. From the time of the assault the complainant had been unable to take any solid food, and he could not speak well because of his jaw. There had been no word of a quarrel, and nothing to justify the defendant. He would esk the Bench if the case was proved to deal very severely with the de- fendant if they did not commithim for trial, for it was quite within their power if they thought the evidence warranted it to commit for a more serious offence than hud been brought against the man now. There was a cross-summons, though the defendant had been apprehended under a warrant. One pathetic incident in connection with the affair was that the little daughter of the complainant, who was blind, went out in search of help, and that the father was again assaulted when he went out in search for her. The police came on the scene afterwards, but by that time the assailants had gone. The man was still in a very weak state of health, and was afraid of the defendant owing to his violent tendencies. Wm. Shelton, in the course of his evidence, said there was a knock at his door at 11.10 p. nL witness answered it, and Kobert Williame and a friendl came in. He askedf if witness had a bed for the friend. Witness then told him to oome in and see his wife. They came in after him. Robert Williams sat on the sofa and the friend eat in a chair close by, opposite to where wit- ness sat. There was not and never had been a quarrel between him -and defendant. The next tiling that happenedl was the defendant got up and struck him in the face. Then he caught hold of him by the coat and pulled him head first from his chair. He held him fast on the floor, and while doing so he asked his friend for a knife so that he might finish witness while he Had. a chance. After that they both left the house. He then got up and went to fetch his little girl who had gone out to seek assistance. The child could not hee very well, and he went in search of her. Then the defendant got hold of him outside and pulled him to the floor and kicked hhn about the head. Witness called out, "Don't kill me, Bob," I and then the defendant ran away. On Sunday a doctor was sent for. Dr. Grey Edwards came first of all, and Dr. Price examined him. after- wards. Cross-examined by Mir Dew, Witness said that { Williaius had been in the house once before that evening. There was also a young fellow called Newgold in the house, and he. sent for some beer of which the witness had a share. Newgold came in the second time, but he did not bring any drink at that time. He heard someone throwing stones at the window, and when wit- ness went out he discovered it was the de- fondant Robert Williams, and witness askedt him in. Newgold and Williams were in for about ten minutes, and they went out together. After a considerable time Newgold came back to the house by himself and he brought sixpenny worth of beer with him. Witness and his wife took very little. When Williams came back Newgold was still in, but witness's wife did not press him for drink neither did she take a quart bottle of beer from the pocket of Robert Williams' friend. He did not see his wife taking a shilling from one of the men in order to fetch drink. The men were not in more than five minutes, and no drinking took place at the time. Wit- ness did not take up the poker and hit Robert Williams on the nose. Robert Williams did not csll out to his friend) "Look out for fear he has a knife." What the defendant did was to ask his friend for a knife. Dr. Fl O. Price gave evidence as to the nature and extent of Shelton's injuries, some of which were serious. He did not think that the swelling of the larynx was the result of the injury to the jaw. Mrs Shelton corroborated the evidence given by her husband. In cross-examination she said she put the poker under the sofa when defendant attacked her husband, and they found the tongs outside. Her husband did not strike the de- fendant with the poker. P.O. Mason gave evidence and swore that he saw the defendant on the night in question with- out his hat and ooat which he declared he had lost. He did not then make a complaint to him, but on the following night he told him that he had been assaulted, and that he had been struck on the nose with the tongs. There was no mark on his nose. This completed the case for, the prosecution, whereupon Mr Dew asked if the magistrates in- tended to deal with the case summarily or not. The Bench retired to consider the point, and upon their return said they were prepared to listen to the defence. Mr Dew demanded t-o know what the Bench decided to do before opening his defence, and said that the defendlant was entitled to know that. A bit of a scene ensued and Mr Dew remarked that unless the Bench decided whether they were going to try the man summarily or not, he would advice his client to decline to give his evi- dence before that court. Mr Thornton Jones observed that the proper course to take would be to formally charge the defendant, and then if the Bench thought they could deal adequately with him, then, by #11 means, let them go on that day but. if otherwise, then he agreed with Mr Dew, who had a perfect right not to call any witnesses. The charge was a sufHciently serious one in his opinion to go for trial for doing grievous bodily h?M, to go for cou, it could be reduced afterwards to one of common osm it'. Defendant then reserved his defence and was committed for trial at the _izes, bail being ac- cepted, himself in £ 20 and two sureties in M each.

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