Hugh Birkett appeared to answer a charge of deserting his children under the age of three years, and leaving the same without any means of support.
The complainant said the summons was correct, the defendant having left his two children without any means of support. The defendant often got drunk and beat her.
Mr. Scott commented in severe terms upon the heartless and cruel conduct of the defendant, remarking that it is a pity that the new law in England, which punished wife beaters with flogging, could not be adopted in the colony. The case was postponed till Wednesday for the attendance of a second magistrate.
Prisoner : I wish it was gone on with to-day.
Mr. Scott : The case can't be gone on with to-day without breaking the law, and I don't intend to break the law for you or anybody else. Several other cases were called on and postponed to different dates for want of a second magistrate.
Hugh Birkett pleaded guilty to using obscene language in a public place, and was fined 20s. , or three days' imprisonment.
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